TAYLOR ISN'T IN A STATE OF DENIAL.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES BOXING

The state of Arkansas has twosports-related things going for it -- a college football team called the Razorbacks, and middleweight champion and Little Rock native Jermain Taylor.

Sports fans there are fanatical about both. Now, Taylor should be able to cop an easy victory over Kassim Ouma tonight at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. But the pressure Taylor might feel to perform as a world champion for the first time in front of his fans in our 25thstate could make things a little dicey.

``I flew into the (Little Rock National) Airport yesterday and there were cardboard cutouts of Jermain all overt,'' said Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoter. ``There are very few fighters in this country who have the celebrity and the love emanating to and from his hometown.

``Jermain loves Arkansas. I don't think he has ever fought when he hasn't spoken about his hometown. He knows the governor, the governor's wife. There is pressure because everyone knows him. But I think he thrives on the love and the support he gets from his hometown.''

Again, this is not just hometown, this is home state.

Emanuel Steward trained Thomas ``Hit Man'' Hearns out of Detroit. Hearns was adored by his fans in Motown, but not the way Taylor is worshiped in Arkansas.

``He is different than any fighter I've seen when it comes to support from his state,'' said Steward, who now trains Taylor.

``Most fighters have support from a city. Tommy had a great city support. But with Jermain, when he talks, he doesn't say Little Rock, he says Arkansas.

``I have been down there and as soon as he gets off the plane, everybody is talking about Jermain.''

Keep in mind that with Ouma, Taylor is facing a fighter who has been a junior middleweight most of his career. Ouma even fought a few times at welterweight early on. And since Taylor is the champion, and a rather large middleweight, it would seem that Ouma's chances of winning are slim.

But DiBella is not comfortable. He said that when all things are considered -- fan pressure and Ouma being a southpaw who stays busy in the ring and has nothing to lose-- a victory in this fight is not a sure thing.

``He (Ouma) is trying to upset the apple cart, so until around midnight (tonight), I'm going to be worried,'' DiBella said.

Athletes handle pressure in different ways. In Taylor's case, it might be good that he is fighting in his backyard against an opponent who on paper doesn't stand much of a chance. In other words, it could be worse for Taylor to take on Ouma at a neutral site.

``Well, I won't have a problem getting up for this fight,'' Taylor said. ``I'm fighting at home, and Kassim Ouma is a great fighter. I'm not looking past this man. I'm taking him very serious because I know he comes to win.

``But I want to do my thing at home and look good doing it.''

Look good, he will, thanks to Steward, who will be working his second fight with Taylor. Make no mistake, Pat Burns did a solid job training Taylor, even guiding him to two decision victories over middleweight great Bernard Hopkins -- though the first one was controversial.

But DiBella said Taylor was not making the most of his incredible talents, and that Steward is just the trainer who can bring out his best.

``Jermain is a tremendous athlete, but he made a lot of very bad mistakes (in earlier fights),'' said DiBella, who said Taylor and his manager, Ozell Nelson, made the decision to switch to Steward. ``He got by just because of what a tremendous athlete he is.

``When Emanuel talks, people listen and he believes he can have Jermain at another level in a short time.''

Taylor, 28, is 25-0-1 with 17knockouts. On the line tonight will be his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization belts. Ouma, 27, of Uganda, is 25-2-1 with 15 knockouts. HBO will televise.

Toney turns to Blanks for training

James ``Lights Out'' Toney attended the Nov.4 welterweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Carlos Baldomir at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. He was seen walking around the casino with his wife and friends.

The 5-foot-9 1/2-inch future Hall of Famer looked very large, as if he weighed more than 250 pounds. The first thought here was: How is this man going to get himself in shape for a rematch with Samuel ``The Nigerian Nightmare'' Peter?

The answer is, Billy Blanks, of Tae Bo workout fame.

Toney, who lost a controversial split decision to Peter on Sept. 2 at Staples Center, will do it again with Peter on Jan.6 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Showtime will televise.

Freddie Roach will train Toney as usual out of the Wild Card Gym in our Hollywood. But Blanks, of Hidden Hills, will be in charge of Toney's cardiovascular regimen.

Toney's best weight seems to be in the low 220s, but he hasn't fought at less than 230 in more than two years. He weighed 237 and 233 for his past two fights, against Hasim Rahman and Peter, respectively.

Toney earned a draw with Rahman before losing to Peter. But virtually every expert out there believes had Toney been in the low 220s, he would have made things much easier on himself because the added weight prevents him from getting the utmost out of his superior talent.

``You can see that he certainly was in good enough boxing shape to be able to go 12rounds with a Sam Peter or a Hasim Rahman,'' said Dan Goossen, Toney's co-promoter. ``What I felt was missing was his cardio training.''

Goossen said that when it comes to training, Toney likes to march to the beat of his own drummer.

``Certain fighters like to do jump rope, heavy bag, double-end bags,'' Goossen said. ``James isn't that type of boxing guy. He likes to spar and that is what he really likes to do. He is not much on these other things.

``He doesn't think it's helpful. You concentrate too much on sparring, you're in shape for the fight, but you're not in that extra shape where it allows you more maneuverability, more consistency as far as throwing more punches.''

Enter Blanks.

``Billy went to James' last fight and afterward went up to (Toney's manager) John (Arthur) and said, `Let me get James in shape,''' said Goossen, president of Goossen Tutor Promotions in Sherman Oaks.

``James has a lot of respect for Billy. He knows he is a former amateur fighter, a former karate guy and a no-nonsense guy.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, left, and Kassim Ouma pose at Thursday's news conference in North Little Rock, Ark.

Mike Wintoroath/Associated Press

(2) no caption (James Toney)

Box:

Etc.