THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN HOPE?

Byline: ROBERT MORALES BOXING

The list of solid American heavyweights is short.

We have World Boxing Council champion Hasim Rahman. But to say he is an impressive champion is a bit of a stretch. Then there's James Toney, but he's 37 and refuses to get into shape.

Last, and unfortunately least, is Calvin Brock. And that's it.

Three.

Brock, like others, believes this embarrassing shortage is because today's larger American athletes are gearing for the money and glamour of baseball, basketball and football.

Others, like Timor Ibragimov, believe there is an entirely different reason.

``Some people say they are not hungry right now,'' said Ibragimov, of Uzbekistan, who will take on Brock tonight in the 12-round main event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. ``You see Rahman and Toney, they are good fighters, but the Soviet fighters, they train like they are in the army.

``You get up in the morning and run. Even if you don't have a fight, you get up and run American fighters, they don't do that -- only when it gets close to the fight.''

If you saw Toney and Rahman fight in March in Atlantic City, N.J., you'd know that what Ibragimov (21-0-1, 13 KOs) says might be true. Take Toney, for example. He is one of the most talented fighters to come along in the past 30 years.

But the man was challenging Rahman for his championship, and he came in looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Then the two fought 12 rather boring rounds with the fight ending in a draw.

Rahman did appear in shape, but he certainly didn't fight with any urgency to keep his title, which he did with the draw. He was either too scared, or too foolish, to take advantage of an overweight opponent. There was no hunger, that's for sure.

Enter Brock, 31, of Charlotte, N.C. He fought for Team USA in the 2000 Olympic Games, turned pro in 2001 at age 26 and has compiled a record of 28-0 with 22knockouts. Brock is ranked No.3, No. 5, No. 5 and No. 11 by the four governing bodies.

He has had flashes of being solid, and flashes of fighting down to his opponent's level.

But other than Rahman and Toney, he is arguably the best we have. It will be up to him to help bring some respectability back to America in what used to be boxing's bread and butter division.

Brock claims he is different than most American heavyweights in that he eats, sleeps and drinks boxing.

``Most of the athletes today are playing football, basketball and baseball,'' Brock said.

``I played baseball and football but I never had the desire to be a professional in those other sports outside of boxing.

``Boxing has always been in my heart and I had that desire since I was eight years old. I think the appeal was the one-on-one competition. I like the preparation for it. I like the excitement of it. ... I like everything about it.''

Including being in the limelight, Brock said. He will be there tonight because HBO is televising his fight with Ibragimov, another Soviet Bloc fighter. And if Brock continues his rise, it's only a matter of time before he will get his shot at one of the champions.

``What there is now is not generating a whole lot of interest,'' said Brock's promoter, Carl Moretti, of Main Events Inc. ``People are a little tired of James Toney and Rahman has been there a while.

``The more Brock is on HBO ... the more he is gaining public interest (and showing) that he is as good as any heavyweight out there, including the champions. The question is, when can you get one of them in the ring?''

Moretti believes the powers that be in the television industry will make that possible.

HBO and Showtime have a lot to say about who fights on their cards these days.

``It is difficult, but at the end of the day, you've got networks that are selective in the fights that they want to buy,'' Moretti said. ``HBO, Showtime or somebody is going to want to see Brock fight in a big heavyweight fight and that works to his advantage.''

Pugilistic dementia haunts Quarrys

Wilma Pearson can't be sure, but she believes that a fight her late brother Mike Quarry had in March 1978 played a big role in his becoming afflicted with pugilistic dementia, which ultimately killed him June 11 at age 55.

It wasn't the fourth-round knockout loss in a challenge to Bob Foster and his light heavyweight championship. That was June 1972. This was nearly six years later, against Pete McIntyre in San Diego.

Quarry, near the end of his career, was knocked out in the fifth round.

``In the McIntyre fight, Michael got knocked out so badly, he was in the ring still fighting in an unconscious state,'' Pearson told the Daily News. ``For two weeks, he had amnesia. And I think that fight did a lot of damage.

``When he came out of the Foster fight, he didn't know what happened either. But the

McIntyre fight stayed with him for a couple of weeks.''

Quarry was 63-13-6 with 17 knockouts. Whereas his more famous brother, heavyweight Jerry Quarry, was known more for his power, Pearson described Mike Quarry as ``the smoothest artist I have ever seen.''

His funeral services will be held today at 1 p.m. at Shafter District Cemetery. Shafter is about eight miles north of Bakersfield.

Bobby Quarry, the sole surviving brother, is expected to be in attendance. He was 9-12-2 with six knockouts as a heavyweight fighting from 1982-92. Bobby Quarry, now 43, was knocked out by Tommy Morrison in the second round in February 1992 in Las Vegas. He had one more fight that August, then retired.

Since 1999, when Jerry Quarry died of pugilistic dementia at 53, four siblings and father Jack Quarry have died.

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2 photos, box

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(1) Calvin Brock connects on a left hook that knocked out Zuri Lawrence during a heavyweight fight in February.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

(2) Dominick Gunn

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