MarkAllen wins last year's Ironman Triathlon.
Associated Press

Make that his last three triathlons in Hawaii.

No, the retiring six-time Ironman champion isn't going to swim to Oahu from Molokai, bike around the island and then run three marathons.

He's helping to introduce a new event, the International Triathlon Grand Prix (ISGP).

"Yeah, it's very different than what I'm used to doing," Allen, 38, said. "It's very short, very fast and very intense. You're going to see a lot of it in the future."

The format is called triple super sprint. Starting at 2 p.m. in Waikiki, 20 of the world's best triathletes will swim 300 meters, bicycle seven kilometers and run two kilometers. And they will do it three times, with only a 15 minute break between the races.

The winner will get $25,000 of $100,000 in prize money. It's the richest triathlon ever held on Oahu. The promoters say it should also be the most spectator-friendly.

"Most people look at the triathlon and consider it boring as a spectator sport," said Andrew Frasier, a former Australian Rules football player who is the ITGP public relations director. "But those who come to watch this will change their opinion. With a regular triathlon, you would watch your friend go out on his bike and maybe catch him somewhere an hour later. Here you can position yourself where you can see the entire race, and it's some of the best pros."

Frasier said these mini-triathlons have played to big spectator crowds and good television audiences in Australia for several years.

This is the fourth stop of the ITGP's first international tour. Earlier races were held in Germany, England and Oceanside, Calif. The last stop is in Thailand.

Allen is not as dominant in this event (he placed 13th overall at Oceanside last week), but he still enjoys the competition.

"It's exciting because there's less than 30 guys, and they're really focused," he said. "You have to decide to pay the price a little at a time or all at once."

Allen said he will retire at the end of this tour.

"Ill be helping NBC over on the Big Island at the Ironman (Oct. 26)," Allen said. "After that I hope to get into some motivational speaking."

Allen said that although he thinks the Grand Prix concept will thrive, it won't totally replace traditional Ironman events.

"I don't think anything can take away from the Ironman, it's so established," he said.

Also this weekend, the Honolulu International Triathlon, a qualifying event for the 1997 Ironman, will be held Sunday in the Waikiki-Hawaii Kai area.

"I'm very excited," said Honolulu native Eric Alexander. "I'm ready to prove what kind of fighter I am."

Alexander will fight in tonight's main event of "The Rumble in the Jungle" boxing card at Blaisdell Arena.

There will be eight bouts - with seven of the fights matching boxers from Hawaii against those from Japan.

Alexander, who is 11-6-1 with nine knockouts as a pro after an outstanding amateur career, will take on Fumitaka Okusa of Tokyo, who is 8-4 with seven KOs, in a junior middleweight battle that is scheduled to go 10 rounds.

"We're confident - we trained hard together," Alexander said of his teammates. "There are going to be some awesome fights."

Former boxer Steve Johnson is promoting the card as part of his "I Have A Dream Productions."

"It has been a lot of work, but we're ready to put on a great show for the people of Hawaii," he said.

Heavyweight Tali Kulihaapai, 3-0 with two knockouts, said he is ready to go.

"I'm not a trash-talker," said the Kaimuki resident, who will take on Akinobu Yanamura (4-0, three KOs) of Nagoya. "We're ready to do what we've been training to do."

Teddy Limoz Jr. is another member of Hawaii's Dream team.

"Now I'm getting a little nervous, which is good because it shows I'm up for the fight," said Limoz, who will fight a scheduled six-round junior welterweight match against Hiroshi Nishino (4-3) of Osaka.

Erwin Villaver (12-7-1 with 10 KOs) will fight in the semi-main event against Tomonori Ohara (8-5-0). The welterweight bout is scheduled to go 10 rounds.

The four remaining fights are: John Lopez Jr. (2-2) of Hilo vs. Naoyuki Ota (6-6) in a junior welterweight match set for six rounds; Xavier Cortez (1-2) of Hilo vs. Takanori Takanami (8-2) of Akiishi in a six-round junior middleweight bout; Donald Gonzalez (1-1) of Honolulu, vs. Masayoshi Swada (0-1) of Osaka, in a lightweight bout set for four rounds.

Heavyweight Eric Paulo will also make his pro debut against Joseph Farrell of Las Vegas in the a scheduled six-rounder.

The first fight is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tickets are $50, $30 and $20.

"This is boxing history for Hawaii," said Johnson. "We hope to hold similar cards once a month against other countries from the Pacific Rim."