Larry "Thunderfoot" Cureton --
Dennis Alexio's next opponent.

"Well, there was a little mistake made," he said. "I wasn't Mike Tyson's sparring partner - it was Ray Mercer."

Promoters for Cureton's Nov. 2 kickboxing match against Dennis Alexio had listed Tyson, but Mercer - also a heavyweight champ - wasn't exactly a sissy himself about five or six years ago.

Dennis Alexio
By Ken Sakamoto,
Star-Bulletin

And Cureton will be a formidable opponent for undisputed world champion Alexio - especially coming in at 6-1 and 240 pounds.

Cureton has a record of 41-4 with 37 knockouts - including two KOs over former Alexio opponent Dennis "Mad Dog" Downey."

"I met (boxer) Matthew Hilton and was working with him at Mercer's gym in Newark," Cureton said. "So I ended up sparring with Mercer as well."

Cureton said he switched from point karate to full contact karate, which includes boxing.

"I was doing karate for 22 years when I started boxing," said Cureton, who has been a Jersey City, N.J., firefighter for nine years. "Point karate was getting boring and the judging was too political.

"In full-contact karate, if I'm the only guy still standing, there is no discrepancy. But I needed a full arsenal of weapons, top and bottom."

Cureton, 36, has fought Alexio before and was stopped in the sixth round in a 1991 fight at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

"I was returning from a fight in Russia and had to go from weighing 232 pounds to 204 in three weeks," he said. "It was a tough fight, especially because I had never experienced leg kicks before. I didn't realize how bad they can be."

Leg kicks won't be allowed in the Nov. 2 match against Alexio, who has a 63-1 record with 58 knockouts.

"I do this as a hobby," Cureton said. "My primary source of income is to fight fires. If I can't walk, I can't work - or fight."

Cureton believes his size will be an advantage over the 5-11, 205-pound Alexio, especially in the late rounds. "It will be a factor," he said.

But Cureton isn't expecting an easy rematch.

"The thing I love about fighting is that it's just you against the other guy," Cureton said. "He could knock me out with a punch in the first round or I could knock him out. It just depends on whose night it is."

The undercard is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information, call 545-4000.