BY MIKE HOUSER
Appeal Sports Writer
It's a good thing that Derek and Tyler Hinkey are blessed with large shoulders, otherwise the task of carrying the weight of an entire nation would be a wearisome affair.
But for the brothers, Paiute-Shoshones who hail from the McDermitt Indian Reservation, representing and setting an example for Native Americans is neither an chore nor a burden, but rather an honor.
The Hinkeys will appear on the undercard of "The Battle for the West" Friday at the Grande Exposition Ballroom in the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.
"When we're on center stage boxing, all eyes are on me and Tyler," said the 27-year-old Derek, 4-0 with 4 knockouts, who is scheduled to face Cromwell Gordon, of Los Angeles, in a four-round middleweight contest. "I don't box for me or my family; I do it for our people as a nation. I want to show the young kids - the Native kids - that there's a chance out there."
Derek said that notion was reinforced recently when Quentin Blue Horse, who founded The War Party boxing club and trains Native American youths on the Dresslerville Indian Reservation, brought his fighters down to Las Vegas, where the Hinkeys train under Kenny Adams.
"I'm on the same petition as Derek - I want to give them an example of what can be done if you put your mind to it," said the 25-year-old Tyler, 1-0-1 (1), who will meet Travis Biechler, 2-5 (2), of Denver, in a four-round heavyweight bout.
The 6-foot-1 Tyler, who is about two ax handles across the shoulders, put on quite a show recently when he sparred former undisputed heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.
Following what amounted to a probing first round, the pair began to mix it up in the second. The third round supplied so much action that fellow boxers reportedly stopped training to walk over and watch.
"In the third round, we went toe to toe," said Tyler, who added that during the action one of them kicked over the ringside timer so that the normal three-minute round probably ran four. "We went straight at it. I took three right hands in a row and I gave it right back. Physically, he was strong - I could feel it. But I wasn't impressed by his defense at all."
After rocking and rolling with "The Rock," who knocked out Lennox Lewis to win the title in 2001, Tyler said his confidence has grown.
"I'll fight with anybody," he said. "I was in with a former world champion. I don't worry about who I'm going to be in with anymore."
Adams has trained several world champions, including 1988 U.S. Olympic gold medalist and former WBO heavyweight titlist Ray Mercer. He said Tyler has come a long way since he last fought erstwhile amateur nemesis Alvaro Morales to a four-round draw Oct. 20 at the Silver Legacy.
"Tyler has really improved - there's been a complete, complete turnaround for him," Adams said. "He's going to be tremendous. He has a different attitude."
And, according to Adams, Tyler, who weighed 260 pounds against the 275-pound Morales, is down to a career-low 247. How has he done it?
"By living with a middleweight," Tyler said with a laugh, referring to Derek. "Kenny and I have been working a lot on handspeed, putting my punches together. We're trying to work on transitioning between defense and offense. I feel good. I want to show the handspeed of a middleweight and the power of a heavyweight."
The 33-year-old Biechler was once a middleweight and was stopped by Reno's Joey Gilbert in one round at The Orleans Hotel & Casino, July 26, 2002, in Las Vegas. After a two-plus year layoff, Biechler returned as a heavyweight, scoring two consecutive first-round technical knockouts over Shane Fuller and Lance McMillan in 2005.
Biechler is coming off a three-round TKO loss to Vernon Woodward in October.
In the 28-year-old Gordon, 4-8 (4), Derek is facing a resurgent fighter. After losing a four-round decision to former football player Tony Hirsch on the same Oct. 20 show as the Hinkeys were on, Gordon rebounded with a two-round TKO over Hirsch 19 days later in San Jose.
Gordon, a brawler, lost a six-round split decision to James Kindell in December.
For his part, the lightning-quick, sharp-punching Derek has yet to do the distance as a professional. According to Terry Lane who along with his brother Tommy runs Let's Get It On Promotions, which has signed the Hinkeys and headliner Jesse Brinkley, this may be Derek's last four-rounder.
That suits the high-energy Derek just fine.
"Like I told the guys at NorthernNevadaBoxing.com, I'm a slow starter," said Derek, who stopped Ray Craig in four rounds in his last fight, also on Oct. 20. "I'm ready to go in the fourth round. I'm just warming up."
The 6-foot-1 Derek and the muscular Gordon are both moving down from super middleweight to 161 pounds for this fight. Derek said he would remain at middleweight following the bout.
In addition to his change in weight, Derek said there would be another difference in this fight vis-à-vis his bout with Craig, whom he knocked down four times.
"Kenny said there were certain things I was doing...He said I was a mobster (against Craig)," said Derek, who several times stuck out his chin and dared Craig to hit him (Craig obliged.) "I didn't use my boxing talent, my length and my speed. If I had, he wouldn't have been able to touch me."
For this fight, Derek said he and Adams have been working on polishing his jab, lateral movement and using more angles to supplement his height and reach.
"Derek's looking real good. He's in real good shape," said Adams, who said he didn't take kindly to Derek's machismo against Craig. "We're not taking any chances. We have to fight lions and tigers and stuff."
As if carrying the weight of nation wasn't already enough.
In the 12-round headliner, Yerington's Brinkley, 29-5 (20), will meet Sacramento's Otis "Triple OG" Griffin, 18-2-2 (7), for the WBC United States National Boxing Championship (USNBC) belt.
There will be a total of six bouts, including a six-round rematch between light flyweights Glenn "The Filipino Bomber" Donaire, 16-3-1 (9), of San Leandro, Calif., and Jose Albuquerque, 8-2-2 (2), who represented Brazil in the 2000 Olympics.
In his his last fight, Donaire unsuccessfully challenged then IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan in October 2006. Donaire and Albuquerque fought to a six-round majority draw in 2006.
Also on the card will be Carson City lightweight Mike Peralta, 2-2 (1), who will take on Oscar Marin, 2-4, of Las Vegas via Culiacan, Mexico, in a four-rounder.
Tickets are $150, $75 and $30. They are available at the Silver Legacy box office, by calling (800) 687-8733 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
Doors open at 6 p.m., with the first bout beginning at 7.