By MARK KRAM
Philadelphia Daily News
Posted on Wed, May. 7, 2008
kramm@phillynews.com

     JOEY "MINNESOTA ICE" ABELL stood tearing the tape from his hands in his cramped dressing room at the Blue Horizon when Gerald Nobles appeared waving a wad of $5,000 in small bills.
"How much you want to fight?" baited Nobles, a well-fed 37-year-old heavyweight who had shown up earlier that day at the weigh-in to announce his intentions. It was one of those scenes you always seem to get with boxing, the way you always get a fortune cookie with a Chinese dinner. But whatever screwball humor the intrusion summoned, it clearly annoyed matchmaker Don Elbaum, who called out angrily from the back of the room: "Get him the hell out of here, would ya!"

Five grand is chump change if Elbaum is ultimately correct in his assertion: That the still-unranked 6-4 southpaw from Coon Rapids, Minn., is just a year away from a shot at the championship. While Abell is even by his own admission a work in progress, the ex-defensive end from North Dakota State had just stopped a flabby Maurice Wheeler attracting the casual fan, who disconnected from the sport when Mike Tyson ceased being a factor in the heavyweight division. Chances are the casual fan dcold in the second round with a flurry of punches that pitched the Philadelphia heavyweight through the ropes, where he practically landed in the lap of former Eagle Brian Baldinger. From up in the balcony, the crowd roared, "JOEY JOEY JOEY," which explained in part the delirium that later consumed Elbaum, who told the pens that wagged before his eyes: "This is the guy who is going to bring back boxing!"

Setting aside the question of whether or not Joey Abell can actually become what Elbaum envisions, he does seem to bring something to the table other than a healthy appetite. In fact, he is a symbol of eternal longing: A heavyweight who is not just American but the color of driven snow. While it is politically incorrect to say so, even Abell understands that when it comes to forging a boxing career, the only thing he has missing at this point is a tattoo on his arm that says MOTHER. "Not to sound racist or anything, but a white heavyweight from America would be a big thing," said Abell, who would indeed be a big thing for a sport that has slipped so far out of the public consciousness that some would say it could be packed up in a pine box. Because far larger than even the raw abilities of the still unproven Abell is what someone like him represents: The possibility of a new face that can coax the sport out of the crypt.

But before you bring in your scalpel and begin performing that autopsy on "The Sweet Science," you should probably take a closer look at the patient. Doctor, there appears to be a pulse. For the aficionados of boxing, the sport remains endlessly fascinating, full of intriguing encounters such as the recent Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe bout in Las Vegas. Boxing has a problem oes not even know who the heavyweight champion is today, and it appears that he has become intrigued with a hybrid version of the sport, Mixed Martial Arts. For the casual fan, boxing as we once knew it is down for the count.