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Lloyd Honeyghan and Marlon Starling, who have been feuding...

By DAVE RAFFO, UPI Sports Writer

NEW YORK -- Lloyd Honeyghan and Marlon Starling, who have been feuding with each other at other peoples' fights for over three years, will finally fight each other Feb. 4 at Las Vegas, Nev.

Honeyghan will defend his World Boxing Council welterweight championship against Starling as part of a double-header that includes World Boxing Association champion Tomas Molinares' defense against Mark Breland. Starling and Breland are former WBA champions.

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At a news conference Tuesday, Honeyghan and Starling traced their dislike for each other to December of 1985 when they met at a welterweight title unification fight between Donald Curry and Milton McCrory.

'He came up to me and started bad-mouthing me,' said Honeyghan, a Jamaican native who lives in London. 'I thought he was crazy, I don't even know the guy and he's bad-mouthing me. He's been doing it ever since.'

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'He's disrespectful, and I don't like disrespectful people,' said Starling, of Hartford, Conn. 'He thinks he's better than he is.'

During the bout between Ray Leonard and Donny Lalonde last Nov. 7, Honeyghan and Starling squared off again. That argument ended with Honeyghan spitting at Starling.

'I told him he was going to be the next one knocked out, and just like a pig, he spit at me,' Starling said. 'I tried to throw a chair at him, but the chairs were nailed down.'

'He was bad-mouthing me again, so I spit in his face,' Honeyghan said. 'He's a big fraud, I want to knock him out once and for all.'

'He said he spit on me? He missed,' Starling said. 'If he spit in my face I would have done more than try to throw a chair at him.'

Honeyghan, 33-1 with 22 knockouts, and Starling, 43-5-1 with 26 knockouts, co-headlined a strange double-header at Atlantic City, N.J., July 29. Honeyghan retained his title with a fifth-round knockout of South Korean Yung-kil Chung with a low blow. Starling then lost his title when he was knocked out by Molinares by a punch that landed after the bell to end the sixth round.

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Starling unsuccessfully petitioned the WBA for a rematch. The WBC, however, has ordered Honeyghan to fight Chung again if he defeats Starling. That bout could delay a planned match in April or May between the two Feb. 4 winners.

Starling argues the loss of his title cost him about $500,000 in his purse against Honeyghan. Starling will earn $300,000 compared to $600,000 for Honeyghan.

Breland, a 1984 Olympic champion from New York, lost his WBA title on an 11th-round knockout loss to Starling Aug. 22, 1987. He failed to regain the title on a draw against Starling last April 16. Most observers felt Starling should have been awarded the decision. Breland is 21-1-1 with 14 knockouts.

Molinares, 23-0 with 20 knockouts, is the mystery man of the show. Since his win over Starling, which was overturned by the New Jersey Athletic Commission but not the WBA, there have been rumors from his native Colombia that Molinares has retired or can no longer make the 147-pound weight limit.

Promoter Dan Duva says he has been assured by Molinares' manager that he will defend his title against Breland, but Molinares missed Tuesday's news conference.

The double-header at Caesars Palace will be televised by HBO.

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