[07/02/01] The latest edition of boxing in Vicksburg will have a definite Southern flair.

Mississippi fighters will be featured in four of the six matches on the card for “The Rumble By the River” Sunday night at Ameristar casino, and another will include Andrew Greeley, a cruiserweight from Monroe, La.

“Most of the promotions that come into Mississippi are usually TV deals, so those promoters bring in their killers from all over the world and put them against the local guys and overmatch them,” fight promoter Fred Berns said. “What we tried to do is give Mississippi fighters a chance to come to a casino and fight without having to fight some 22-0 guy from wherever.”

While fans will have plenty of local fighters to root for, the main event features one fighter from just outside of Mississippi Nazareth, Israel, to be exact.

Johar Abu Lashin, the only professional Palestinian Arabian boxer and a former International Boxing Council and current World Boxing Federation 140-pound champion, will fight Kevin Payne.

Lashin, who now lives in Tennessee and learned to box from a U.S. serviceman in the Middle East, brings a 25-5-1 record to Vicksburg. He will not, however, defend his title against Payne, a last-minute substitution from Evansville, Ind. The two will fight at 147 pounds.

Payne was asked to fight when Stevie Walker injured his hand in practice about two weeks ago.

“Stevie injured his hand and we were hoping he would improve enough,” Berns said.

Other fights on the card include Laurel-based heavyweight Kenny Cravens against Robert Terrell, from Hammond, La., in a six-round bout.

“From what I hear, this Kenny Cravens is a pretty tough kid,” said Berns, an Indianapolis-based promoter who will be promoting his first card in Mississippi.

In a four-round super middleweight match, Hattiesburg’s Beau Skipper will face Tupelo’s Chuck Pyle, while Laurel’s Anthony Adams will fight Brad Thompson of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in a four-round middleweight match.

Greeley will face Zach Graham of Cincinnati in a four-round cruiserweight bout that Berns said could be the best of the night.

The women will take to the ring for the last scheduled fight. Meridian’s Andrea Watkins squares off with Vickie Claridy of Cincinnati.

“They say this Watkins fights with guys in the street,” Berns said.

Berns said an additional fight may be added this week.