Heavyweights best chance of a future superstar may lie in the hands of Hot Springs native Dominick Guinn who appears on the March 27th , 'March Badness' card at the Alltel arena in Little Rock Arkansas, where both he and fellow Arkansas son Jermain Taylor get a chance to showcase their talent in front of their proud home fans.

I go back a very long way with Dominick, and it seems like only a few months ago that I was sitting in a tiny conference room embedded deep in the guts of the Mammoth Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas with two wide eyed and nervous looking athletes with only days to go before they were to take that giant leap of faith into the professional arena. Dominick Guinn and Anthony Hanshaw were due to appear on the Andrew Golota - Orlin Norris card in that very venue just a couple of days later.

Dominick struck me as not the largest man in the world and when he told me he was debuting as a heavyweight I was quite surprised. The one thing Dominick did have that I do remember was very driven and focused eyes, that would almost stare right through you if you looked long enough, like there was almost a demon inside there ready to blaze out. Dominick sat calmly with his friend and comrade who would hardly speak, yet as I went through the layers of chatting to Guinn, he became a little more comfortable with my company and we spoke a little about boxing in general.

Mark Breland sat close by with Ronnie Shields, who along with Shelly Finkle were to take charge of Dominick's affairs as a Professional fighter. Dominick smiled rarely and said little to those in attendance but did make a nice point of coming over and saying good bye and shaking my hand before leaving the room to go and eat with his team. Two days later, in front of about just a couple of hundred people in an empty Mandalay Bay events center that had barely been opened for public entry, I watched Dominick pace confidently into the ring for round one of his professional career. Next to me I saw a man standing, waiting with his handlers to make their ring walk in the role of opponent. Leroy Hollis was a sturdy and heavy-set heavyweight who at 240 lbs. was larger in girth than the Arkansas debutante, but body language wise he was not in Dominick's league; that intense look in the eyes was not even near, in fact Hollis looked at the floor every step of the ring walk, and there was something very Bruce Sheldon-like about his approach to this evening's action.

The intros were quick and Guinn and Hollis plus referee were left steps away from bell number one. Seconds later Dominick pecked at Hollis with a rangy jab and turned him coolly towards the ropes, then like a flash Guinn unleashed that devil I saw welling up in his eyes in the conference room days before, in the form of a very heavy handed barrage that left Leroy Hollis prone and out for the night.  Dominick Guinn said hello to the days of fighting for pay.

Twenty minutes later I saw Dominick at the back of the arena drinking a Snapple from a bottle and he seemed five inches taller and ten inches wider smiling from ear to ear, every inch a professional Heavyweight fighter. Highly excitable and very tactile he grabbed me and said, "Did you see me, that's what I do , 1-0 that's me" .... After a few minutes we went our ways and he said thanks man, what's your name again, he gave me his address and number and said "If you ever get the chance to call , just holler man." I said my congratulations and several days later I returned back home to England.

I did follow Guinn's career closely but never did I expect to see him rise to the point of actual prospective contender so quickly . I met up once again in Reno and spent a lot longer with him when he appeared at The Reno Hilton on the Andre Purlette - James Thunder, CKP heavyweight explosion card in 2001. As I saw him walk out of an elevator with his robe covered in plastic draped over his shoulder and carrying his kit bag, I shouted " Dominick !" he recognized me immediately and asked me why I hadn't called to announce my arrival. I said "because I wanted to surprise you."

I took his bag and robe and let him walk hassle free, besides he was fighting later that very evening. He had shaven his head completely and was starting to behave more confidently, he even sported a diamond stud in his ear. Dominick Guinn was evolving fast as a marketable fighter and a good one at that. Later that night he stepped through the ropes and took a matter of seconds to blaze through a fighter known as Marvin Skip Hill. he didn't do anything wild, just calmly put a cluster of controlled shots together that once again put paid to the out of depth opponent. A few days later we went our separate ways; he traveled back to Houston where his training with Mark Breland and Ronnie Shields was based, and I went on to Las Vegas to cover a heavyweight card featuring Michael Grant v Jameel McCline.

Two years and 12 fights later the still unbeaten heavyweight would be facing that very man in a co- main event at the Boardwalk Arena in Atlantic City NJ, in a crossroads fight where -virtually unknown- he was very much the underdog against the much bigger, once proclaimed future of the heavyweight division Mike Grant.

Dominick must have felt like the loneliest man in the world on that night, with virtually nobody barring myself and family knowing much about who he was in the boxing world. Dominick would be heavily out muscled and out weighed by the huge, one time World heavyweight title challenger to Lennox Lewis who with new trainer Teddy Atlas was very much out to prove he once again was a force to be reckoned with. Thirty minutes after the first bell and following three heavy trips to the deck, the monstrous slabs of muscle that straddled Michael Grant's chest would once more lie glimmering lifelessly under the hot ring lamps, as a new star would emerge as the knockout victor...  Dominick Guinn had finally arrived.

Since then a great winning performance in a competitive fight on a live HBO TV show against Duncan DokiwarI showcasing the 'Night of the Young Heavyweights 2003' and a very low key winning time filler over the very experienced Derrick Banks, Dominick remains still unbeaten and up for anything as he prepares to put it all on show in his home State against very credible Monte Barrett, who has recently shown that at 29 - 3 with 16 KOs he can spell trouble, like he did with Joe Mesi just a few months ago.

"It's all in the hands of the good Lord," Dominick said to me recently, a devoted Christian who dedicates his boxing success to his late parents whose names he carries proudly into the ring on his trunks ... "Barrett had better be ready, because I am."

Dominick recalled his days as a starry eyed amateur with no money, just dreams... Look at him now,  24-0 and 17 KOs... Mr. and Mrs. Guinn, you have a son you can be very proud of.

Apart from Dominick Guinn and Jermain Taylor you can also find former Guinn opponent Duncan DokiwarI back in the hunt on the same card along with ex amateur Guinn opponent and Arkansas product Terry Smith also at heavyweight..