Still fighting

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TEMPE, Ariz. -- No one has been voted the most unpopular Washington Redskins player of recent times. Had such a poll been taken, the likely winner - or loser - can be seen nightly at a suburban strip mall, inside a gym called Arizona Combat Sports, sweating and grunting and occasionally taking one on the chin.

Some unforgiving fans might believe Michael Westbrook deserves such treatment for how he presumably let everyone down, symbolized the futility of the post-Joe Gibbs Redskins and left a trail of ill will in his wake.

But he is not here to pay for his sins, real or imagined. The former Redskins wide receiver, who for seven years battled injuries, coaches, teammates, the media and himself, is training for yet another fight.

In the featured match of a card put on by an organization known as "King of the Cage " Payback," Westbrook is scheduled to climb into a 25-square-foot octagon enclosed by 6-foot high walls and take on another ex-NFL player, Jarrod Bunch. It is being billed as a "no holds barred cage fight" in Cleveland on Feb. 25 and available for pay-per-view on March 6 at $29.95 a pop.

The fight's status, however, has become uncertain. After learning this week Westbrook suffered a broken neck in a game in 1998 and had a small plate inserted to fuse the vertebrae, Bernie Profato, executive director of the Ohio Athletic Commission, said he must know for sure Westbrook is fit to compete.

"I'm gonna have to get some doctor to tell me there's no way the metal plate can endanger [Westbrook's] welfare," Profato said yesterday. "We have to get some release or confirmation that no serious injury can happen."

Two weeks ago, a participant in a "Toughman" competition in Dayton died from a blood clot on the brain. "We've got to be on the gun-shy side of things," Profato said.

Westbrook said he is fine, noting he had his best season in 1999 following the surgery. He said he will see a doctor for clearance and continue to train. Hard.

Despite the trash-sport connotation, this is real. The intensity of Westbrook's regimen and the amount of punishment he dishes out and absorbs gives no indication of fakery. The sport entails elements of boxing, kick-boxing and martial arts.

Westbrook has been pushing himself for months, running and lifting during the day, spending upward of three hours a night in the gym.