From a ring below the scoreboard, a few feet from the statue of the late Steelers owner who helped to bring the last under-the-stars title fight to Pittsburgh, Iron City Pro Boxing officials yesterday announced a Heinz Field schedule of outdoor matches starting next month.

On Aug. 7 in the stadium's south-end patio, Rayco "War" Saunders will meet Philadelphia's Jesse Ottman in what is advertised as a bout for the North American Boxing Council's cruiserweight (200-pound-plus) championship. That would make it the first local title fight without a roof since Art Rooney and company staged an Ezzard Charles-Jersey Joe Walcott bout at Forbes Field July 18, 1951.

In the event of rain, the seven-bout card will take place Aug. 14, while the Steelers are playing a preseason game in Detroit. The promoters also plan on a Sept. 17 outdoor show, the night before the Nebraska-Pitt game in Heinz Field, and a card inside the stadium's East Club on Nov. 24, the night before the West Virginia-Pitt game.

"I've dreamt of times like this," Jim Cvetic, executive director of Iron City Pro Boxing, said from inside the ring. He thanked Steelers chairman Dan Rooney.

Cvetic used the stadium's Coca-Cola Great Hall as a relatively outdoor venue for the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Championships in mid-April. And Paul Spadafora on Saturday fights across The Point in Station Square's Chevrolet Amphitheatre for the second time in the past three years. Nobody, however, has fought without a roof in Pittsburgh between Charles-Walcott and the Saunders-Ottman headliner some 53 years later.

Others on the Aug. 7 card are Mt. Lebanon's Rob Strauss, the Hill District's Chris Stallworth (nephew of ex-Steelers Hall of Famer John), Ghana emigre Raymond Narh and, in their pro debuts, North Braddock's Mario Acosta plus McKees Rocks' Jose Carraballo

To kick off the event, the organizers plan to hold an amateur card, a bikini contest to find ring-card girls and a party July 29 at the Boardwalk in the Strip District. Tickets for the Heinz Field fights, costing $50, $30 and $20, and to the amateur card/party, costing $20 and $10, are available through Ticketmaster or Iron City Pro Boxing at 412-716-3650.