Trump Card: Tyson vs. Spinks : Tonight’s Fight in Atlantic City May Gross $70 Million

Tonight, before a live gate at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, which is attached to the Trump Plaza Hotel, and a pay television hookup that could push the total gross up to a record $70 million, there’s going to be a fist fight between two athletes who come from two of America’s worst ghettos.

In one corner, there’s Mike Tyson, the undisputed heavyweight champion. He’s the one from Amboy Street, in the Brownsville Section of The Bronx. When he was 12, he was a street mugger. Now he’s 21. For this fight, he gets $20 to $22 million.

In the other corner, there’s Michael Spinks, the challenger. He’s from the Pruitt-Igoe projects in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe was so bad the city fathers blew it off the face of the earth several years ago with dynamite. Spinks and his brothers used to look for food scraps in neighborhood incinerators, and scoop up change from the wishing wells at St. Louis’ Gateway Arch. Now he’s 31. For this fight, he gets a guaranteed $13.5 million.

Does any of this make sense so far?

As rags-to-riches stuff, does it work?

And as Don King, the promoter, likes to say every day: “Only in America . . . “

Tyson-Spinks. Finally, it’s here.

And what we have here is one of those rare, once-in-a-generation confrontations that men watch, captured by the pure intensity of it all, and then, decades later, are still remembering, when their grandchildren come along.

In this case, it’s two undefeated heavyweights, both with impressive credentials, and both in their prime. Even better, one (Tyson) is a seemingly indestructible puncher (34-0, 30 knockouts) whereas the other (Spinks) is a master boxer who has throughout a 12-year career bottled up and beaten superior punchers. And he’s never been knocked off his feet.

Neither man has been beaten since they were amateurs, trying to make an Olympic team. In 1976, Spinks lost to a Navy boxer named Keith Groome. In 1984, Tyson lost twice to Henry Tillman.

All week, Tyson has remained a 4-1 or 7-2 favorite.

This, the wise guys say, is his breakthrough fight, the one that can establish the kid with the gold-toothed smile as a great heavyweight, instead of a good one. Spinks backers are looking back, into history, and find hope in the fact that numerous such confrontations have gone to the boxer, not the slugger.

In 1892, James J. Corbett, a fancy dan from San Francisco, made America’s bully, John L. Sullivan, look foolish before knocking him out. When a Marine Corps veteran named Gene Tunney met brawler/puncher Jack Dempsey twice, in 1926 and 1927, he won 19 of 20 rounds.

A much smaller, quicker Billy Conn boxed Joe Louis silly for 12 rounds in 1941 before Louis finally caught him in the 13th. The last important meeting of undefeated heavyweights was March 8, 1971, when a puncher, Joe Frazier, decisioned Muhammad Ali in New York.

And most recently, 14 months ago, you have another big underdog in a boxer-puncher matchup, Sugar Ray Leonard, beating Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Conclusion: Perhaps it’s always best to expect the unexpected when the guy with the muscles meets a boxer.

We’re late getting around to this one. It was supposed to happen last year, in the HBO-Las Vegas Hilton heavyweight unification tournament. However, in something that today resembles a sting operation, Spinks’ manager, Butch Lewis, pulled Spinks out of the tournament.

Instead of fighting Tyson in the tournament and earning $2 million, it made more sense to Butch for Spinks to fight (and knock out) Gerry Cooney outside the tournament for $5 million, which he did, and then pick up Tyson later, for much more than $5 million, which he will.

Pulling this off, of course, meant breaking some contracts. Predictably, HBO and the Hilton Nevada Corp. both sued Lewis, each asking for $8 million. John Giovenco, president of the Las Vegas Hilton, says Hilton attorneys are prepared to document “enormous losses” when Hilton Nevada takes on Lewis in a Nevada courtroom next month.

“Butch Lewis has already proven our case for us,” Giovenco said.

“The more successful Tyson-Spinks is, the better our chances are in court, our lawyers say. All of that should have been ours. What happened was, Butch Lewis sold us the front end of a heavyweight tournament series, then backed out of the back end.”

Needless to say, relations between HBO and the Spinks camp have been testy of late. HBO is producing the closed-circuit and pay-per-view telecast tonight.

HBO also will show a tape-delayed telecast, reportedly Friday night, but the pay-cable network is not permitted to advertise it until after the fight.

It’ll be a one-sided telecast. Lewis has prohibited HBO cameras or microphones in Spinks’ corner between rounds.

Donald Trump and one of his Atlantic City hotels, Trump Plaza, was the host for Spinks-Cooney. For Tyson-Spinks, there was to have been closed bidding between Trump, the Las Vegas Hilton and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

It was announced that Trump had won, with an $11 million bid, topping the previous record of $6.5 million, set by Caesars Palace for Hagler-Leonard. After losing out on Tyson-Spinks, both the Las Vegas Hilton and Caesars Palace cried foul, claiming Trump actually had a first refusal option.

The fight of the ‘80s in hand, the first thing Trump had to do was unload a convention. The Police Chiefs of America had rented the Atlantic City Convention Hall for this week. Out came Trump’s checkbook. For $200,000, the chiefs walked.

While all this was going on, Team Tyson was coming apart at the seams.

Tyson married actress Robin Givens last February, and took her to Japan with him for his March 21 fight against Tony Tubbs in Tokyo. Two days later, his co-manager, Jim Jacobs, 58, died of pneumonia.

Tyson’s new wife and his mother-in-law, Ruth Roper, went house-hunting. Both wife and mother in law were reportedly shocked to learn Tyson had difficulty coming up with a measly $4.2 million to buy a New Jersey mansion.

OK, let’s see the books, said Ruth and Robin.

Tyson’s manager, Jacobs’ longtime partner Bill Cayton, was hurt. Things have been going downhill ever since.

A chronology shows the following, on the running soap, “For the Love of Mike”:

--King, the promoter, begins wooing Tyson and the two new women in his life. He calls Cayton “A vicious SOB.”

--Tyson says of Cayton: “He’s stealing from me.”

--Cayton denies all, and says: “Mike is the best-managed fighter in the history of boxing.”

--Tyson apologizes. After a meeting, he tells Cayton: “As long as I fight, you’re my manager.”

--Later Tyson says: “I’ve had it with Cayton. He’s gone.”

--Ruth Roper takes time out to sue New York Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield for giving her a “sexually transmitted disease,” and the case is settled out of court. Winfield denies all.

--Don King calls Cayton “Satan in disguise.”

--Stephanie Givens, Robin’s sister, in an interview, calls the Tyson-Givens marriage “a disaster,” and says Tyson has physically abused Robin. Tyson denies all.

--In a TV interview, Robin says Cayton has hired private detectives to uncover the Robin-Ruth scandal. She also says Cayton attempted to bribe a priest to break up the marriage. Cayton denies all.

That brings us to Sunday, and a chilling “interview” between former light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres and Tyson, published in the New York Daily News. Torres, like Tyson, was trained by the late Cus D’Amato. A close friend of Tyson’s, Torres is covering the fight for the Daily News.

“I feel like killing,” Torres quoted Tyson as saying, in his penthouse quarters on the Boardwalk.

“That’s good,” Torres said, “it’s time to start feeling that way. The fight is only 10 days away.”

“I don’t mean it that way,” Torres quoted Tyson as saying. “I wanna kill now! Watch and see. Today I’m gonna kill someone! . . . The world doesn’t understand that I would kill and die for my wife. . . . Let me tell you something. I love my wife and whoever messes with her is dead. . . . “

Wow. One can only guess that in the Spinks camp, cloaked in secrecy for two weeks, everyone is under orders to keep Spinks away from copies of Sunday’s New York Daily News.

No one knows if Tyson, who turns 22 Thursday, will carry all this baggage into the ring with him tonight. But whether he does or doesn’t, some expect a heavy shoe to drop sometime after the fight. . . . if the champion prevails.

A much-discussed scenario this week has Tyson winning, then announcing afterward he’s retiring, to devote his life to Robin. But it’s all a setup, to force the issue of Cayton’s contract, which runs into 1992. Tyson retires. A tournament is held to create a new heavyweight champion. Let’s say it’s Evander Holyfield.

Meanwhile, an individual or group is found to buy out Cayton for, let’s say, $10 million. Tyson announces he’s coming back. He signs to fight Holyfield for something like $50 million. Then someone interviews Stephanie Givens again and she says that Mike is still beating Robin. . . . Well, something like that.

The other sideshow to Countdown Week here was the preposterous threat by International Boxing Federation chief Bob Lee to strip Tyson of his title if the fight were scheduled to go 12 rounds instead of 15. The WBA and WBC had agreed on 12, and even the IBF had voted that all of its future championship fights after Tyson-Spinks would be at 12 rounds.

Nevertheless, Lee backed down in the end, and both King and Cayton took credit for saving an “undisputed” heavyweight title fight.

Spinks, who took the title from Larry Holmes, was stripped of his championship when he bolted the HBO-Las Vegas Hilton tournament.

Spinks’ career is a curious one. He’s never looked like much. He sometimes reels about the ring like a drunk, or he darts, crab-like, in and out, and he’ll even appear to be about to swoon, and then suddenly he’s punching furiously, scoring points. He’s boxing’s Mr. herky-jerky.

It’s true that Larry Holmes was 36 when he lost his title to Spinks. But he was still a formidable heavyweight, and in two fights he could never find Spinks. Of Spinks, boxing people like to say: “He always looks awful, yet always wins.”

For Tyson, greatness is as near as 8 p.m., PDT. Beyond Spinks, nearly everyone agrees, there are no challenging assignments. With a victory over Spinks, he will have vanquished the last remaining credible opponent.

And so, a champion for years to come, one to compare to Dempsey, Louis, and Ali? Or a prodigy, brought along too quickly on a diet of no-talents and seniors, and then thrown in against a smart, resourceful 31-year-old athlete who has in him one more great effort?

FIGHT FACTS

WHO: Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks.

WHAT: World heavyweight championship.

WHEN: Tonight, 8, PDT.

WHERE: Atlantic City Convention Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.

TELEVISION: Closed circuit and pay-per-view only.

RECORDS: Tyson 34-0, 30 knockouts; Spinks 31-0, 21 knockouts

UNDERCARD: Trevor Berbick vs. Carl (The Truth) Williams, 12 rounds, heavyweights; James (Buster) Douglas vs. Mike Williams, 10 rounds, heavyweights; Razor Ruddick vs. Reggie Gross, 10 rounds, heavyweights

TALE OF THE TAPE

Tale of the tape for the Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks heavyweight championship fight:

TYSON SPINKS Age 21 31 Weight 218 212 Height 5-11 1/2 6-2 1/2 Reach 71 76 Chest normal 43 40 Chest expanded 45 42 Biceps 16 14 Forearm 14 13 Waist 34 33 Thigh 27 23 Calf 18 16 Neck 19 3/4 16 Wrist 8 7 1/2 Fist 13 13 Ankle 11 11

Where the Fight Will Be Shown

Tonight’s Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks heavyweight championship fight will be televised only on pay-per-view cable and at closed-circuit locations.

The undercard starts at 6 p.m., PDT, the main event at 8.

The cost of the fight on most systems is $50. Some systems, such as Century Cable, which serves Beverly Hills and other westside communities, are not offering the fight.

The price at most closed-circuit locations is $35 or $40. An updated list of those locations:

Anaheim: Anaheim Celebrity Theater. Buellton: Holiday Inn. Carlsbad: La Costa Hotel and Spa. Catalina: Avalon Casino Ballroom. Century City: Sports Deli. El Centro: Buick night club. Glendale: Clancy’s. Hermosa Beach: C.J. Brett’s.

Irvine: Marriott Hotel. Laguna Beach: Tortilla Flats. Laguna Hills: El Ranchito. Lancaster: Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. Long Beach: Legends, Ramada Renaissance, Yankee Doodles. Los Angeles: Orpheum Theater on South Broadway, Red Onion on Wilshire, Damiano’s Mr. Pizza on West Pico. Los Angeles Airport area: Hyatt Hotel.

Malibu: Adobe restaurant (benefit for Malibu Emergency Center). North Hollywood: Sheraton Universal Hotel. Palm Desert: B.B. O’Brien’s, Costa’s in the Marriott’s Desert Springs, and 19th Hole. Palm Springs: Palm Springs Convention Center. Redondo Beach: Sheraton at Redondo and the Strand.

Riverside: Harry C’s and Monopoly’s Park Place. San Bernardino: Maruko Hotel. San Diego: Diego’s, Dance Machine/Country Bumpkin and Tijuana Tilly’s. San Juan Capistrano: Coach House. Santa Maria: Hilton at the Airport. Santa Monica: Holiday Inn Bayview Plaza.

Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Athletic Club. Thousand Oaks: Hyatt Westlake Plaza. Victorville: San Bernardino County Fairgrounds. Vista: Vista Entertainment Center. West Covina: Red Onion.