Boxing / Earl Gustkey : Holyfield-Dokes Bout Gives Fans a Reason to Take Heart in the Sport

In a way, it was awful to see. No one, no matter how much they are paid, should take that many hard blows to the head.

And no one, in any lifetime, should be asked to summon that much courage, that much heart, short of wartime combat.

But it was a war, last Saturday’s heavyweight battle between Evander Holyfield and Michael Dokes in Las Vegas.

Boxing, for all its blemishes and critics, every so often rewards its followers with something so special it makes it easier to put up with the frequent mismatches, the phony ratings and the rest of the sport’s nonsense.

As a group, boxers aren’t eloquent. Few could tell you, for example, why they possess such courage and so many of us do not.

But neither Holyfield nor Dokes needed to say a thing after they had assaulted each other for just short of 10 rounds. When Dokes finally went crashing down in the 10th, he had absolutely nothing left.

You found yourself wondering in the aftermath about the nature of courage itself--about how Dokes, 30, could display such heart inside a boxing ring and yet be so ill-equipped to handle drug addiction, which took 33 months out of his career.

The 10-round battle between Holyfield and Dokes ranks as the most exciting heavyweight bout since Larry Holmes beat Ken Norton in 1978. On a list of most exciting heavyweight fights since the mid-1950s, it makes the top 10. Some others:

1955--Rocky Marciano-Archie Moore, New York.

1973--Muhammad Ali-Ken Norton II, Los Angeles.

1974, 1975--Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier II and III; New York, Manila.

1976--George Foreman-Ron Lyle, Las Vegas.

1978--Larry Holmes-Ken Norton, Las Vegas.

1983--Michael Dokes-Mike Weaver II, Las Vegas.

Actually, 1989 is already a big year for memorable boxing matches. The Roberto Duran-Iran Barkley bout in Atlantic City, N.J., last month also makes the long-remembered list.

After he had lost a decision and his World Boxing Council middleweight championship to Duran, Barkley said a lot about the primal appeal his sport holds on so many people when he said of the 37-year-old Duran:

“It was his heart; it just wouldn’t go.”

Ken Sanders, Holyfield’s manager, caught a lot of headlines with his $25-million, winner-take-all challenge to Mike Tyson after the Dokes fight, which was his intent, but don’t look for it to happen.

Dan Goossen, middleweight champion Michael Nunn’s manager, was talking about the winner-take-all proposition the other day.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

“Holyfield stands to make an absolute minimum $8 million fighting Tyson. You don’t throw that away. Even if you’re convinced your guy will win, what about if he loses on a cut in the first round?

“Tyson-Holyfield doesn’t need a gimmick to make serious money. Remember, Tyson brings a lot to the table.”

Boxing Notes

Derrick Kelly defends his North American Boxing Federation championship against Derwin Richards Monday at the Forum. . . . Nevada State Athletic Commission figures show the Tyson-Frank Bruno fight drew 6,167 paid spectators and a live gate of $3,675,850. The hotel paid $7 million to acquire the fight. . . . Kevin Rooney, trainer of Mike Tyson until the heavyweight champion fired him, is working with former lightweight champion Vinny Pazienza. . . . Jesus Poll, Michael Nunn’s junior-featherweight stablemate at Ten Goose Boxing, will be after Juan Jose Estrada’s World Boxing Assn. championship April 4 at the Forum. The Forum plays host to another world title bout April 25 when Daniel Zaragoza defends his World Boxing Council super-bantamweight championship against Paul Banke. . . . ESPN will show San Diego’s Terry Norris and Robbie Sims from Las Vegas April 18.