BOXING / EARL GUSTKEY : Foreman Has Him Figured Out

Between cheeseburger jokes Thursday morning, George Foreman spelled out his plan to defeat Evander Holyfield and become, at 43, a champion again.

He said Holyfield is an instinctive fighter, thoroughly predictable. He said he does not believe that the champion, as everyone else seems to believe, will fight him from long range and try to burn up Foreman’s legs in the early rounds.

“He won’t do that,” Foreman predicted. “Holyfield always fights the same--he takes a lot of punches and gets in lots of exchanges. He won’t fight any other way. He likes to mix it up. When he does that with me, I’ll knock him out.”

Foreman added that Holyfield’s trainer, Lou Duva, will learn that Holyfield, psychologically, cannot function as a long-range boxer.

“Most people are creatures of their own nature,” he said. “So we have here a guy who will be told, ‘Now don’t mix it up with this guy, Evander, stay away from him.’ “That’s like trying to coach Spud Webb to block a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hook shot. It can’t be done.

“First of all, the crowd won’t allow Holyfield to run from me. There’ll be a lot of excitement when this fight starts, and anybody who pays $5 for a seat (actually, the Atlantic City Convention Hall’s 21,000 seats will be scaled from $1,000 to $100) deserves a good fight. “I am going to pick a fight with Holyfield in every round, and if he runs from me, the crowd will (be a factor). Then I’ll get him in a clinch and start whisperin’ to him. I’ll say: ‘Whatsa matter with you, running from a senior citizen! What’s all this Real Deal stuff? Why you runnin’ from an old man?’

“He won’t like that, and he’ll start mixing it up with me. And that’s when I’ll knock him out.

“Remember one thing, every round he runs from me, when he’s showing the world he doesn’t want to get near me, that makes me the uncrowned champion.

“He doesn’t hit hard enough to knock me out. Ron Lyle hit me so hard he paralyzed my legs and I didn’t even know where he’d hit me. Holyfield doesn’t hit nearly that hard.

“Believe me, this will be an easy fight for me. It will shock you. Look at his past fights. It’s in him, to take a lot of punches.”

And it is Foreman’s mouth, co-promoter Bob Arum indicated Thursday, that has a chance to catapult Holyfield-Foreman past the $38-million gate for Holyfield-Buster Douglas as boxing’s all-time box office winner.

After he had kept a couple of hundred reporters in their seats for the duration of a news conference--boxing news conferences normally have a high walk-out rate--Arum marveled at Foreman’s promotional skills.

“He’s incredible,” Arum said. “We haven’t had a guy who can entertain an audience like this since Ali.”

The Holyfield-Foreman marketing and promotion teams are laying the groundwork for a megafight April 19. The projected charge for the home pay-per-view telecast is $34.95. Rick Kulis, who has marketed the pay-per-view telecasts of numerous major fights in Southern California, said major arenas may be needed this time to accommodate all those in the Southland who want to watch.

“For the first time since the (1987) Leonard-Hagler fight, we’re looking at booking big venues like the Forum, the Universal Amphitheather and the Long Beach Arena for this fight, in addition to the 80-or-so restaurants and bars that normally buy the telecast,” he said.

Agoura Hills middleweight champion Michael Nunn, originally from Davenport, Iowa, is still trying to book a fight at the University of Iowa’s basketball arena, despite having been turned down last week. Nunn was turned down by a university official who called boxing “an unsafe activity.”

But Nunn’s lawyer, Ron May, went to the Statehouse at Des Moines, recruited legislative support, and says he has pulled it off. The tentative plan is for Nunn to fight Ireland’s Steve Collins May 10 at the 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Chavez Watch: According to his new promoter, Bob Arum, all is well with Julio Cesar Chavez’s legal status--for the moment, at least. Arum, who signed Chavez to a six-fight, $15-million deal recently, only to learn later that Chavez had signed a contract in Mexico with his former promoter, Don King, says he rests easy now.

“All he signed was a contract to fight for King March 18 at the Mirage (on the Tyson-Ruddock card), which is fine with me,” Arum said. “My deal with him doesn’t take effect until May 1. And as for King claiming Julio is bound to him for as long as he’s a champion, it’s just not true. His old contract spelled it out: As long as he’s the junior-welterweight champion.”

Presumably, that means Chavez, under Arum, will abandon his share of the junior-welterweight titles and move up to welterweight.