The First One Is Free for Soviets as Promoter Cultivates New Ground

You don’t have to pay $34.95 to see the Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock fight tonight on pay-per-view television.

Get on a flight to Moscow and you can watch it free.

Promoter Don King gave the telecast free of charge to the Soviet Union’s state-run television broadcasting company. The fight will be seen at 10:30 p.m. March 19, 12 hours tape-delayed. The producer of the telecast, Valentin Yegorov, said it will be the first major pro fight ever televised in the Soviet Union.

How many Soviets will watch?

“About 100 million,” Yegorov said.

Said King: “I gave them the telecast because I wanted the USSR to see what a major pro fight is like. If they want another one, then we’ll talk rubles.”