BOXING : Everyone Wants Tyson-Ruddock--Except Tyson

Boy, is that Murad Muhammad smart.

First, he pulls his fighter, Razor Ruddock, out of the rematch with Mike Tyson in protest of the suspension and fine levied upon him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for kicking Tyson trainer Richie Giachetti in the head during the post-fight melee. Didn’t the commission know Muhammad was only trying to buff his shoes on Giachetti’s wooly head?

Then, when the commission sets a date to “reconsider the evidence,” Muhammad does an about-face and announces that no matter what the outcome of the hearing, Ruddock will go through with the fight as originally scheduled. So in one fell swoop, Muhammad rendered Wednesday’s hearing a moot point--the boxing officials upheld the $25,000 fine and one-year suspension--taking the onus off the commission and placing it squarely where it belongs--on Tyson.

This is because Murad Muhammad knows what many in boxing have been whispering about for the past two weeks: that everyone in Las Vegas, from Muhammad to Ruddock to Don King to Steve Wynn to the five-man commission, wants Tyson-Ruddock II to happen. Everyone, that is, except Tyson.

Last week, some TV executives who insist on anonymity paid a visit to Tyson Central. There they were told, by close friends of Tyson, that while the former heavyweight champion sincerely dislikes Ruddock and relishes the prospect of beating him again, he wants nothing to do with King, for several reasons.

The most important, of course, is that Tyson has not seen one penny from the first fight with Ruddock above the $2 million he was guaranteed, even though King told him the pay-per-view receipts would drive his paycheck up to $12 million.

Now, King is saying it could take months for all the pay-per-view money to come in, but that doesn’t wash when you consider that Evander Holyfield and George Foreman already have been paid for their fight, which took place a full month after Tyson-Ruddock. And it doesn’t help that King still owes Tyson more than $2 million from the Buster Douglas fight, which was 15 months ago.

All of this has resulted in heightened tensions between Tyson and King and between King and Wynn, who is threatening a lawsuit if King doesn’t produce a Tyson fight in the ring of Wynn’s Mirage Hotel June 28.

Now, Showtime production people are in Vegas preparing for a show, but they don’t know which one. If Tyson-Ruddock II goes, it will be on Showtime Event Television, a pay-per-view outlet. If not, then the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez-Harold Brazier, Azumah Nelson-Jeff Fenech, Riddick Bowe-Rodolfo Marin will become a Showtime event on premium cable. And ABC-TV execs are out there as well; they have obtained the delayed-broadcast rights to Tyson-Ruddock I (which will be shown on “Wide World of Sports” Saturday) in exchange for providing network promotional spots for Tyson-Ruddock II. But if the rematch falls through, ABC will have gotten its delayed broadcast for free. Either way, it wins.

So, you may think that by his statement last week, Murad Muhammad was telling the world that Tyson-Ruddock II is definitely on. But what he really is saying is, if Tyson-Ruddock II does not happen, don’t blame us.

Legendary Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson may have walked away from millions to fight Muhammad Ali in the 1970s, but not all of his compadres hold to the Castro-Stevenson party line: Jorge Gonzales, Cuba’s amateur super-heavyweight, accepted a $50,000 signing bonus from Miami promoter Luis DeCubas and will make his pro debut June 21.

‘Tis said Tyson saw Robin Givens in “A Rage in Harlem” and got worked up into a sweat of his own, flying off to L.A. in search of the former Mrs. Tyson. Don’t know if they hooked up, but Tyson did catch the Trail Blazers-Lakers game on Sunday.

Top Rank henchman and Donald Curry manager Akbar Muhammad is so confident of his man’s chances, he is betting anyone who will listen that Curry will knock out Terry Norris when the two meet for Norris’ WBC junior middleweight title Saturday in Palm Springs. Also on the card, Meldrick Taylor defends his WBA welterweight title against Luis Garcia.

Ali is in New York all next week to publicize his new authorized biography, “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times,” written by Tom Hauser. The Greatest will be honored by Mayor Dinkins at Gracie Mansion next Thursday and then will be guest of honor at the annual Boxing Writers Association of America awards dinner June 7 at the Grand Hyatt.

The Rev. Al Sharpton has been in New Orleans at the IBF convention making some noise about the proposed sanctioning of a Welcome Ncita title defense in South Africa. Sharpton is right on one level--as long as apartheid exists, no American should do business there. But is it fair to Ncita, a black South African, to be deprived of defending his title in his homeland?

Revealing little exchange between Dan Duva and King Friday at a WBC hearing to determine the purse split if Tyson-Holyfield goes to a purse offer.

Duva: “Evander’s going to knock Tyson right into your lap.”

King: “No problem. I’ll be right back with the next challenger.”

Aah, it’s great to have options.