Notes on a Scorecard - June 26, 1991

First we built up Mike Tyson. Then we tore him down. . . .

Before he got a chance to prove it, he was being called one of the great heavyweight champions of all time. Now his attitude, tactics and even skills are being doubted. From champ to chump. . . .

As usual, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. . . .

What has been so horrendous about his performances since he lost the title to Buster Douglas? He knocked out Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart in the first round and stopped Razor Ruddock in the seventh. . . .

Tyson controlled six of the seven rounds against Ruddock on March 18 and probably would have knocked him out if referee Richard Steele hadn’t intervened prematurely. . . .

There probably would be no rematch Friday at the Mirage in Las Vegas except that Steele called a cease-fire before even looking into Ruddock’s eyes. . . .

Tyson’s body-punching that night was the best of his 41-bout career. . . .

But it also can be said that he neglected to move his head and shoulders--a dangerous proposition for a guy on the attack--forgot his jab and didn’t fire combinations with his old power and abandon. . . .

Naturally, Don King is being blamed for all this. . . .

He shouldn’t be. Like most fighters, Tyson was easier to handle when he was hungry. However, King leaves himself open to criticism by acting as both promoter and manager of Tyson. . . .

Ruddock can make the rematch more competitive by re-discovering the left jab that served him so well earlier in his career. But the feeling here is that the fight will end with Tyson putting an exclamation point to it rather than the referee applying a question mark. . . .

A young heavyweight to watch is Dave Dixon, 23, of East Los Angeles, who will make his main-event debut Monday night at the Forum after knocking out eight of his first 10 opponents. . . .

Terry Donahue spent his 47th birthday Monday teaching football to kids at his camp at UC Irvine. It’s hard to believe that he will begin his 16th season as UCLA coach on Sept. 7 against Brigham Young at the Rose Bowl. . . .

Congratulations to Mark and Elizabeth Gottfried upon the birth of their first child. Son Brandon probably will pursue a career in sports some day. His dad is an assistant basketball coach at UCLA; his grandfather Joe is the athletic director at South Alabama and his great-uncle Mike is an ESPN football analyst and former coach. . . .

Both the best coach and player in the Southwestern Athletic Conference are named Eddie Robinson. The coach with most victories works at Grambling, and the linebacker who could go high in the next NFL draft plays at Alabama State. . . .

Linebackers Lorenzo and Myron Baker of Louisiana Tech are known as the Fabulous Baker Brothers. . . .

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee has been named to serve on the 46-member NCAA Council, the highest-ranking governing body within the organization. . . .

Clipper guard Gary Grant donated the $10,000 first prize he won at the Battle of the Basketball Stars to teammate Charles Smith’s charitable foundation in Bridgeport, Conn. . . .

Name Game: Jennifer Pancake lost in the finals of the L.A. Open squash tournament. . . .

Four NFL first-round choices signed within a week after the draft, but none since. . . .

Expansion will dilute NHL talent, but the drafting of young East European players will help. . . .

I don’t know about the first coach of the Tampa NHL team that begins play in the 1992-93 season, but Phil Esposito figures to be the second. . . .

Hitting for the cycle is a rarer feat than pitching a no-hitter. Since 1900, there have been 100 no-hitters in the American League and 90 in the National. Dave Winfield’s cycle Monday at Kansas City was the 93rd in the American League. In the National, it has been done 89 times. . . .

The Yankees would be crazy not to make New York native Bobby Bonilla an offer he can’t refuse when he becomes a free agent. . . .

Their 13 consecutive losses in Arlington, Tex., is a record in one ballpark for the Yankee franchise. . . .

The air in Denver is so thin that Marvelous Marv Throneberry hit 42 home runs in 1956, 40 in ’57 and 36 in ’55 for the Bears of the American Assn. . . .

When he comes off the disabled list, Royal reliever Mark Davis may become a starting pitcher. . . .

Both Bay Area teams are down about 100,000 in attendance. . . .

Can you believe the All-Star voting? Darryl Strawberry over Tony Gwynn, Mark McGwire over Cecil Fielder and Jose Canseco over Ruben Sierra. . . .

Promoter Al Franken is talking about a rematch of Mary Slaney with her old Olympic Games sparring partner, Zola Budd, in an indoor mile next January at the Sports Arena.