Holyfield-Tyson: Bout Waiting to Happen : Boxing: All the in-fighting among promoters and telecasters has the matchup on hold.

Even though it remains unmade and may not happen until 1992, the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson match, possibly boxing’s first $100-million fight, is generating more interest than the Friday rematch between Tyson and Razor Ruddock.

Even though Holyfield-Tyson is the fight that most want to see, it is out of reach, bogged down in a bitter dispute between rival promoters Don King and Dan Duva.

When Tyson was the heavyweight champion and Holyfield the No. 1 contender, they signed to meet on June 18, 1990, in Atlantic City, N.J. But when Buster Douglas knocked out Tyson in Tokyo, Tyson-Holyfield was abandoned--temporarily, everyone thought.

That was 16 months ago, and no one has put the pieces together.

With negotiations broken off again, one wonders if both fighters will be gray when they finally meet. Given the preparations needed, time is running out on a 1991 Holyfield-Tyson match. Holyfield’s promoter, Dan Duva, who won a purse bid for the fight at $51.1 million, has offered Tyson $15 million and has secured a date, Nov. 8, and even a site, Caesars Palace.

But he can’t seem to secure Tyson’s promoter, Don King.

Not even Friday’s Tyson-Ruddock II bout at the Mirage, a rematch of the March 18 fight in which Tyson stopped Ruddock in a controversial finish, has slackened speculation over why Tyson and Holyfield can’t find their way into a boxing ring together.

The ingredients normally present for a rematch seem to be lacking in Tyson-Ruddock II. Ruddock, most agreed, was one of the three best heavyweights when he met Tyson. But Tyson, who took Ruddock’s vaunted left hook and remained standing, beat up Ruddock for seven rounds.

Apparently, only referee Richard Steele’s premature stoppage of the fight was the basis for creating a rematch, because there is little expectation that the result the second time will be much different.

Another theory is that Tyson-Ruddock II was in the beginning a Don King negotiating ploy, designed to squeeze better Holyfield-Tyson terms from Holyfield’s promoter, Duva. It didn’t work, so the theory goes, and that’s why we actually have Tyson-Ruddock II.

Still another scenario is that King is waiting out Bill Cayton’s managerial contract with Tyson, which expires next Feb. 12. Until then, Cayton earns 20% of every Tyson purse. Tyson left Cayton for King in 1988.

Theories on why Holyfield-Tyson hasn’t been made are numerous, ranging from King’s insistence on control of the fight to a beef between pay-per-view networks TVKO (HBO’s pay-per-view arm) and SET (Showtime Event Television, Showtime’s pay-per-view unit).

This week, boxing insiders were asked why Holyfield-Tyson is longer in the making than “Gone With the Wind.” Their replies:

Alex Wallau, ABC-TV boxing coordinator and analyst: “The holdup is Don King, fighting for his life, but not Mike Tyson’s life. Don is trying to position himself in this thing. . . . It’s rare for him to have the challenger and not the champion. He’s feeling his way, trying to find out what he can get away with.

“The hang-up is money, but not necessarily money to the fighters. In this case it’s money to King.”

Butch Lewis, boxing promoter: “Forget Don King’s ego, the money and Cayton’s contract. It’s none of that. The hang-up is the pay-per-view deal. TVKO is aligned with the Duvas but wants options on future Tyson fights if Holyfield loses.

“SET is King’s network, and naturally they not only think they have rights to all Tyson fights, but would also want options on Holyfield if he beats Tyson.

“This fight will happen when some judge decides who’s going to televise it.”

Don King, Tyson’s promoter: “TVKO owns Evander Holyfield, because the Duvas sold him out for a few dollars, and now they’re embarrassed because TVKO wants options on Mike and they’re not going to get ‘em. Tyson-Holyfield could be made tomorrow if TVKO dropped their demand for options.

“We offered the Duvas $30 million if they’d let us promote the fight, and they turned that down, too. Hey, $30 million is more than Holyfield could earn fighting any four other guys.”

Bill Cayton, Tyson’s manager: “Tyson-Holyfield should have happened a year ago. King’s handling of Mike Tyson’s career has been outrageous--he’s used millions of dollars of Mike’s money to pay outrageous purses to fighters like Ruddock and Julio Cesar Chavez. In short, he’s managed Mike Tyson in Don King’s best interests, not Mike’s.

“He’s using Mike to acquire and pay a stable of fighters, like Chavez, who could never make that kind of money without Mike. He’s paying Razor Ruddock five times what he should be (Ruddock earns $5 million Friday, the same as Tyson). Ruddock should be making about $1.25 million.

“Even making the first Ruddock fight when the Holyfield fight was there was stupid. But then making the second Ruddock fight is idiotic.”

Harold Smith, light-heavyweight champion Thomas Hearns’ adviser and rumored to be a future Tyson manager: “Don King is used to being in complete control of a major fight. That way, he gets first count on the money. Also, he’s used to paying other people, not other people paying him.

“With the Duvas offering Tyson $15 million, that’s still not controlling the money. And until Mike Tyson himself demands first count on the money, he won’t be in control of anything.”

Larry Merchant, HBO analyst: “Think of the heavyweight championship of the world as capital. When you control that, as Don King has for 20 years, you have a real asset. You can control everything. So that’s why control of the Holyfield-Tyson fight is so important to him. “Also, this would be a high-risk fight for King. If Mike Tyson loses, it’s a disaster for King. It means his pay-per-view deal with Showtime is gone. No more Julio Cesar Chavez.

“So right now there’s no real incentive for him to make this fight. Why risk losing to Holyfield for $15 million when he can get $6 million to $8 million fighting guys Tyson is almost certain to beat?”

Lou Falcigno, boxing promoter: “It’s a combination of three factors. First, everyone’s trying to get options on the other guy’s fighter and no one wants to give them up. Second, there’s a big fight under way as to who gets the telecast, HBO or Showtime. Third, they can’t agree on the purse split.”

Scott Kurnit, president, Showtime Event Television: “Dan Duva and TVKO have a relationship, and that relationship seems to us to be premature. First you make the fight, then you make the telecast.

“We have a relationship with Don King. If we’re not involved in Tyson-Holyfield, so be it. But would we like to be? Yes, absolutely. But the Duva-TVKO relationship clouds everything.

“We would not ask for options on Holyfield if we did the telecast. But TVKO is asking for options, and that is crazy. That should not be happening, that’s what the delay is all about.”

Seth Abraham, president, TVKO: “We have had no discussion with King about options. What happened is, Dan (Duva) offered Don $15 million and Don asked for $25 million. Dan told him there wasn’t that much in the promotion, but that he should talk to me about ‘other considerations.’

“So, I had one cordial meeting with Don, but it was a totally non- productive meeting. We never even discussed options. When Don talks about options, it’s a smoke-screen. If it wasn’t options, he’d complain about the weather. Or the color of Holyfield’s shorts.

“Basically, Don is trying to deflect the fight, and he will continue to deflect it as long as he can keep Mike at bay. If the deal that’s on the table, $15 million for Tyson, was acceptable to King and without any options being involved, we’d make that fight immediately.

“If Holyfield were to lose, we would lose the heavyweight championship but we’re still in the boxing business. We still have George Foreman, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, Terry Norris, Hector Camacho and Michael Moorer. If Tyson were to lose, Don is simply out of business.”

Many of those interviewed who fault King for the Holyfield-Tyson delay also blame Tyson for passively allowing King to run his career.

As Cayton, Tyson’s manager, said: “When you have a promoter managing a fighter, that’s a terrible conflict of interest. King is managing King’s career, not Mike’s.”

The news about Holyfield-Tyson is there’s no news. Instead, we watch Tyson-Ruddock II.