Rematch Figures to Be a Replay : Boxing: Biding time while awaiting Holyfield, Tyson is expected to repeat victory over Ruddock.

In the 42nd fight of his six-year career, Mike Tyson finds himself rematched tonight against a hulk who until last March 18 was thought by some to be the world’s best heavyweight, sort of an uncrowned champion.

But on that night, Tyson steadily chopped away at 6-foot-5 Razor Ruddock, finally stopping him in the seventh round. Although the ending was clouded a bit by referee Richard Steele’s quick-trigger finish, it was nonetheless a convincing victory for Tyson.

It had been said, by those who bought the theory that Ruddock was the uncrowned heavyweight champion, that Ruddock’s left hook was the most devastating single punch in boxing. Ruddock’s hook found Tyson’s head, and although he rocked the former champion more than once, Tyson remained upright through it all.

So, having soundly beaten the Jamaican-Canadian once, Tyson is asked to do it again tonight at the Mirage, on pay-per-view television. Boxing rematches normally follow great battles, a close fight or a controversial ending. Tyson-Ruddock II qualifies only on the last count, Steele’s premature TKO call.

At the finish last time, Ruddock was battered nearly helpless. But Steele embraced Tyson, signaling the fight’s end, even before Ruddock stumbled backward to the ropes. As he stood there, reeling, his right arm hooked over the top rope, he looked very much like a fighter about to be knocked out.

Ruddock’s people not only protested, they streamed into the ring and started a riot. Ruddock’s promoter, Murad Muhammad, was caught by a video camera kicking Tyson trainer Richie Giachetti’s head while Giachetti was on the floor.

Muhammad was fined $25,000 and suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for one year for his role in the brawl, which meant he would have had to watch tonight’s bout from the cheap seats instead of ringside. But Monday, a judge granted Muhammad a stay on the suspension, putting him back in Row 1. More important, since Ruddock is making $5 million--the same as Tyson--it puts Muhammad back on his fighter’s payroll.

Tyson-Ruddock II occurs amid published reports that Tyson, on the brink of turning 25 Sunday, has experienced a decline in his skills as a fighter. Since being knocked out in Tokyo by Buster Douglas 16 months ago, Tyson has registered one-round knockouts of Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart, and the one-sided battering of Ruddock.

“What fights are they looking at?” Giachetti asked. “He takes out two guys in the first round, then takes out a guy (Ruddock) everyone said was a great fighter.”

Tyson certainly looks like a fighter on top of his game. He came in at a well-sculpted 216 pounds for Wednesday’s weigh-in, the lightest he has been since he weighed 215 3/4 when he defeated Larry Holmes in 1988, and two pounds lighter than he weighed for Tyson-Ruddock I.

Actually, it was Ruddock’s conditioning that was under discussion at the weigh-in, after he came in at 238 pounds, 10 more than on March 18. More gym work, less road work and a special diet were the explanations from the Ruddock camp.

Ruddock’s conditioning was suspect in the last fight. His knees seemed wobbly by the third round, often an indication that a boxer is short on staying power.

“Razor was eaten up by the (prefight) anxiety the last time,” said his trainer, Slim Robinson. “It was the first-time, big-fight jitters. He’ll be more relaxed this time going in.”

But Ruddock’s co-trainer, Art Miles, seemed to say this week that Ruddock did come up short in his conditioning the last time.

“Four times, Razor had Tyson in position to knock him out,” he said. “But the one key word is condition. This time, there are two things that will be different: Condition and experience.”

Not likely, oddsmakers believe. Tyson has remained a 4-1 to 5-1 favorite this week.

When Tyson-Ruddock II was announced shortly after their first fight, many perceived it as a negotiating tactic by Don King, designed to wring better terms from rival promoter Dan Duva for the long-awaited Evander Holyfield-Tyson match. But King wouldn’t agree to Duva’s terms--$15 million for Tyson, the largest purse ever for a challenger--and Tyson-Ruddock II stayed on the Mirage marquee.

On March 18, Tyson began methodically chopping down Ruddock with second-round body shots. By the middle of the third round, Tyson’s body punches had brought Ruddock’s hands down and he punched wildly, his body unprotected.

But Ruddock did land his first major blow, a left hook, late in the third. The shot jolted Tyson’s entire upper torso and jerked his head upward. It was a mighty punch, yet the former champion was affected only briefly.

By the fourth round, Ruddock’s knees trembled and he was hanging onto Tyson in the clinches, indicating that he either was exhausted or had lost his heart.

Ruddock threw powerful punches in the sixth and rocked Tyson late in the round. A right snapped Tyson’s head back. Ruddock brought the crowd into the fight with that punch, but Tyson had been only rocked, not hurt.

It ended at 2:22 of the seventh. Tyson delivered a right-hand shot to Ruddock’s ribs, the most effective punch of the fight.

When Ruddock’s hands came down, Tyson followed with a left hook to the jaw. Ruddock nearly went down then, but his knees engaged at the last second. Instead, he began to stumble backward toward the ropes.

Tyson launched a left hook from somewhere over Hoover Dam, and the punch seemed to graze Ruddock’s nose. Steele grabbed Tyson, ending the fight.

One of the knocks on Tyson’s post-Douglas performances is that he seems to have abandoned his trademark peek-a-boo defense taught to him by his late trainer and guardian, Cus D’Amato. That seems to be the case, but a look at the first Ruddock fight suggests that he has learned his opponents can’t knock him out.

In other words, if he can stand up to Razor Ruddock’s left hook, who can take him out?

Buster Douglas? That knockout, even Tyson’s critics concede, occurred more through exhaustion than the impact of Douglas’ punches. Tyson himself admitted afterward he’d taken training shortcuts before the disaster in Japan.

Giachetti, Tyson’s trainer, said the peek-a-boo has been modified.

“He used to have his hands next to his jaw, with his elbows sticking out,” Giachetti said. “He didn’t get his punches off fast enough that way, so we brought his elbows in and lowered his hands a little.”

Alex Wallau, ABC boxing analyst, doesn’t believe Tyson is sliding. “I think the Ruddock win was the best of his career,” Wallau said. “He took on a guy everyone agreed was no worse than the third-best heavyweight and he beat him up. To me, (Tyson) is still the best heavyweight in the world.”

The undercard, shorn of its Julio Cesar Chavez-Harold Brazier match when Chavez was cut in training, is highlighted by a super-featherweight title bout between World Boxing Council champion Azumah Nelson (33-2) and Australian Jeff Fenech (25-0.)

Fenech is unbeaten since he lost in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. He will earn $600,000 tonight in his U.S. pro debut. Nelson will get $200,000.

In a heavyweight 10-rounder, Riddick Bowe (23-0) faces Puerto Rican Rodolfo Marin (17-1).

Tale of the Tape

Heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock, to be held tonight in Las Vegas.

Tyson Ruddock 24 years Age 27 years 216 lbs. Weight 238 lbs. 5-11 1/2” Height 6-3” 71” Reach 82” 43” Chest (normal) 47” 45” Chest (expanded) 49” 16” Biceps 16 1/2” 14” Forearm 15” 34” Waist 34” 27” Thigh 26 1/2” 18” Calf 18” 19 3/4” Neck 17 1/2” 8” Wrist 8” 13” Fist 13 1/2” 11” Ankle 10”

TONIGHT’S FIGHT

Coverage: Pay-per-view

Time: Card begins at 6 p.m.