COMMENTARY / BOXING : Tyson Said to Be Admitting Defeat to Allah, Might Fight Holyfield as Mikhail Abdul-Aziz

Get ready, world, for the richest fight in boxing history--Evander Holyfield vs. Mikhail Abdul-Aziz.

Mikhail Abdul-A-Who??

Believe it or not, that will be Mike Tyson’s new name if and when he converts to Islam, the study of which has become the former heavyweight champion’s passion since he was imprisoned March 26 for the rape of Desiree Washington.

There are conflicting stories about whether or not Tyson actually has become a convert. Wednesday, the Islamic Community of the Indiana Youth Center, where Tyson is serving six years, released a statement signed by Tyson that said Tyson is studying the religion but has not yet converted. Other sources, however, tell Newsday that Tyson took shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, from a Chicago-based Imam a few weeks ago.

“Brother Michael would like to inform Muslims and non-Muslims throughout the country and the World that (his conversion) . . . is not true,” said the statement, signed also by D. Farid Barnes, an inmate who is a leader of the prison Islam group.

According to Kamran Memon, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Plainfield, Ind., near the prison, Tyson is a regular attendee of Friday afternoon Islamic prayer meetings and that the name Mikhail Abdul-Aziz has been suggested to him, although he has not yet accepted it. Memon said the name translates to “Slave to the Undefeatable.”

“We thought it was appropriate because Mike Tyson always said he was undefeatable,” Memon said. “Acceptance of this name would be acknowledgment that only Allah is undefeatable.”

Boxing manager Akbar Muhammad gave a slightly different translation: Servant of the Mighty. “That fits, because he calls himself Mighty Mike Tyson,” said Muhammad, whose full Islamic name--Muhammad Akbar Muhammad--translates to Great, Praiseworthy, Great. When it was suggested to Muhammad that he sounded like a bit of an egomaniac, he replied, “Of course I am.”

Tyson, however, has been humbled by his prison experience and his interest in Islam, which was such a worry to Don King back in 1988 that he hustled Tyson off to Chicago and a baptism in Cleveland to ward off a move by some Chicago-based Muslims said to include Herbert Muhammad, who has the life-long allegiance of Muhammad Ali. Tyson’s imminent conversion could mean he has turned completely against King.

Or it could just be a means of Tyson achieving inner peace during his incarceration. Either way, Dan Duva, who promotes Holyfield, considers it a marketing headache.

“It would be just my luck,” Duva said. “A few years ago we were promoting a fight between Dwight Braxton and Eddie Davis, a big, big fight, and right after we signed the fight he changed his name to Dwight Qawi and nobody knew who he was.”

Duva is only thinking this way because he and his attorney, Pat English, are of the belief that last week’s ruling by the Rhode Island Supreme Court that Washington may have committed perjury could clear the way for Tyson’s release.

“Pat thinks he has an excellent chance of getting out,” Duva said. “Before this new information came out, he thought Tyson’s chance of getting out before serving his term was 1%. Now he thinks it’s about 40%. That’s a big difference.”

Coincidentally, Duva and English were sitting around recently dreaming up numbers for a Holyfield-Tyson fight. “We speculated that the value of Holyfield-Tyson would be about 60 to 70 million for the fighters to split,” Duva said. “I have no idea how much Holyfield-Abdul-Aziz is worth. I guess we would have to insist that all promotional materials read, “Formerly known as Mike Tyson.”

Elbaum tries again: Don Elbaum is at it again, now promoting something called the World Television Championship, a pay-per-view ($7.95) series designed to crown champions in seven weight classes from welterweight up to super-heavyweight. Then, he will try to get his “champions” fights against real champions.

The first card is Wednesday at The Supper Club in Manhattan, featuring 46-year-old former welterweight champion Saoul Mamby vs.--believe it or not--Charlie “White Lightning” Brown. Elbaum, as is his habit, has been spreading the misinformation that the ultimate winner of the series has a commitment from WBC champion Buddy McGirt.

Proving once again that he is the best publicist in the fight game, WTC’s Tom Kenville had this reply when told by a reporter that the McGirt story was complete nonsense: “Of course it is.”

But Elbaum still is hopeful. Reminded that McGirt already has beaten Mamby, Elbaum shot back, “Yeah, but never at this age.”

True. Mamby was a mere 39 when McGirt whipped him in 1986.

Around the ring: Evander Holyfield came out of his fight against Larry Holmes not only with a cut right eye, but also a busted right eardrum. Grandpa Larry came out unscathed and is taking the clan off to the Bahamas for a vacation . . . Snags in the proposed Holmes-George Foreman fight: TVKO, stung by a $1-million loss on Holyfield-Holmes, wants to pass the ultimate Geezer Match to lower-budget brothers at HBO . . . Lennox Lewis may be in the midst of being engulfed and devoured by Sugar Ray Leonard, Inc. First, it was Leonard’s old trainer, Pepe Correa, and adviser, Ollie Dunlap, who joined the team. After Holyfield-Holmes, His Sugarship himself, recently engaged to Bernadette Roby, Lynn Swann’s ex, had a private sitdown with Lewis, who is expected to fight dangerous Razor Ruddock Oct. 31. Can Mike Trainer be far behind?

Can take a shot: Michael Marley, former New York Post boxing writer turned manager, is interested in junior welterweight Terronn Millett of St. Louis, who lost in the Olympic Trials but showed good power. Marley was impressed by Millett’s “Tyson-like”--or is it Abdul-Aziz-like?--attitude, which has earned him a bullet in the leg.

“From what I’m told, it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity,” Marley said. “It was a case of mistaken location.”