Norris, Brown Fight Is Called Off : Boxing: Challenger goes to hospital because of chest pains and dizziness hours before the bout is to begin.

In a turn of events probably more stunning than anything that could have happened in the ring, the Terry Norris-Simon Brown championship fight at Caesars Palace was canceled Saturday.

Brown, complaining of chest pains and dizziness Saturday morning, spent most of the day at a Las Vegas hospital, where he underwent tests.

The entire fight card was canceled at 5:30 p.m., local time, as several hundred early spectators awaited the start of undercard bouts in the 4,200-seat Caesars Pavilion.

Instead of post-fight discussions of straight right hands and left hooks, most of the conversation was about ticket refunds.

As the events unfolded, it was learned Brown had been treated for chest pains earlier this week and also last November and February.

Norris was to have earned $1 million, and Brown $180,000. Each got to keep only $50,000 in training expenses.

Norris, the Alpine, Calif., boxer who was to have made his eighth defense of the World Boxing Council junior-middleweight championship he won 30 months ago, was informed of the cancellation in his Caesars Palace suite before he was to leave for the arena.

Norris’ trainer, Abel Sanchez, described the scene: “Terry was just walking around, getting ready to go, when Joe (Sayatovich, Norris’ manager) walked in and said: ‘The fight’s off.’

“Terry was kind of stunned. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then he said: ‘No . . . are you kidding?’

“Then Joe told us Simon was in the hospital but for us to stay in the room because ‘it might be some kind of Don King psych job.’ ”

Sayatovich wasn’t completely convinced of the legitimacy of Brown’s hospitalization at a 6 p.m. news conference, about an hour after word reached the hotel.

“Well, this is the boxing business, and you see a lot of circus acts,” he said.

“It seems unusual that a young man would pass a commission physical exam Friday, then have this happen. A commission guy told me the kid may have had an ‘anxiety attack.’ Well, if he wasn’t going to be at his best we wouldn’t have wanted him in there, because we wouldn’t have wanted any excuses after we beat him.”

It was that rarest of nights in professional boxing--when everyone lost money.

“Nobody gets paid, including me,” said a glum promoter, Dan Duva.

“We lose about $175,000, HBO about $200,000.”

Rich Rose, president of Caesars World Sports, said Brown’s dizzy spell cost the hotel about $200,000.

Duva said he had insurance covering about half his investment in the event of a medical cancellation.

Nevada Athletic Commission physician Flip Homansky said Brown woke up Saturday morning and “felt like his room was revolving around him.”

“Simon told me at the hospital he felt OK, but that if he pushed himself . . . He couldn’t defend himself,” Homansky said.

Homansky said Brown’s dizziness was tentatively attributed to an inner-ear inflammation, but that tests on his heart would continue today at Valley Hospital Medical Center, where Brown spent four days last November after losing his WBC welterweight title to McGirt.

He was treated then for dehydration.

Homansky said he was aware Brown, born and raised in Jamaica but now living in suburban Washington, had suffered from chest pain after the 12-round fight with McGirt last Nov. 29.

“He had a heart catheterization procedure in Washington last February after complaining of chest pain again,” Homansky said.

“He also had a secondary complaint of dizziness and shortness of breath. But tests on his heart then showed no blockage or obstruction whatever. And his EKG tonight was normal.

“When he passed his commission physical Friday, he had no complaints. But an inner-ear inflammation can develop overnight.”

On the subject of a new date for the Norris-Brown fight, HBO executives seemed reluctant to commit themselves.

“He’s had this problem before. It makes no sense for us to reschedule this fight,” HBO’s Bob Greenway said.

Some wondered if Brown, 28, once a dominating welterweight champion, would ever be licensed to box again in Nevada. Since the McGirt fight, Brown had complained of chest pain on at least four occasions.

One interested “spectator” to the bedlam in the Caesars Palace press room Saturday night was the only boxer to stop Norris, current WBC middleweight champion Julian Jackson--who could be matched again with Norris.

A reporter asked him: “Do you have your gloves and trunks with you? Brown’s in the hospital and the fight’s off. Are you ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready to fight,” he said. “Well, maybe not. I just ate a hot dog.”

ANALYSIS: The specter of Hank Gathers drifts into the boxing arena. C10