He Has Outside Chance : Boxing: Underdog Holyfield acknowledges that he made a mistake in going inside against Bowe in their last fight.

They did this once before, if you remember, about a year ago, when the bigger, younger, more voluble challenger rattled the older, smaller champion across the ring, down to the canvas and into a brief, well-reasoned retirement.

Last Nov. 13, Riddick Bowe fought Evander Holyfield, and after 12 rounds of exhausting action, Bowe went from boxing’s clown prince to its undisputed heavyweight champion.

A year later, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion--he renounced the World Boxing Council’s title--is 11 pounds bigger and many degrees more brash. And Evander Holyfield, whom Bowe teasingly called “Jughead” earlier this week, sure isn’t any younger.

So, when they enter the Caesars Palace ring tonight, why in the name of Buster Douglas should anybody think that Holyfield, 31, can upset Bowe, 26, who has predicted a knockout of Holyfield?

This is, after all, a rematch dictated far more by contract terms and the lack of much else on the heavyweight landscape than by overwhelming public demand.

But this is also a fight Holyfield has been aching for since the dark hours after he lost. He has been planning this fight’s strategy, he says, since he realized his mistakes of the first time around.

Last year, Holyfield’s trainers, Lou Duva and George Benton, instructed him to stay away from Bowe and control the bigger man from the outside--staying away from a blow-for-blow battle.

Holyfield, whose nature is to fire away from close range, stubbornly stayed inside anyway, trading punches, believing that Bowe lacked the resolve to keep responding.

“I believe that in the first fight I was wanting to go out there and impress myself and mostly impress the media,” Holyfield said this week.

“I went out there to get a sensational knockout. I was out there banging. I wanted to knock him out. It’s what I went for. I didn’t look to box. I did what I felt would be short and easier, but I found I made it a lot harder for myself.”

That banging created a blistering tempo for a heavyweight fight, and a torrid 10th round--when both men landed several significant punches. But overall, Bowe’s early dominance and 11th-round knockdown gave him a clear victory on all three judges’ cards and gave Holyfield (29-1, with 22 knockouts) the only defeat of his career. Two of those judges will be working tonight’s fight.

“I thought if I fought a smart fight, I thought I could stay there and eventually he would tire out,” said Holyfield, who now trains with Emanuel Steward. “I stayed inside a little too long, relying on him to run out of gas. I showed a lot of heart and courage, but if you don’t do it in the proper way, it’s just heart and courage, and you lose.”

This rematch is part of the deal Holyfield demanded last year when he gave Bowe the title shot.

Bowe (34-0, 24 KOs), who weighed in at 246 pounds Thursday after growing to 271 before training camp, is decidedly unimpressed by Holyfield’s reasoning.

In the time since he won the title, the 6-foot-5 Bowe has defeated two journeymen in quick-knockout defenses, toured much of the world and grown to enjoy his place at the top of the sport.

Since losing the title, Holyfield has fought only once, defeating journeyman Alex Stewart in a wobbly, 12-round performance.

Bowe, who stands to make up to $15 million depending on the pay-per-view audience, does not enjoy hearing Holyfield, who will make more than $9 million, explain why he lost the previous fight.

“I feel like Evander Holyfield has disrespected me,” Bowe said. “He has never said Riddick Bowe has done right. In the last fight, he’s constantly saying what he’s done wrong until I finally have to make it clear that Riddick Bowe is a much better fighter.

“I don’t think Holyfield will be the same because our fight took a lot out of him and I don’t see anything he can improve on. His time has passed.”

To Bowe, Holyfield’s brave stand in the 10th round was his last great moment, and even that was in vain. No new strategy will change that.

“My opinion is, if you bang Evander, he’s going to fight anyway,” Bowe said. “I’m not going to have to look for him. Between five and seven rounds, I should pull his card. It should be over by then. I don’t see Evander changing all that much. He’s a fighter and has a lot of heart. He’s going to be there. He might try to box the first couple of rounds. Once he realizes that that’s not working for him, he’ll convert to the same old Evander Holyfield.”

These jibes have not sat well with Holyfield.

“Sometimes he comes on a little too strong,” Holyfield said. “My thing is that, yes, you won the title, but you’re still a man and you still have to have some respect for each other.”

On the undercard, five-time world champion Thomas Hearns (50-4-1, 40 KOs) makes another comeback, this time as a cruiserweight against Andrew Maynard (21-5, 18 KOs). The first televised fight will feature heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez (15-0, 14 KOs) against Renaldo Snipes (39-7-1, 22 KOs).

Tale of the Tape

Facts and figures for title fight between Evander Holyfield and IBF and WBA champion Riddick Bowe:

Holyfield Bowe Age 31 26 Weight 217 246 Height 6-2 1/2 6-5 Reach 77 1/2 81 Chest (normal) 43 46 Chest (expanded) 45 50 Biceps 16 17 Forearm 12 1/2 12 1/2 Waist 32 38 Thigh 32 26 1/2 Calf 13 16 1/2 Neck 19 1/2 17 1/2 Wrist 7 1/2 8 Fist 12 1/2 13 1/2