BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Cons Far Outnumber Pros in This Division

Mike Tyson presumably cannot be named champion while inactive and in prison, but the way the heavyweight division is deteriorating before our eyes, somebody soon will probably try.

(Talk about a champion being unavailable. )

Wednesday, the World Boxing Council announced from its meetings in Spain that Tyson, who has not fought in three years and has not been champion since 1989, will be the No. 1 contender in the WBC rankings as soon as he is free, which may not be as soon as that boxing organization would like.

In a recent interview with The Ring magazine, Tyson did not exactly butter up Judge Patricia Gifford, who will decide when to release Tyson from his Indiana prison.

“I think this is her claim to fame,” said Tyson, who is expected to be released sometime next May. “I’m her famous little black trophy.”

The WBC champion whenever Tyson gets out may well be Larry Holmes, another 40-something familiar face who has a January date against champion Oliver McCall, who already has lost five times in his career and has a penchant for high living.

The Holmes-McCall bout may not come off as scheduled in Atlantic City because the fight’s promoter, Don King, has been barred from doing business there by the casino commission. Ready for a heavyweight title fight in Bay St. Louis, Miss., anybody?

Meanwhile, former champion Evander Holyfield is still planning his comeback despite worries about the heart condition that caused his temporary retirement last April, former champion Leon Spinks returned to the ring and was knocked out before he could throw a punch, and a card in Hong Kong headlined by Tommy Morrison vs. Herbie Hide was canceled because of lack of money, interest, and lots of other things.

The division has never been more divided.

“The heavyweight division is in the worst shape,” King said. “It’s dismal. It’s abysmal. Anybody, on a given day, can win. Yesterday’s nobody is today’s somebody.”

Which all makes Saturday’s Michael Moorer-George Foreman bout for the World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation titles seem almost sane, or as sane as anything involving a 45-year-old challenger could ever be.

Moorer, if he wins, may eventually fight former champion Riddick Bowe in a bout that could put the heavyweights back on solid ground in the public’s view.

Foreman, if he wins, probably will end up facing Tyson down the road, in the greatest circus boxing will have seen in decades. But, although the titters have already begun, one scenario that almost certainly will not happen is Foreman vs. Holmes for the unified title.

Foreman doesn’t like Holmes, doesn’t want to fight him, and, in the unlikely event he beats Moorer, would have no need to fight somebody not of his choosing.

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Usually, losing to Tommy Morrison means it’s time to start your life after boxing.

But although a sluggish Foreman couldn’t cut off Morrison’s movement and lost a 12-round decision in June of 1993, nobody involved in this fight believes that the lackluster Morrison bout says much about what Foreman can do Saturday.

“Sometimes when you’re at that level, done the things George has done, accumulated success and the money, had the sitcom situation on television, sometimes it’s hard to get up for just any fight,” said Moorer’s trainer, Teddy Atlas.

“I thought that he didn’t try. He didn’t give a damn. There was no interest. Maybe you can say he couldn’t pull the trigger anymore. I have a feeling he didn’t try.

“I know in this fight, that he wanted the fight, he believes he can win the fight. I believe he’s going to try a hell of a lot harder than he did in the Morrison fight.”

Atlas says that Morrison’s constant movement, although successful against Foreman, is not something Moorer has any thoughts of duplicating.

“I thought it was a horrendous fight plan,” Atlas said. “I shouldn’t use the word plan. I don’t think it was a plan, I think it was spontaneous. That was not the way I would ever ask a fighter to fight, turning your back and just at some moments fleeing.

“The only reason it turned out OK was because of what George did not do, not because of what Tommy executed. There were moments George could have hit the guy, he didn’t hit the guy. There were moments where he followed the guy around and almost purposefully let the guy get away.”

Foreman, who was generally considered to be finally too old to compete for championships after the Morrison fight, says he tried to go easy on Morrison.

“You know, I kind of thumped myself in the head a little bit,” Foreman said. “I had Morrison. I could have knocked him out in the later rounds. He literally ran in the ring from me.

“I let him off the hook because I thought he’s gone that many rounds. Archie Moore and a lot of fighters would always say if you whup a young guy, whup him decisively, but if he makes it into the latter rounds, don’t knock him out, give him another chance.”

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Although it wasn’t planned, Atlas says he has no problem with Moorer’s additional weight for this fight. Thursday afternoon, Moorer weighed in at 222, eight pounds more than he weighed when he fought Holyfield.

Foreman, who weighed 257 for his last title fight in 1991 against Holyfield and this summer set a target weight of 244 for this bout, weighed 250.

Moorer went to camp nine weeks ago after several months off, partly because of hand surgery.

“Psychologically, it doesn’t hurt, now that he’s a little bigger and a little stronger, to deal with a guy who, one of the biggest things he brings in is pure size,” Atlas said.

“I’m not going to be foolish and try to say that I want him heavy because we’re going to match strength with the guy. That would be foolish. We’re not in a wrestling match, out there to push around with him.

“We’re there to take advantage of the things we are better than he is at this point in our career, which is speed and ability to maneuver.”

Boxing Notes

The MGM Grand is trying to sort out the heavyweight picture its own way. It is trying to set up an eight-man elimination tournament, with the winner perhaps fighting Michael Moorer, assuming Moorer beats George Foreman, sometime in late 1995. The MGM has its own interests in such a tournament because it promotes Jorge Luis Gonzalez, a crude fighter who has been unable to land high-profile fights, and would love to get him involved in the title picture.

Dennis Finfrock, MGM vice president for special events, would like to include Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Larry Donald, Gonzalez and anyone else picked by a panel of writers and broadcasters. Finfrock says he has approached Moorer’s promoter, Dan Duva, and Time Warner, which has rights to Moorer and Bowe, and neither vetoed the idea.

Finfrock says that Don King and his stable of heavyweights--WBC champion Oliver McCall, Mike Tyson, Tony Tucker, et al--would not be a part of the series should it get off the ground. . . . A Detroit judge has ordered Moorer to put $2.5 million from his purse into a trust fund, pending resolution of his divorce, which is still being negotiated. Moorer separated from Bobbi Moorer in 1993.

The Ruelas brothers will make an important jump to headline status on a pay-per-view card Jan. 28 at the MGM. International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Rafael Ruelas will defend against Billy Schwer in a fight that was canceled when the Hong Kong card fell through last month, and WBC junior-lightweight champion Gabriel Ruelas will defend against an opponent to be named.

Calendar

Monday: Sammy Fuentes vs. David Ojeda, junior-welterweights; Lonnie Bradley vs. Matthew Charleston, middleweights; Forum, 7:30 p.m.