BOXING / CHRIS DUFRESNE : It Takes a Guide to Fight Through the Maze of Titles

Keeping up with the heavyweight division is not impossible as long as you remember to organize, alphabetize and forget all those years when there was only one world champion at a time.

Until order is restored--this is your cue, Mike Tyson--here’s the unofficial 1995 amended heavyweight boxers’ guide:

Atomic Bull. Nickname for World Boxing Council champion Oliver McCall.

Bowe, Riddick. Current World Boxing Organization champion. Unified division when he defeated Evander Holyfield in 1992, but subsequently tossed WBC belt into the trash; lost two other belts in rematch with Holyfield.

If you’re looking for a culprit in this current mess, blame Bowe.

Douglas, Buster. Shook up the world when he upset Mike Tyson in Tokyo, then shook up buffet lines across the country.

Now, he’s talking comeback.

Chances: fat.

Foreman, George. At 46, oldest man to hold heavyweight title. Won International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. belts when he knocked Michael Moorer out last November. Stripped of WBA belt on March 4 for refusing to fight No. 1 contender Tony Tucker.

Gonzalez, Jorge Luis. Ponytailed Cuban defector with boorish ring presence who has fought a string of nobodies to work himself into a WBO title shot against Bowe in June.

Never in Cuba. Only in America.

Hide, Herbie. WBO champion until 8:04 p.m., March 11, when Bowe knocked him down for the seventh time and bout was stopped. Hide, 23, claims he’ll be back: “If Bowe is the best heavyweight in the world, then I’m one of the best.”

Sad, but true.

Holmes, Larry. Once reigned as champion for seven years and now, at 45, mounts a comeback a la Foreman. Holmes gets what he asked for April 8 when he faces McCall at Caesars Palace for the WBC title.

Scary thought: Holmes can win this fight.

Holyfield, Evander. Former undisputed heavyweight champion, presumed finished after minor heart ailment was detected after his title loss to Moorer last year. Holyfield since has been cleared by the Mayo Clinic and medical suspension has been lifted. Scheduled to fight Ray Mercer May 20 in Atlantic City.

Comment: Why?

Lewis, Lennox. Fished Bowe’s WBC belt out of the trash, then lost it last fall to McCall in London. Scheduled next to fight Lionel Butler.

Comment: Why not?

Moorer, Michael. Had Foreman whipped through nine rounds last November, then stuck out his chin and got popped by Grandfather Time. After contemplating retirement, Moorer observed the current field and reconsidered. Comeback has been slowed by a knee injury. Scheduled to face Israeli Tim Puller next.

McCall, Oliver. Considered a glorified sparring partner until he knocked Lewis out last fall in London. Now, he attempts to do what Moorer couldn’t: not allow an old man, Holmes in this case, to land a 1-2 combo and steal a title.

Seldon, Bruce. Lost consecutive fights to McCall and Bowe, who knocked him out in the first round.

“That was four years ago,” Seldon says. “You win, you lose, that’s how it goes.” Thanks to nifty Don King maneuvering, Seldon gets a piece of the action on April 8 card against Tucker for the WBA title recently stripped from Foreman.

Schulz, Axel. A no-name German until he was hand-picked for Foreman’s April 22 IBF defense. Schulz had not yet been born when Foreman won an Olympic gold medal in 1968.

Schulz note: He hangs with legendary Max Schmeling who, yes, is still alive.

Tucker, Tony. Well, well. With Foreman ink-blotted out of the WBA picture, Tucker gets his tainted title shot. He has won four consecutive fights since losing a 12-round decision to Lewis in a 1993 WBC title bout.

Tyson, Mike. Youngest man ever to win the heavyweight title, Tyson’s scheduled release Saturday from an Indiana prison is the 911 call that could save boxing.

Williams, Jeremy. Long Beach’s own could crack the top rankings after a recent victory over Jesse Ferguson, who previously had lost to seven former heavyweight champs. That makes Williams the man who beat the man who lost to, well, just about everyone in this guide.

Anyone in favor of a unification tournament?

“Most definitely,” Tucker says. “There has to be one champion that people can recognize as the heavyweight champion of the world.”

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Henry Holmes, attorney for Foreman, said this week the fighter will sue the WBA for stripping Foreman of his title.

“We’re going to go the whole route,” Holmes said.

Foreman has begun training in Houston for his fight against Shulz, a bout that will be sanctioned by the IBF.

Holmes said it hasn’t been decided whether Foreman will seek to have dethroned the winner of the April 8 bout between Seldon and Tucker for the vacated WBA title.

“It doesn’t matter who wins that fight,” Holmes said. “Everybody knows who the world champion is. I think that fight is meaningless. Nobody cares.”

Seldon said Foreman got what he deserved for not abiding by WBA rules that required him to meet Tucker in a mandatory defense.

“Thank God the WBA decided to strip Foreman of the title,” Seldon said on a conference call. “I don’t feel sorry for George Foreman.”

Boxing Notes

Don King’s card at Caesars Palace on April 8 keeps growing. The latest addition, Tony Tucker vs. Bruce Seldon for the vacant World Boxing Assn. title, makes five championship bouts on the card. Seldon-Tucker joins a show that includes Oliver McCall vs. Larry Holmes, marking the second time in history two heavyweight title bouts have been staged on the same card. The first was also a King production. In 1983 at Las Vegas, Holmes and Tim Witherspoon fought for the WBC belt and Mike Weaver and Michael Dokes for the WBA crown. Other champions defending April 8 are Julio Cesar Chavez, Felix Trinidad and Luis Santana.

Suggestion box: Considering Gerald McClellan’s recent injury, referees should be required to speak the same language as the boxers with whom they are working. The night McClellan suffered near-fatal brain injuries in his fight with Nigel Benn, the referee was French-speaking Alfred Azaro. McClellan and Benn speak English. No one is blaming Azaro for what happened, but there were communication problems in the ring. If multilingual referees are too big an order, how about a universal hand-signaling system? . . . Undefeated super-flyweight Danny Romero (23-0, 21 KOs) will drop down in weight and meet Francisco Tejedo for the International Boxing Federation flyweight title as part of the George Foreman-Axel Schulz undercard April 22 at the MGM Grand.