Notes on a Scorecard - March 22, 1995

Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight title twice and won 27 of 32 fights after more than three years of inactivity caused by his refusal to be inducted into the Army. . . .

Now the question is how former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will fare after a slightly longer layoff caused by his rape conviction and prison stay in Indiana. . . .

“Tyson will create a lot of excitement,” said Angelo Dundee, who trained Ali. “But how successful he will be depends on how hard he works and reacts to the regimen. He has a long, long road ahead.” . . .

“I think Mike will be able to handle his outside life much better than he did before because he’ll be more mature. But the physical part is another matter. Any conditioning he’s gotten in prison has nothing to do with the condition you need to fight.” . . .

Tyson will be trying virtually the same kind of comeback that Ali made, albeit at a time when the heavyweight division is much weaker. . . .

Ali was 28 when he stopped Jerry Quarry on cuts in the third round on Oct. 26, 1970, three years and seven months after his previous fight, a seventh-round knockout of Zora Folley on March 22, 1967. . . .

Tyson will be 28 when he is released from prison Saturday morning and it has been three years and nine months since he won a 12-round decision over Razor Ruddock on June 28, 1991, in a rematch. . . .

“One difference is that Ali was able to box in the gym those years when he wasn’t fighting,” Dundee said. “He would carry his boxing equipment everywhere he went. He even sparred once with Jimmy Ellis before one of Ellis’ title fights.” . . .

Dundee says Tyson will need at least a couple of fights before he faces, say, George Foreman. . . .

“He’ll look a little sloppy at first because he’ll need to get his timing back,” Dundee said. “It stands to figure that he won’t be as fluid as he was. A perfect first fight would be against Peter McNeely in McNeely’s hometown of Boston. Then he might fight (World Boxing Council champion) Oliver McCall. I saw McCall knock Tyson down in the gym once in Las Vegas.” . . .

Dundee ranks as an expert on champions coming back, having also worked with Sugar Ray Leonard and now Foreman. . . .

“No matter how Tyson looks before then, Foreman will beat him,” Dundee said. “Tyson is made to order for George, who has a knack for beating short guys. He was able to manhandle Joe Frazier twice.

“George is remarkable. He fooled everybody. He did it because he wanted to. He’ll be a lead-pipe cinch to beat Tyson.” . . .

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I wonder how the World Boxing Assn., which stripped Foreman of the title, feels about its heavyweight championship bout between Tony Tucker and Bruce Seldon being on the undercard April 8 at Caesars Palace, where McCall will defend his WBC title against Larry Holmes. . . .

Foreman doesn’t fight on undercards. . . .

The participants on the quadruple-header March 31 at the Pond of Anaheim will stage a free public workout from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the arena’s parking lot. . . .

Add Dundee on Ali: “We never really saw him at his greatest after the layoff. He was never quite as good again as the night when he beat Folley.” . . .

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Excuse me, but I’m more interested in Michael Jordan’s scoring average than in the Nielsen ratings for Chicago Bulls’ games. . . .

Look-alikes: The Lakers’ Anthony (Pig) Miller and the Detroit Pistons’ Oliver Miller. . . .

The no-name U.S. men’s basketball team’s lack of success in the Pan American Games is no surprise. . . .

Mark Ingram isn’t a bad addition, but he won’t make the Green Bay Packers forget Sterling Sharpe. . . .

Karch Kiraly, the two-time U.S. Olympic gold-medal volleyball player from UCLA, will be looking for his 100th victory on the Miller Lite beach tour Saturday in the season opener at Singer Island, Fla. . . .

The Pirates of Sherman Oaks are being billed as the first all-girl Little League team. . . .

I sympathize with Monica Seles, but wouldn’t a return to tennis right now be the best therapy for her? . . .

Babe Ruth, the thoroughbred, is scheduled to make his debut in August at Saratoga. Another horse named after a famous athlete, Air Mike, has won six of his 27 races on the Florida circuit. . . .

Frightening thought: a replacement players’ All-Star game.