If He Was an Underdog Then, Just Imagine What He Is Now

Before you pony up the $39.95 Don King wants for his March 16 Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno fight, be forewarned.

When these two met in 1989, Bruno was in the prime of his career, but was still a 7 1/2-1 underdog. Tyson completely outclassed him and had Bruno helpless on the ropes in the fifth round, when the referee stopped it.

The pay-per-view distributor put a blurb on the wires the other day, claiming Tyson-Bruno II “promises to be one of the premier boxing events of the year.”

Based on what?

Bruno is 34 and 20 pounds heavier than in 1989. Even British fight fans are screaming over having to pay to see this one. And the tab there, by two distributors, is $12 and $15--for a fight that starts at 4 a.m. London time.

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Add Bruno: London fight writer Colin Hart once said of Bruno: “Frank is a modest fellow. . . . Of course, he has a lot to be modest about.”

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Add Tyson: Bob Drury, writing about Tyson in Men’s Journal, describing Tyson co-managers Rory Holoway and John Horne: “Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber.”

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Trivia time: What two opposing major college basketball players combined for the most points ever in one game?

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See Ted and Jane smile: What does Ted Turner like even more than his Atlanta Braves?

The Olympic Games.

Financial World’s SportsValue newsletter recently reported the value of the Braves will surge from $120 million to $226 million after the Braves move into Atlanta’s new Olympic stadium next year.

Turner, who in 1976 paid $12 million for the team, is contributing only $23 million to the $207-million total cost of the stadium. Most of it’s being paid by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

“The Braves have an excellent long-term [stadium] lease, which in some ways is better than outright ownership,” the newsletter reported.

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Big-Apple bound? Writes Mike Lupica in the New York Daily News: “If the Jets are going to ever matter around here again, if Giants Stadium is ever going to feel like Jets Stadium, they have to start somewhere.

“Somewhere means Jumbo Elliott blocking, Neil O’Donnell throwing, and Keyshawn Johnson of USC catching the ball.”

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Low-rent district: Last month, a parolee identified himself as an NFL executive when he checked into Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel. He asked for and was given three suites and three big-screen TVs.

In six days, he ran up a $5,800 tab before he was exposed as an impostor.

Last week, a judge sentenced him to pay the $5,800 and to two more years in prison.

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Trivia answer: Pete Maravich (64), Louisiana State, and Dan Issel (51), Kentucky, in 1970.

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Quotebook: Writer Bob Drury, on Peter McNeeley’s performance against Mike Tyson: “He blackened the good name of tomato cans the world over.”