Maybe He Can Try Slap Shot

The excitement around Top Rank Boxing is at a fever pitch these days. The Las Vegas organization is putting together a blockbuster match.

Oscar De La Hoya against Pernell Whitaker?

Bigger than that.

George Foreman against Mike Tyson?

Bigger than that.

Eric “Butterbean” Esch, Jabba the Hutt in boxing gloves, is about to meet the most famous opponent of his dubious career.

Fortunately for Butterbean, this opponent is not famous for boxing. Fighting yes, boxing no.

His name? Marty McSorley.

Yes, that Marty McSorley, the hockey player. Former King, former Edmonton Oiler, former Pittsburgh Penguin, former on-ice bodyguard of Wayne Gretzky and now a defenseman with the San Jose Sharks.

McSorley, proud possessor of one of the highest totals of penalty minutes in NHL history, has, through intermediaries, challenged Butterbean, who worked in a mobile-home factory in his native Alabama until he discovered Toughman competition.

It took Butterbean all of 30 seconds to accept that challenge. The delay might have been because Butterbean had food in his mouth at the time.

Promoter Bob Arum, the honcho at Top Rank, may not be a hockey fan, but he’s fond of anything that will put fans in the seats and viewers in front of their television sets.

“I’ve never heard of [McSorley], but everybody else is going crazy,” Arum said. “These hockey fans are like a breed apart. They are really passionate about this.”

Arum’s plan is to pit the 330-pound Butterbean against the 235-pound McSorley in late July or the first week of August, either at the Las Vegas Hilton or in an NHL city. The Forum, where McSorley spent much of his career, is a possibility.

Oh yes, and to guarantee that this doesn’t turn into a farce--how could anyone think it would?--Arum is also planning to put one or two world title fights on the card. Just to keep the boxing aficionados feeling comfortable.

McSorley, who plans to train for the bout in Big Bear, calls the bout “intriguing.”

He told the San Francisco Chronicle, “I have less chance of being injured in a boxing ring than I do on the ice.

“I’m not going to kid anybody. I’m not a real boxer. If I lose, it’s not going to hurt my reputation.”

Especially since McSorley has probably lost half of the fights he has had on the ice.

This proposed matchup puts new life into the old argument about whether a great athlete in another sport would have a chance against a professional fighter. That argument flourished in the Muhammad Ali era when Ali was talking about fighting basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain.

It never happened, fortunately for Chamberlain. Non-boxers just don’t seem to appreciate the unique skills possessed by those who earn their living in the ring. Yes, possessed even by Butterbean.

McSorley’s only chance would be if Butterbean were required to wear a hockey jersey that McSorley could then pull over Butterbean’s large head.

Or perhaps they could have Gretzky enter the ring first and require Butterbean to attack him. McSorley could then come to the rescue, comfortable in his usual role as enforcer.

Of course, it’s not going to be easy for Butterbean either, wearing those skates.

MISSION POSSIBLE

When Sugar Ray Leonard strides into the ring tonight at the Atlantic City Convention Center to fight Hector Camacho, J.D. Brown will be at Leonard’s side.

Just where he has been for a quarter of a century.

Brown is the last remaining member of Leonard’s old team. They met when Leonard was a 15-year-old with big dreams and Brown was a 24-year-old amateur coach.

When Leonard decided to manage fighters after his last retirement, Brown worked with him. When Leonard decided, at 40, to fight Camacho, Brown put together the deal.

And when Camacho exploded at a Wednesday news conference, it was Brown who had agitated him.

No news there. Brown has been playing mind games with Leonard’s opponents for a long time.

Brown scored his greatest triumph in his brand of psychological warfare a decade ago, when Leonard was preparing for one of his greatest challenges, a comeback against Marvin Hagler.

With Leonard uncertain about how to handle the powerful, heavily favored Hagler, a wild scheme was launched to send Brown undercover into the Hagler camp.

With hair dyed gray, horn-rimmed glasses on his face and a few artificial wrinkles under his eyes, Brown, then 39, gained entry to Hagler’s sparring sessions.

The result?

Brown brought back two invaluable bits of information: The sparring partners who were imitating Leonard’s stick-and-move style were frustrating Hagler. And Hagler was obsessed about being the first fighter to reach the center of the ring when the bell rang.

Armed with that information, Leonard gave up any lingering thoughts of trying to slug it out with Hagler. And Leonard made sure that he dashed out of his corner at the start of every round to claim the center of the ring.

“We put a mind game on Hagler,” Brown said. “He felt whoever gets to the center of the ring first owns the ring. Ray owned the ring that night.”

Barely. Leonard narrowly won a 12-round decision.

LEONARD-NORRIS II?

After losing to Roberto Duran in their first meeting, Leonard fought him twice more and won both times, giving him a winning record against every opponent he has faced, with the exception of Terry Norris, who beat Leonard in Leonard’s last fight, in 1991.

If he gets by Camacho, would Leonard want a rematch with Norris, who is scheduled to fight Felix Trinidad in June?

“No, I don’t have that kind of hang-up,” Leonard said. “[Norris] was the better man that night.”

LOSING INTEREST

You’d never know that Long Beach heavyweight Jeremy Williams had just knocked out his opponent, Phil Jackson, in the first round Tuesday night at the Pyramid, giving Williams victories in his last three fights, which lasted a total of five rounds.

After disposing of Jackson, Williams wasn’t talking about his next fight. He was talking about this having been his last fight, even though he has a 29-2 record with 26 knockouts.

Why?

Partially because he’s burned out, and partially because he’s bummed out at not being able to crack the top echelon of his division.

“I train three times a day,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 17 years and I’m 24. Boxing is not fun anymore.

“It seems like Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson are all anybody cares about. If you’re not fighting them, nobody cares.”