Foreman Doesn’t Need Tyson Fight to Fill Out His Plate

Although a $40-million offer has been made for a Mike Tyson-George Foreman fight, matching the former two-time heavyweight champions, Foreman says he’s not interested.

“I have a life,” said Foreman, who is 50. “I am not going to sit around for Tyson and his people to decide whether to fight me. It’s a nonissue.”

Under the terms of the deal being proposed by lawyer Fred Levin, Tyson would get $25 million, Foreman $15 million, and bonus money would also be generated if the pay-per-view figures reach an agreed-upon level.

Foreman may have returned to boxing after a 10-year hiatus in 1987 to get in on the big money, but he no longer needs boxing. The George Foreman grilling machine has become a hot item in the appliance market, giving him an average income of $1.5 million a month over the last four years for serving as its spokesman. In one recent month, Foreman received a check for $3 million in royalties. His position as a fight commentator pays him $2-$3 million a year and he is in demand as a speaker at $50,000 an appearance.

In all, the man who was surly and anti-social a quarter century ago in comparison to Muhammad Ali during the days leading up to their memorable “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire, makes more than $40 million a year as a public figure, boxing excluded.

Foreman does indeed have a life.

Tyson’s side isn’t clamoring for this fight either.

“We don’t even have any assurance this man can speak for Foreman,” Shelly Finkel, Tyson’s manager, said of Levin.

Levin’s credibility doesn’t appear to be the main issue. He is a successful Florida attorney who serves as the lawyer for Roy Jones Jr., the light-heavyweight champion.

The bigger issue is Tyson’s skill level. When Tyson was still the terror of the heavyweight division, a man whose mere scowl caused some opponents to tremble, there was a genuine fear that Foreman, the elder statesman of the sport, would be placing himself in great physical danger by entering the ring against Tyson.

Now, the fear may well be in the Tyson camp, though none of his handlers would admit that. The 5-foot-11 1/2 Tyson does not match up well against tall fighters with long arms. Foreman is 6-4.

Tyson-Foreman might well look like a replay of Foreman’s 1973 fight against Joe Frazier, whose explosive, aggressive attack out of a semi-crouch resembled that of Tyson. The taller Foreman used his sledgehammer arms to destroy Frazier, knocking him down six times before the fight mercifully ended in the second round.

After more than three decades in the ring, Foreman doesn’t have that kind of power anymore. But then, after two stinging defeats at the hands of Evander Holyfield, preceded by three years in prison and followed by 3 1/2 additional months in a county jail, Tyson no longer resembles Frazier or even his younger self.

After serving 3 1/2 months for assaulting two motorists following a minor traffic accident, Tyson is launching yet another comeback Oct. 2 on the Showtime cable network against an opponent to be determined.

Axel Schulz, once thought to be at the top of Tyson’s dance card, has chosen to take himself out of the running. Zeljko Mavrovic, whose claim to fame is that he gave Lennox Lewis some competition before losing, is the name being most prominently mentioned.

Is this what has become of Tyson, fighting on cable television against little-known and lesser-regarded opposition?

For now, at least, the answer is yes.

He has fought only once since he bit Holyfield’s ears in their title rematch two years ago, struggling against Francois Botha before winning on a fifth-round knockout in January.

Tyson’s appeal has reached such a low point that the man who once racked up the biggest numbers in pay-per-view history now needs to put on a free demonstration for cable subscribers in order to generate business for a planned pay-per-view fight in December.

And then what?

At 33, Tyson needs to find out quickly whether or not he can again be even a semblance of the fighter he was. If so, big fights might still beckon with Lewis or Holyfield or both after they stage their proposed rematch in November.

Andrew Golota or Michael Grant might also be an attractive opponent.

If Tyson’s talent is forever gone, does he want to continue fighting the Mavrovics of the world for ever-diminishing paydays, perhaps winding up one day in a four-round sideshow against Butterbean?

Better to find out now what he has left. Foreman might be a good place to start. Those who might ridicule Tyson for taking on a 50-year-old opponent need to be reminded that nobody has knocked out this 50-year-old since he was a 25-year-old fighting Ali.

Lobby publicly for the fight, Mike, appeal to Foreman’s pride and, wealthy or not, George just might change his mind.

SHORT JABS

Foreman has agreed to an October match. On Oct. 10, Foreman, an ordained minister, will perform the ceremony when Elizabeth Caplan, daughter of George’s longtime publicist Bill Caplan, marries Johnny Walls in the Pacific Palisades backyard of director Ron Shelton and actress Lolita Davidovitch. . . . Continuing on their seemingly inexorable march toward a showdown next spring, 154-pound champions David Reid (12-0, seven knockouts), the World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight champion, and Fernando Vargas (16-0, all knockouts), the International Boxing Federation junior-middleweight titleholder, will each be in action this weekend in fights they figure to win. Reid faces Kevin Kelly (24-5-3, 11 knockouts) at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Convention Hall on Friday, while Vargas defends against Raul Marquez (30-1, 20 knockouts) at Caesars Tahoe on Saturday.