This Fight Was Brought to You by the WWF

The most entertaining fight in Las Vegas last Saturday night wasn’t Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis, but rather the unscheduled bout outside the post-match interview room that featured the publicists for rival promoters Don King and Bob Arum.

Bill “Bruiser” Caplan, in Arum’s corner, and Greg “Hurricane” Fritz, in King’s corner, traded a couple of punches and rolled around on the floor before security guards called a halt to the festivities.

Caplan admitted throwing the first punch, but only after Fritz had called him “a fat slob.”

The time of the bout was seven seconds, Caplan said.

“The pay-for-view people want their money back,” he added.

Fritz, who said his glasses were wrecked by Caplan’s “sucker punch,” said he is in a lower weight class than Caplan.

“He’ll have to skip a few jelly doughnuts,” Fritz said.

As for a rematch, Fritz said a few changes would have to be made.

“I certainly have to get paid,” he said.

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Trivia time: Who holds the USC opponent record for receiving yards in a game?

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Lottie Dod next? Here’s an interesting idea. Wavex International signs a three-year deal with Chris Evert to produce her signature line of rackets.

What, was Bill Tilden unavailable?

Evert will be 45 next month and she retired 10 years ago, which coincidentally is about the time Martina Hingis began riding a tricycle.

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Fish hooks Tiger: The TV rating on ABC for Saturday’s golf telecast from Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain, where Tiger Woods wound up winning his fourth consecutive tournament, was 1.5.

Meanwhile, a bass-fishing show on Fox had a 1.8 rating.

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Money news: For what it’s worth, Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the highest-paid coach in the NHL at $1.5 million a year.

Andy Murray of the Kings is No. 15 at $450,000 and Craig Hartsburg of the Mighty Ducks is No. 23 at $375,000.

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Quoth the buzzard: This is what you call a bad sign: When the San Francisco 49ers broke practice last Thursday at Santa Clara, a turkey vulture circled the practice field.

The 49ers promptly went out and played like turkeys at New Orleans, losing 24-6.

This week’s prediction: An albatross at the practice field.

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Business as usual: The Golden State Warriors have a new ad campaign and a new enthusiasm, but opened at home in the same losing way before a less-than-sellout crowd.

Mark Soltau of the CBS Sportsline Web site offered this critique: “As usual, they stink.”

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Ice for rent: Toymaker Hasbro has produced an NHL edition Monopoly game. The game pieces are a Zamboni, a puck, a goalie mask, a goalie, a glove, a skate, a net and a slap-shooter.

Instead of Boardwalk and Park Place, the most expensive properties are Toronto and Montreal. But there’s still a jail, not a penalty box.

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Trivia answer: UCLA’s J.J. Stokes, who caught six passes for 263 yards in 1992.

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And finally: Tim Hardaway, Miami Heat guard, doesn’t like the team’s new uniforms, especially the design of the jersey neck.

“Makes us look like girls,” he said.