Palffy’s Scoring Punch Validates Kings’ Move

Pavel Bure might have been a bigger immediate box-office attraction, but the Kings have no regrets about their decision to pass on him last season and wait for Ziggy Palffy to become available. . . .

There were two criticisms of Palffy when the Kings were considering the trade for him after last season. . . .

One--that only serious hockey fans in Los Angeles recognized him as the star that he had become--wasn’t his fault. . . .

The other was that he disappeared when needed most. . . .

Now, it’s that reputation that is disappearing. Tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring before Monday night’s games, he is carrying the Kings offensively while Luc Robitaille and Jozef Stumpel are injured. . . .

You probably will never see as many of Palffy’s No. 33 jerseys around town as you used to see Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99. I’d guess a third as many is a logical expectation. But Palffy could become as much of a marquee player here as Bure would have been. . . .

As for Bure, there is no question of his value on the ice, as evidenced by the Florida Panthers’ 5-2-2 record in games when he hasn’t been injured. . . .

But nothing in a recent PBS “Frontline” documentary, which explored links between some Russian hockey players--among them Bure--and the Russian Mafia, came as news to the Kings. . . .

The Kings investigated when considering a trade for him last season, and although they arrived at no more conclusions than “Frontline” did about whether Bure was a victim or an accomplice, they decided that they’d rather not even deal with the questions.

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If anyone suggests to you that the loss of Adrian Beltre wouldn’t be monumental, there is a void in his or her understanding of baseball almost as large as the Dodgers’ at third base would be. . . .

Beltre hit .275 with 15 home runs and 67 runs batted in at 21--I mean 20--last season. With maturity and experience, he will be a 35-home run, 120-RBI, one-Gold-Glove-a-year kind of player. . . .

He could command as much as $8 million a year if granted free agency. The Dodgers should consider themselves lucky if they are allowed to pay him that much. . . .

For signing him at 15, one year under the legal age, they could lose the right to even negotiate with him. . . .

Depending on what they knew and when they knew it, that might not be fair to the Dodgers. Omar Minaya, now the New York Mets’ assistant general manager, says he saw Beltre’s paperwork while scouting him for the Texas Rangers and also believed he was 16.

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Staples Center officials have put out the word that only promoters of big fights need apply for dates. As big fights go these days, the bout proposed for Feb. 26 between Oscar De La Hoya and either Ahmed Kotiev or Derrell Coley might qualify. . . .

The World Boxing Council is set to crown the winner as its welterweight champion. . . .

The reigning WBC champion, Felix Trinidad Jr., is about to be stripped of his title for accepting a super-welterweight fight March 4 against David Reid instead of defending at 147 pounds. . . .

Whether the De La Hoya fight will be held at Staples depends on David Stern. The Clippers, according to sources, have agreed to move their game scheduled Feb. 26 but need NBA approval. . . .

De La Hoya probably didn’t expect to be taken literally when he said he would fight Trinidad any time, any place and for any purse, but he was willing to take less than Trinidad in guaranteed money for a rematch. . . .

Both promoters, Don King for Trinidad and Bob Arum for De La Hoya, believed they had a deal until Trinidad’s father insisted that King make the Reid deal. . . .

I wouldn’t want Felix Sr. handling my business. Considering the difference in prize money for those two fights, the decision cost his son about $16 million. . . .

It also cost De La Hoya, but he can probably make it up in a pay-per-view fight next summer against “Sugar” Shane Mosley. . . .

The best fight last weekend in Las Vegas was the one between Bill Caplan, Arum’s publicist, and Greg Fritz, King’s publicist. . . .

I didn’t hear about it first from Caplan, who said, “I only publicize other people’s fights, not my own.” . . .

If Lennox Lewis had fought 25 years earlier, I would rank him no higher than eighth in the heavyweight division, behind Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle. . . .

Forget Ali. I’d be happy if Lewis were as charismatic as Larry Holmes. . . .

How bleak is the heavyweight division? When he heard that Lewis’ next opponent probably will be Michael Grant, if Grant beats Andrew Golota on Saturday, George Foreman asked, “Michael who?” . . .

Foreman needs to find out soon. He’s doing the color commentary for HBO on Grant-Golota.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.