It’s a Cavalcade of Tussling Chez Hef

INVITED TO: Sugar Ray Leonard presents boxing live from the Playboy Mansion.

TURN-ONS/TURNOFFS: “If you think about it, Playboy and boxing, they both are very sexy,” asserts presenter/promoter Sugar Ray Leonard, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his professional entry into the sport while staging his monthly ESPN2 fight club broadcast at the mansion. “Something about a boxer is very sexy. I think this is a perfect fit.” Well, who’s to argue? Folding garden chairs suggest a summer wedding; the meaty cuisine, a barbecue; but the ring is regulation, constructed a mere squawking distance from the aviary. Host Hugh Hefner, wearing white slacks and a Playboy polyester shirt loudly patterned with miniature magazine covers, moves in a sea of blond. Jock stars and a small Hollywood contingent (hey, there’s Dick Van Patten) cavort with the numerous beach-party-clad Playmates, some of whom giggle their way into the man-made pond. Berry Gordy roams the grounds carrying a nine iron. “I’m trying to become a better golfer, and whenever I have a chance, I do my practicing,” the father of Motown says. “Hef doesn’t know it, but I dig up a lot of his grass.”

IN THIS CORNER: “It’s ‘the mansion,’ ” says comedian D.L. Hughley. “Even if they was having bingo, I’d be here.” Despite the obvious distractions, most present claim to be aficionados of the whole Marquess of Queensberry thing, though few could name anyone on today’s lineup (flyweight, lightweight and a women’s bout featuring Jessica “Baby Doll” Rakozcy and generally mismatched opponents). “I know a couple of the fighters because I’ve been training in their gym,” says “Ocean’s Eleven” player Scott Caan. Ving Rhames, underscoring his bond with pugilism (already established with his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of tonsorially challenged promoter Don King), sports a hat a la Sonny Liston, whom he portrays in an upcoming biopic. (He also portrays a boxer convicted of rape--sound familiar?--in the soon-to-be-released feature “Undisputed,” with Wesley Snipes.) But what mere thespian can claim anything approaching the cred of the man who sacrificed a lobe for the sport, Evander Holyfield? “Boxing is what I do, and if I have spare time, that’s what I usually come to anyway,” Holyfield says. “This is leisure. If I was in training, I wouldn’t be in L.A.’.”

*

Celeb Quotient: **

A decent enough mix of actors and athletes, but where are the heavyweights?

Wow Factor: ***

The babe-and-boxing one-two makes for plenty of knockouts.

Grazing Level: *

Burgers, dogs, pretzels and ice cream.

Like being at a real stadium.

Rating Scale 1=ho hum; 4-yowza

1=ho-hum 4-yowza