A heavyweight problem

The next heavyweight champion of the world could be a fighter whose claim to fame is getting disqualified from bouts. Or it could be a fledgling golf pro who has fought three times in three years.

Or it could be Fres Oquendo.

Who?

“It is just terrible out there,” boxing author and historian Bert Sugar said. “The heavyweight division is on the brink of being called off because of a lack of fighters and lack of interest.”

In the next two weeks, the division will take its first step into the post-Lennox Lewis era with three fights that will determine the holders of the major championship belts.

That small step seems more like one giant leap into oblivion, given the lack of talent and a compelling personality among the fighters in question.

World Boxing Association champion John Ruiz (39-5-1, 27 knockouts) will face Oquendo (24-2 15 knockouts) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. On the same card, Chris Byrd (37-2, 20 knockouts) will defend his International Boxing Federation title against Andrew Golota (38-4, 31 knockouts), perhaps the only fighter whose name the casual fan might recognize — and for all the wrong reasons.

The following Saturday in Los Angeles, Vitali Klitschko (33-2, 32 knockouts) will fight Corrie Sanders (39-2, 29 knockouts) for the World Boxing Council title Lewis vacated when he retired.

The winner of the latest reality TV offering, “The Contender,” could wind up better known than any of the heavyweight champions.

Former HBO boxing boss Lou DiBella, now a promoter, has difficulty acknowledging the validity of these bouts.

“Are they really heavyweight title fights?” DiBella asked. “There is such a muddle in the division now. It is the weakest the division has been in my time and one of the weakest in the modern era of boxing.”

The division hasn’t been in such disarray since the post-Larry Holmes era, when fighters like Pinklon Thomas, Trevor Berbick and James “Bonecrusher” Smith were reigning champions. And Sugar says the division is in far worse shape than it was then.

“At least we knew the names of the fighters then because they had all fought Larry,” he said. “We don’t know who these people are. Fres Oquendo hasn’t fought anyone, and nobody knows who he is.”

Holmes himself had nothing but contempt for the state of heavyweight boxing, saying, “I’m 54 years old and I can kick their butts. I’ve forgotten more about boxing than these guys know.”

Oquendo last fought in September, when he lost a close decision to Byrd in an IBF title bout. Despite that loss, he is getting another shot at a title, this time for the WBA belt. That title is held by Ruiz, who got it by default.

Ruiz’s only notoriety came from losing in March 2003 to light heavyweight champion Roy Jones, who opted to move back to the lower division. Ruiz regained the WBA title he lost to Jones after he beat Hasim Rahman in December in a fight even Ruiz admitted was ugly.

That is the way the division works these days because of the lack of talent and big names: No one ever falls out of contention, and Rahman is a perfect example. He has won one of five fights since upsetting Lewis in South Africa in April 2001 — a lackluster decision over 37-year-old former cruiserweight champion Al Cole last month at Ballroom Boxing in Glen Burnie, Md.

Rahman is fighting tomorrow night against journeyman Mario Cawley at Dover Downs in Delaware. Remarkably, Rahman is still ranked fourth in the WBA, and stands a good chance of becoming the organization’s No.1 contender if he beats Cawley.

The other heavyweight title fight at the Garden, Byrd vs. Golota, might be even more indicative of the demise of the division.

Golota was last seen on a national stage with his trainer trying to shove his mouthpiece back in his mouth as he refused to come out for the third round against Mike Tyson in October 2000.

Now he returns to the Garden, where he helped to ignite a riot in July 1996 after he was disqualified the first of two times for repeated low blows against Riddick Bowe. Golota quit fighting after the embarrassment against Tyson but came back this year to fight two weak opponents and put himself in position to get this fight against Byrd.

“It is a statement about how bad heavyweight boxing is when Andrew Golota can come back and fight for a portion of the heavyweight championship,” Sugar said. “The division has no credibility.”

Next week, Klitschko meets Sanders for the vacant WBC belt. Sanders was ready to retire at 37 after fighting twice in two years and work as a golf pro in South Africa when he stunned the boxing world in March 2003 by knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in three rounds.

That win seems far less impressive after last weekend’s latest heavyweight debacle, when another journeyman, Lamon Brewster, stopped Wladimir Klitschko in five rounds to win the less-heralded WBO title.

Now Sanders faces the other Klitschko, who quit on his stool against Byrd and who lost to an out-of-shape Lewis last June, when he was cut so badly he could not continue after six rounds despite leading on judges’ cards.

The state of heavyweight boxing is so bad that 55-year-old George Foreman has pledged a one-bout comeback against an opponent to be determined — provided Foreman can get down to 225 pounds.

Foreman told the Chicago Tribune that none of the heavyweights fighting for the various titles can save the division and added, “None of them can hold the sport up. None of them will be a famous champion.”

After the Holmes era, Tyson emerged to capture the public’s attention. And though Lewis never achieved the star status of a Tyson, or even an Evander Holyfield, he had enough presence to gain recognition as the best heavyweight in the division and as the generally accepted champion.

This time, there is no one on the horizon. HBO officials desperately hoped the Klitschkos would be the next big stars, but those hopes took a hit with the loss by Wladimir. The latest American “white hope,” undefeated Joe Mesi of Buffalo, looked shaky after being knocked down three times and barely beating Vasily Jirov last month. Another promising heavyweight, Dominick Guinn, suffered a disappointing loss last month to Monte Barrett.

There is one star, though, in the heavyweight division: Don King. He is the promoter for Saturday night’s double title fight show at the Garden. Ruiz and Byrd are under contract to King and he promotes Brewster, the WBO title holder.

Though King promoted both Tyson and Holyfield when they were champions, he was never able to get Lewis under contract and often was on the outside while Lewis controlled the division. It is in King’s best interest for the division to remain in confusion as long as he has control over the titles with fighters who are beholden to the promoter.

King is calling Saturday night’s Garden party “The Next Era Begins.” But it remains the King era, which began 30 years ago when he convinced an African dictator to put up $10million of his country’s money for a fight between Foreman and Muhammad Ali. And it rolls on.