Sometimes you can have a religious revelation under the strangest of circumstances. Early yesterday morning, I had such an epiphany. And what I realized is this — God isn’t watching all the time. Or at least He wasn’t watching Don King’s pay-per-view boxing show from Madison Square Garden.
How do I know this? Because at 1:12a.m. yesterday morning , Chris Byrd, one of the fighters passing for a heavyweight champion these days, uttered the following words: “I want to thank God for bringing Don King into my life.”
Now, I don’t care how forgiving the Lord is. No deity can let a statement like that pass without smiting someone for it.
The only time you hear King’s name associated with God is when someone is cursing out the promoter. But he does reign supreme over boxing these days and particularly the heavyweight division, where he controls two of the three major belts and one lesser title as well.
And, at the age of 72, he may soon pull off his most remarkable triumph since 1974, when he convinced African dictator President Mobutu to put up $10million of Zaire’s money to finance the fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. It’s believed King is on the verge of bringing Mike Tyson back into the fold.
Yes, that’s the same Tyson who is suing King for $100million, claiming the promoter robbed him of that sum before the duo parted ways after Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield in 1997. As a court date for the lawsuit has drawn closer — it was delayed not long ago because Tyson filed for bankruptcy — King has been working on Tyson. King is trying to convince his former meal ticket that he can help Tyson get more money in the ring — a heavyweight championship and guaranteed big purses — than in the courtroom. It doesn’t matter that Tyson hasn’t fought since he knocked out Clifford Etienne in 49 seconds on Feb.22, 2003.
King’s show at the Garden Saturday night featured two supposed heavyweight title fights. The nightcap was Byrd against Andrew Golota, whose resume includes two disqualifications for low blows in fights against Riddick Bowe and quitting after two rounds against Mike Tyson. That was preceded by World Boxing Association champion John Ruiz against Fres Oquendo.
It really doesn’t matter who won or lost — Ruiz stopped Oquendo in 11 rounds and Byrd-Golota ended in a draw. These bouts were an exercise in caretaking the IBF and WBA titles, which King controls because he promotes Byrd, Golota and Ruiz, as well as newly crowned World Boxing Organization champion Lamon Brewster. King will try to protect those titles until he convinces Tyson, who was in the crowd at the Garden, to settle his lawsuit and step back into the ring against a stiff like Ruiz and regain a share of the heavyweight championship. And if that happens then Tyson could meet white hope Joe Mesi or fight the 41-year-old Holyfield (who also just returned to the King camp) for the third time. That fight, they could say, would be for a championship, which means more money for everyone, except Tyson, if you believe what he claims in his lawsuit against King.
I doubt if any of the heavyweights who fought Saturday night will be suing King, because he didn’t pay them enough money for him to steal. Neither of the so-called heavyweight champions made $1million for their work. (Byrd may have been the highest paid, getting between $600,000 and $800,000, depending on who you believe). Tyson drops more money than that on a shopping spree to a jewelry store.
For the entire pay-per-view event, I doubt King spent a total of $2million on purses for fighters. He received $1million in a site fee from the Garden, so that means much of what he made in the pay-per-view show — and it was a King-produced telecast charging $40 for this event — went in his pocket. He could use the money. The event was known in boxing circles as the “Terry Norris Benefit Show,” referring to the $7.5million King lost to the former junior middleweight champion after he settled a lawsuit in December.
He could lose a lot more if Tyson’s lawsuit continues. But most people guess Tyson is still susceptible to King’s ploy of offering a fighter a deal with the juice there for the drinking, rather than waiting for the promise of bigger money down the line. King will hope Tyson lacks the patience to wait for the courts — which have not been particularly kind to Tyson in the past.
Of course, Tyson, who will be 38 in June, can tell King one thing one day and someone else another thing the next day. He is the heavyweight champion of unpredictability. It has been rumored he signed to fight in Ireland, then in Japan, and then in South Africa. Now there is a report that Tyson signed a contract with another promotional company for his return to the ring in July.
Here is one thing that is predictable — King won’t stop his pursuit of Tyson until the day they walk into a courtroom and testify about the business dealings of the controversial promoter.
If it comes to that, I doubt if thanking God for bringing Don King into his life will be part of Tyson’s testimony.
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