Boxing: A knock out for the sport

By Peter Jessup

Boxing took another heavy body-blow yesterday, with Mike Tyson finding yet another bizarre way to end a bout.

There is every likelihood neither he nor opponent Orlin Norris will be paid for the one round they fought, since the bout was declared a no-contest after Tyson hooked Norris well after the bell and Norris refused to start round two, claiming he injured a knee when felled by the late blow.

They may fight again, patrons at the MGM creating an ugly stir after paying up to $US1000 ($1945) a seat to witness the fiasco.

Meanwhile, David Tua's demolition of former Canadian heavyweight Shane Sutcliffe 1m 20s into round two impressed the critics, many commenting that they would rather have seen him go against Tyson.

Television channel ESPN's website asked boxing fans what was the heavyweight fight they would most like to see and 45 per cent voted Tyson-Tua.

"We weren't up against much tonight but Dave would have KO'd Norris even quicker," said manager Kevin Barry.

His view of the ending, called after Norris' corner initially asked for the extra five minutes allowed a fighter to recover from an illegal blow, was that Norris did not want to fight anymore.

"Who knows what was going through the guy's head but he may have thought he'd get paid and get a lucrative rematch too. He looked like he tried to milk it," Barry said.

Of the $US800,000 Norris was to receive, $US500,000 had been tagged by debtors and the Internal Revenue Service.

Tyson reportedly owed the casino around $US20 million when it bailed him out of tax and other financial trouble in return for an eight-fight deal. This will not help pay it back, and until the debt is cleared it seems unlikely Tyson will front a boxer who has a better than even chance - like Tua.

Barry and Tua were four rows back from ringside, behind Hulk Hogan and next to John Travolta, when Tyson's fight degenerated to a slanging match with legions of security guards keeping the conflicting parties apart. People were screaming that they had been ripped off and would never go to the casino again to see Tyson, Barry said. Tyson's handlers and the casino management had ashen faces.

"It was a terrible spectacle and does nothing for the sport."

The pair were surprised at Tyson's poor form.

"He had no composure and no discipline prior to that late shot, and it was very late. He looks shot."

Tua moved into his work with patience, driving relentlessly forward to push Sutcliffe to the ropes then unleashing uppercuts as he sought to open a hole for his trademark left hook. He damaged the 24-year-old Sutcliffe with two big rights from down under and bloodied his nose with a right cross early in round one, and the Canadian showed he felt them by upping the rate at which he was backpedalling.

There was fear in his eyes when Tua landed his big punch. Sutcliffe slumped down to the right, unable to get his arms out to control the fall. When the ringside doctor told the referee Sutcliffe could not focus the fight was over, technical knockout to Tua, despite some small protestation from Sutcliffe that he wanted to go on.

Barry said they would like one more bout before year's end, but it was looking increasingly unlikely as time wore on.

The pair now await the outcome of the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis rematch in November to determine title rankings and Tua's timing at the world title. When that comes, it is unlikely to be with Lou Duva's Main Events as promoter, given the difficulty the pair have had securing the big payday they want.