Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 19, 1995 TAG: 9508210048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS LENGTH: Medium
The punch was a left that landed below the belt line.
It came with 1.18 seconds left and was the last punch Mike Tyson landed in a fight - his 12-round decision victory over Donovan ``Razor'' Ruddock.
Tonight, four years and 52 days after that low left, Tyson will fit his fists into a pair of 10-ounce boxing gloves and again throw a punch in a fight, a 10-round bout against Peter McNeeley.
``It was a tough fight,'' Tyson had said after beating Ruddock.
Mismatch, rip-off are some of the things that have been said and written about Tyson's comeback fight in the MGM Grand Garden.
``I think this is terrible match-making,'' said Rock Newman, Riddick Bowe's manager. ``Tyson will get nothing out of this fight. McNeeley is a joke.''
The 26-year-old McNeeley has a 36-1 record with 30 knockouts, but his opposition has been extremely short on quality.
McNeeley bristles at suggestions that he's just a fall guy for Tyson, but he described how many people view the fight when he said, ``I'm just a small guy in this thing. It's Mike Tyson's coming-out party.''
``He's back,'' shouted a fan at Thursday's official weigh-in. And that's what all the fuss seems to be about.
Jay Larkin of Showtime thinks the pay-per-view sales will be at least 1 million transactions at prices between $35 and $50 and that the match will be seen by 1 billion people worldwide.
A full-house crowd of 16,736, liberally studded with celebrities, is being predicted for the MGM Grand Garden.
There will be three world title fights on the pay-per-view card, including one for the WBA heavyweight championship between champion Bruce Seldon and Joe Hipp. The Tyson-McNeeley match is scheduled to start no later than 11:15 p.m.
Tyson is getting $25 million, according to his contract on file with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He got $5 million for his decision over Ruddock June 28, 1991, at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
The former undisputed heavyweight champion is a prohibitive favorite, and the over-and-under for the fight is two rounds at the MGM Grand sports book.
Asked about a quick knockout, Tyson said, ``That was my trademark. I'm sure you'll find the fight very breathtaking. I just want to win in spectacular fashion.''
Tyson, whose record is 41-1 with 36 knockouts, has scored four first-round KOs in his last eight fights. Two of them were spectacular championship victories - in 91 seconds over Michael Spinks June 27, 1988, and in 93 seconds over Carl Williams July 21, 1989.
Tyson's fastest knockout happened in 30 seconds against Marvis Frazier July 26, 1986. In 1985, his first year as a pro, Tyson knocked out Robert Colay in 37 seconds and Ricardo Spain and Michael Johnson in 39 seconds each. He had three other fights that lasted less than a minute.
McNeeley's brawling style would seem to ensure a short fight.
While the bout might not last long enough to indicate how the long layoff has affected Tyson's fight skills, his physical condition looks good.
His weight of 220 pounds is four pounds more than he weighed for the Ruddock match. It is his heaviest since he weighed 2201/2 when he lost the title to James ``Buster'' Douglas on a 10th-round knockout Feb.11, 1990 - five fights ago. He weighed 2211/2 when he stopped Trevor Berbick in the second round for the WBC title Nov.22, 1986, and, at 20, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
McNeeley, of Medfield, Mass., weighed 224 pounds. His purse is $540,000.
Seldon, of Gloucester Township, N.J., weighed 234 pounds for his first defense of the WBA title. Hipp, of Yakima, Wash., weighed 233 pounds.
The winner, of course, would be in line for a possible big-money defense against Tyson.
Seldon, whose record is 32-3 with 28 knockouts, won the title when he stopped Tony Tucker in seven rounds on April 8. Hipp's record is 30-3 with 19 knockouts.
The pay-per-view show will begin at about 9:15 p.m. with a WBC lightweight title defense by Miguel Angel Gonzalez of Mexico against Lamar Murphy of Miami. It will be followed by the Seldon-Hipp match, then Tyson-McNeeley.
Julian Jackson of St.Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, will close the show with a WBC middleweight title defense against Quincy Taylor of Dallas.
Ticket prices for the card range from $200 to $1,500.
Fans, however, will be able to get in free when Luis Santana of New York defends the WBC super welterweight championship against Terry Norris of Campo, Calif., at about 5 p.m. ABC will televise the fight live.
by CNB