Columnist: Fightin’ words aid promoters

Tuesday, June 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

STYLES MAKE FIGHTS, but slogans have been known to make a fight promotion. Come up with a catchy one, and people take notice.

To wit: Ali-Frazier II? Boring. Thrilla in Manilla? Captivating.

Of course, the latter fight could have been called anything -- or, for that matter, nothing at all -- and fight fans would have remembered it. But it is the play on words that gives it a special place in the pantheon of boxing's greatest moments.

With so much riding on today's big promotions, you might think the promoters would entrust the crucial task of naming the bouts to Madison Avenue.

Not in Bob Arum's case. All of his promotions are concocted right here on Maryland Parkway, usually in a board room in the Top Rank Inc., office compound.

"Typically, we roundtable it," said Top Rank publicist Lee Samuel. "We sit around and think about it. He (Arum) always makes the final call, but he's always open to suggestions."

The slogans are like an old fighter's thought processes. Some work better than others. Thrilla in Manilla, perhaps Arum's crowning achievement, works. Judgment Day in Monterey (Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Tony Lopez, a Don King production) doesn't.

The recent Ultimate Glory (Oscar De La Hoya vs. Chavez) wasn't a total knockout in terms of cleverness, but it did a fine job in capturing the essence of the event.

Fight posters decorating the Top Rank office walls recall some of the other big promotions of the recent past: SuperFight (Hagler vs. Leonard), The Uncivil War (James Toney vs. Roy Jones), Heavy Damage (Foreman vs. Pierre Coetzer), Battle of the Ages (Foreman vs. Holyfield), The Fight (Hagler vs. Hearns), Bombs Away (Hearns-Iran Barkley II), La Explosion (Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzales), Ring of Fire (Alexis Arguello vs. Aaron Pryor), Ready or Not (De La Hoya vs. John-John Molina) and the upcoming Neighborhood War (Vinny Pazienza vs. Dana Rosenblatt) are among the fight slogans that made the cut.

Here are 11 that didn't, wouldn't or shouldn't, even on a low creativity day:

* Thrilla in Vanilla: Jerry Quarry vs. Gerry Cooney.

* Beard Science: Razor Ruddock vs. Earnie Shavers.

* Men of Color: Red Rocker vs. Blue Bomber (the Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots).

* Royal Pain: Prince Charles Williams vs. Joe King Roman.

* Space Cadets: Khaosai Galaxy vs. Sung Kil Moon.

* White Guys Can't Fight: Duane Bobick vs. Scott LeDoux.

* Partners in Crime: Billy Conn vs. Arturo Gatti.

* The Immaculate Deception: Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley.

* Pounds for Pounds: James "Buster" Douglas vs. George Foreman.

* Immaculate Deception II: Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno.

And, in the ultimate showdown, one I'd pay (dearly) per view on a closed circuit: