Tyson’s weight, opponent are still mysteries

Dean Juipe

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 9:41 a.m.

Dan Goossen's brand of optimism isn't exactly contagious, yet the promoter keeps an ever-hopeful attitude when responding to questions about Mike Tyson.

Of late, the most asked of those questions has concerned Tyson's opponent for an Oct. 2 date at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

And while Goossen has said for five or six weeks "I hope to make the official announcement in the next week or so," Thursday he repeated the line again as if it had become his personal mantra.

"Maybe tomorrow," Goossen said, responding to still another query regarding verification of the opponent. "If not then, maybe within the week."

Goossen, in Las Vegas to announce an Aug. 28 card at the Hard Rock hotel that is headlined by the World Boxing Association junior middleweight title fight between David Reid and Keith Mullings, remains guarded when the subject is Tyson or anything to do with the ex-heavyweight champion.

Asked who ultimately has the final say on Tyson's opponent, he was evasive.

"It goes through Mike, through (manager) Shelly (Finkel), through (cable TV network) Showtime and through myself," he said. "We all speak. This is not about who has the most power."

Eventually those entities will reach a decision and a field that apparently has been narrowed to three will be shortened again to one. From what is known, heavyweights Buster Douglas, Orlin Norris and Zeljko Mavrovic are the front runners for the assignment.

While each has his blemishes -- Douglas was destroyed by the mediocre Lou Savarese in one round; Norris is a natural cruiserweight; Mavrovic lost a dull decision to Lennox Lewis last fall -- Goossen believes the man who is selected will be marketable.

"No one can tell me these men would not give a good account of themselves," he said. "From a ticket-selling standpoint, any challenge to Tyson will sell tickets and these men are all capable of providing that challenge. I can't get in to what the perception will be, but we all know enough about boxing history to know anything can happen in the ring."

Tyson is training in Phoenix for a fight that had been tentative for August, then tentative for September before Goossen's America Presents promotional firm asked the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the Oct. 2 date. America Presents, which has a four-fight deal to promote Tyson's fights, also asked the commission for a Dec. 11 date that would be Tyson's second fight since his release from a Maryland prison on an aggravated assault conviction.

As for reports that the date continues to be pushed back because of Tyson's lack of proper conditioning and excess weight, Goossen would not elaborate beyond a simple denial.

"He's not overweight," Goossen said. "It's just that the earlier dates we had been talking about didn't work. The pieces weren't fitting in right for a fight in August or September. But we're getting very, very close on finalizing an opponent (for October.)"