Major fights up in the air

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

The rudderless ship that is professional boxing is careening a bit more than usual this week.

Even for a sport that never has a shortage of controversies and what-ifs, turmoil is at a peak.

And it's only Wednesday.

Fights that are on one minute are off the next. Plans that once appeared secure are up in the air. Relatives, let alone rivals, are bringing suit against each other.

Because of his magnetism, Mike Tyson's situation takes priority here, yet fellow fighters David Reid, Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley have worked their way into the unsettled mix.

As reported Tuesday, Tyson's scheduled Jan. 29 fight in Manchester, England, with Julius Francis is in doubt after it was ascertained the former heavyweight champion may be denied entry into Great Britain.

As a convicted felon who served more than one year of prison time, Tyson could be barred by English authorities from entering that country. Whether they decide to block his arrival -- scheduled for early next week -- is a question that remains unresolved at this time.

Tyson decided not to work out as scheduled Tuesday at the Golden Gloves Gym in Las Vegas, and he and his co-trainers tried to distance themselves from suggested scenarios that include his fight with Francis being called off and not rescheduled.

"I just train the man," said Tommy Brooks.

But his partner, Jay Bright, offered a more practical view.

"I'd like to see if this (English) rule applies to everybody who crosses England's borders," he said. "Or is this a selective prosecution? The law may be on the books but I'd like to see where it has been applied."

As an offshoot of Tyson's 1992 rape conviction in Indianapolis and ensuing six-year prison sentence (of which he served three years), England's Home Office has the right to determine whether he can be admitted to that country. A Home Office spokesperson made it sound unlikely Tyson would be permitted into the country, telling the British Broadcasting Corporation that "these are the rules (and) they will have to be followed."

There is a proviso that could allow Tyson entry into the country and it's described as the "compassionate grounds" exception. Tyson's management team, as well as the British promoter for the fight with Francis, will use that argument to appeal for Tyson's admission into the country.

His fight with Francis at the 21,000-seat MEN Arena is already a sellout.

"Mike Tyson is coming over here to fight and then go home," said promoter Frank Warren, advocating Tyson be granted an exception by the Home Office. "He's not here to do anything else and he's not going to be a danger to anyone apart from the man he's going to fight in the ring."

The status of Tyson's fight with Francis has to be determined shortly, as does the status of a proposed March 4 fight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas between Reid and Trinidad.

This is a fight that was announced in November, called off in December and then tentatively reintroduced last week. Now it's off again, although Reid opened training Tuesday in Denver in hopes that the 154-pound showdown will fall back into place.

Working against the March 4 date is the Showtime cable network's reluctance to go up against another card scheduled for the same date in Las Vegas -- headlined by Paulie Ayala vs. Johnny Bredahl at Mandalay Bay -- plus the belief that Caesars would not have enough time to secure the proper permits and build a temporary stadium for its fight card. Reid vs. Trinidad may yet resurface, although likely at a later date.

Mosley, the former lightweight champion who has moved to 147 pounds and will fight Willie Wise Jan. 22 at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas, did his part to confuse the sport's fans and observers Tuesday by surprising even his own handlers by laying out a 2000 itinerary that did not match what they had in mind.

Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles and later with the Sun by phone, Mosley said "I'm going to Hong Kong to fight February 28. It's almost definite. It'll be a nice payday."

Not only was the reference to a Feb. 28 fight (against an unnamed opponent) out of the blue, Mosley indicated a preference for fighting Oscar De La Hoya "late in the year" rather than June 17 -- a date Top Rank has requested for a pay-per-view fight involving De La Hoya and an opponent still to be determined. Mosley was thought to be the front-runner for the latter assignment, with the fight going to either the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas or the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

But no sooner was Mosley off the phone and his publicist, Norman Horton, called.

"Forget what Shane just told you," he said. "His plans are much more tentative than he said and the idea of going to Hong Kong is so far from concrete I'd say it won't happen.

"He may absolutely fight De La Hoya in June, although we haven't had any sit-down talks with Top Rank about it."

Rounding out the week's sordid tales is a suit filed in New York by Dino and Donna Duva against the company their family founded, Main Events, and their sister-in-law, Kathy Duva.

While Kathy Duva remains in charge at Main Events, the family has split and Dino and Donna have opened a new boxing promotional firm, Duva Boxing.

Their suit asks for compensation for improper termination and requests that Main Events be disbanded or reorganized in their favor.