VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: The Greatest KOs K-1 fight crowd

Monday, May 3, 2004 | 11:38 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

What was Muhammad Ali doing at the Bellagio on Friday night, presenting a title belt in a sport we've barely heard of to the guy who used to be in the Doobie Brothers? Or was he the former Las Vegas city councilman?

Well, it turned out that it was a different Michael McDonald who had defeated a Muay Thai fighter named Marvin Eastman in the K-1 USA Championship.

And still, we wondered what was the Greatest of All Time doing there. And what was it about this new K-1 martial arts competition that drew a standing-room-only crowd, including ringside faces ranging from Mike Tyson to Leonardo DiCaprio?

Just how did Ali end up in the ring at evening's end, waving to the crowd and acknowledging the deafening cheers of "Ali! Ali!"?

Seems that in his previous life, Mirage Resorts sports chief Bob Halloran was a journalist in Miami. He first interviewed a young Cassius Clay at the famous Fifth Street Gym in Miami Beach, Fla., when Clay was training for some of his first professional fights after earning a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Since then, Halloran has interviewed Ali nearly 1,000 times, and they have remained close friends. Halloran asked Ali to attend Friday's event, so he did.

"Not only was that a magical moment, having Ali back in the ring and the cheering like that, but it was a boost to K-1's credibility and public perception," K-1 USA Chief Executive Scott Coker told us.

"I mean, that was Muhammad Ali."

Coker said the sport is an ideal fit for Las Vegas.

"This is sport-o-tainment, and it is catching on fast," he said. "It is fighting, Las Vegas-style. It is fast-moving and has production values more comparable to a stage show than a traditional fight."

Indeed, the event is a series of three-rounders in a single elimination format, and has all kinds of projection screens and lights that highlight the ring action.

The sport started in Tokyo in 1993 as a way to determine which was more effective as a method of combat -- karate, kung fu, boxing or whatever. The first U.S. bouts were held in 1998.

In Las Vegas its fighters are regulated and licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Horn fans

It was a vast understatement when Bernie Yuman, longtime manager of Siegfried & Roy, said that the reception for Siegfried Fischbacher was "electrifying" Saturday night at the 36th Annual Academy of Magical Arts event at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre in Hollywood.

The evening was a tribute to Roy Horn, and when Fischbacher came out to accept the honor, a crowd that included (alphabetically): Jason Alexander, Mr. Blackwell, Erik Estrada, Farrah Fawcett, Cyndi Garvey, Teri Hatcher, Tippi Hedren, Sally Kirkland, Greg Louganis, Lee Majors, Rose Marie, Kenny Ortega, Stefanie Powers, Carl Reiner, Jane Russell and Mamie Van Doren responded with a standing ovation that ran several minutes.

"It was really very emotional," Yuman told us.

The show also featured Harrah's headliner Mac King, who received the 2003 Magician of the Year award, and the first major onstage appearance of Gay Blackstone since the death of her husband, Harry Blackstone Jr., in 1997.

She performed the Blackstone Floating Light Bulb Illusion with S&R protege Darren Romeo.

Dried up

Uh-oh. This drought thing may be for real.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the recent Western weather "of eternally blue skies and meager mountain snowpacks may not be a passing phenomenon but rather the return of a harsh climatic norm.

"Continuing research into drought cycles over the last 800 years bears this out, strongly suggesting that the relatively wet weather across much of the West during the 20th century was a fluke."

In other words, scientists who are paid to know such things say that the development of the modern urbanized West, which includes Las Vegas, "may have been based on a colossal miscalculation."

Among the experts mentioned in the story was Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

VegasBits

Smooth: Paula Abdul blew in and out of Las Vegas on Sunday. She came to make an appearance at the Esthetics, Cosmetics & Spa conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center ...

Eat: Natalie Cole dined at Crustacean (Desert Passage at Aladdin) on Thursday night. Also in the restaurant that evening: the Hilton's headline Elvis tribute artist Trent Carlini ("Dream King") and Fischbacher, who used a back door to come and go from a friend's private birthday party ...

Funny: "Southpark" co-creator Matt Stone and the newly separated John Stamos partied together at V Bar (Venetian) on Thursday night ...

Stars: Celebs as usual poured into Rain Las Vegas (Palms) on Saturday night. This week's boldfacers were Ashley Judd, Michael Andretti, Tommy Davidson and Jimmy Kimmel ...

News: Stardust headliner Wayne Newton was a guest at CNN's table at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in D.C. on Saturday night. Other Las Vegas-friendly celebs there included Drew Carey, Serena Williams and "American Idol's" Randy Jackson ...

Road trip: Chef Kerry Simon, talent rep Matt Stabile and "X" producer Angela Sampras joined Harrah's exec Don Marrandino at the Saturday opening of Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo bar at Harvey's Lake Tahoe. Hagar performed with Ted Nugent, Toby Keith and the women from "X" ...

Congrats: Robert Cushnie of the Motown-style Boardwalk hotel band Spectrum was married Saturday to Wendy Rountree at Cili at the Bali Hai Golf Club ...

Brothers: Joe, Gavin, Phil and George Maloof, owners of the Palms and the Sacramento Kings, among other things, will appear on "The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn" tonight. It airs locally at 12:35 on KLAS Channel 8. This marks the first time all four brothers have appeared on a late-night talk show together. Finally!

From Sun wires

More d'oh: The six actors who provide the majority of the character voices on "The Simpsons" have ended their monthlong walkout and cut a new four-year deal with producer 20th Century Fox TV that calls for each to receive a significant salary bump.

However, sources said the actors -- Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and Yeardley Smith -- did not prevail in getting a backend stake in the show, which has generated an estimated $1 billion-plus for Fox parent News Corp. since its series debut in 1990.

Court sidesteps Osbourne fight: Two musicians who claim they've been cheated by rocker Ozzy Osbourne got no sympathy today from the Supreme Court.

Justices refused to consider the appeal of bassist Robert Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, who sued in 1998 sking royalties for their work on Osbourne albums "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman."