| |
NOMINEE |
THE SKINNY |
| Overrated |
Oscar de la Hoya |
Makes his debut as a singer on The
Tonight Show. Follows with 12-round tango with Felix Trinidad. But nobody's
paying $21 million for his song-and-dance
act. |
| Underrated |
Don King |
Here's a guy who looked to be at the end of
his rope, his control of the heavyweights appeared about gone and nobody in his
stable could make him any money but welterweight Trinidad. And what chance was
Trinidad likely to have against De La Hoya?
Oops! |
| Annoying |
Mike Tyson |
Boxing's bad boy celebrates return from exile
by trying to break Francois Botha's arm, then hits Orlin Norris after the bell.
Serves time in
between. |
| Breakthrough |
The Feds |
After years of botched
attempts to nail someone --anyone-- in boxing, they land IBF executives with a
32-count indictment charging them with racketeering and conspiracy. Of course,
the guy they really want (see underrated) remains at large. So do two other
sanctioning
bodies. |
| Uplifting |
Evander Holyfield |
Can't win the big ones anymore but, at
the age of 37, still has desire enough to wade in against a monster like Lennox
Lewis. His willingness to make a fight ought to be studied more closely by his
contemporaries. |
| MVP |
Lennox Lewis |
Perhaps the most uninspiring champion of all time, yet
he did beat Holyfield twice to unify the heavyweight championship. Bonus point:
Served no
time. |
Storyline to
follow in 2000 |
Boxing Regulation |
The abuses may finally be
too much. The government's been licking its chops for years and might finally
force some kind of
reform. |
