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The Hot List
CNN/Sports Illustrated’s Evan Kanew takes a look at who's hot and who's not in the world of boxing. KNOCKOUTSNo-names: In October, pudgy Orlin Norris got a cool $800,000 purse for one round (plus a few extra seconds) of work against Mike Tyson; two weeks ago little- known David Telesco bagged $450,000 to be Roy Jones Jr.’s dance partner for an evening at Radio City; now total unknown Julius Francis gets the payday the his life, $560,000, to be Tyson's punching bag. British fight fans: It wasn't a high-paid barrister or even Prime Minister Tony Blair who proved to be the deciding vote in Tyson's visa dispute with Britain's Home Office. All 21,000-plus tickets for the Manchester bout sold out in a matter of hours, pursuading the powers that be that the show must go on. The Mecca: Ghosts of the old University of Eighth Avenue are stirring, thanks to Madison Square Garden Boxing, ubiquitous heavyweight promoter Cedric Kushner and others who have committed to a series of Big Apple fight cards through at least the first half of 2000. British merchants: A $1 million McLaren Formula One sports car and a $1.6 million diamond-encrusted wristwatch are just a couple of the souveniers Tyson has reportedly purchased on his European vacation. Sweetness: In his second fight since a daring two-weight-class leap to 147 pounds, former lightweight champ "Sugar" Shane Mosley last weekend scored a big kayo over welterweight trial horse Willie Wise. He's digging for gold, as in Golden Boy.
BUMSOw Jones index: The undisputed light heavyweight champ couldn't kayo club fighter Telesco on January 15. This power failure probably means that Jones's enticing jump to heavyweight -- and, unfortunately for him, the payday that goes with it -- has been put off. Brooklyn dodge: Despite the promotional potential of their shared Brooklyn roots, Tyson will side-step a March matchup with fellow Brownsville native Shannon Briggs. Team Tyson considers it a safer bet for Iron Mike to take on the slower-footed Bronx bomber, Lou Savarese. Aston Martin: Friend of the environment Iron Mike goes unleaded, declining to shell out a half a milion bucks for a spiffy British-made roadster -- the one that caught his eye doesn't meet U.S. emissions standards. The Mirror: British tabloid reaches a new low, as it reportedly pays Julius Francis $33,000 for the right to display its logo on his size-12 boxing boots. Arcane British regulations: First Tyson's immigration flap. Then a report that his wee-hours roadwork in Hyde Park is a "criminal offense" carrying a fine of $320. Does Manchester have a city ordinance protecting imperiled club fighters in the ring?
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