BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : A Checkmate in the Heavyweight Division

Welcome to the jumble.

The guy who used to rule has been tossed into limbo, the guy everybody forgot is now feted like a king, and everybody else is trying to grab onto something solid as the heavyweight division lurches like the Queen Elizabeth II during a dark and stormy night.

Evander Holyfield created this situation, of course, with his stunning and stirring upset of Riddick Bowe last Saturday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to retake the heavyweight championship.

You bet it was an upset: It upset plans for a unification series of fights that was supposed to climax with a Bowe match against World Boxing Council title-holder Lennox Lewis. It upset HBO, Caesars and Fila’s hopes to make the 26-year-old Bowe the most popular (and wealthiest) heavyweight since Muhammad Ali.

It upset the whole chessboard, bless Holyfield’s weary soul, so here’s a stab at realigning the pieces as they stand in the aftermath:

Holyfield: After beating Bowe, his future is so bright (and his eyes so swollen), he has to wear shades.

An afterthought heading into last weekend, and considered a caretaker in his previous two-year reign as champion, he now holds the division in his hands and has never been more marketable in his life.

He can retire peacefully or he can fight Bowe or Lewis or WBA No. 1 contender Michael Moorer, who is contractually owed a fight, or anybody else he chooses.

He’ll probably bide his time, at least until after Thanksgiving, and let the bidders sweat it out.

“Evander will decide in due course, and everybody will respond to that,” said HBO Vice President Seth Abraham.

Showtime officials, who threw him a party in New York Thursday, is after him to give them a legitimate anchor away from their increasingly uncomfortable relationship with Don King. HBO sits and waits by the phone. His own promoter, Dan Duva, looks for hints and makes alternative plans for whichever way his fighter eventually chooses.

“What I can gather from what he’s said is that I think if he fights again, he’s leaning toward Lennox Lewis,” Duva said Friday. “But I don’t say that with any certainty. He also knows he has a commitment to Moorer as the No. 1 contender.

“One thing he knows is that if hecomes back, it probably can’t be for just one fight. If he comes back, he has to fight for another year or two, and does he want to do that? Every time he fights, there’s incredible pressure for another one.”

Lewis: All he can do is wait for Holyfield, because that’s the only fight that makes any fiscal sense for him. It also might make the best sense for Holyfield, who can see the logic in putting off (and building public demand for) Holyfield-Bowe III until late 1994.

Duva, who also owns promotional pieces of Lewis and Moorer, says the most profitable fight out there is Holyfield-Lewis, which he says, given Lewis’ European drawing power, could earn Holyfield close to $20 million and could happen as soon as April. Lewis could make more than $10 million.

Lewis, unimpressive in knocking out Frank Bruno last month, was originally supposed to fight then-World Boxing Organization champion Tommy Morrison in March, but that got wiped away when Morrison was wiped out by Michael Bentt.

“Evander Holyfield won’t feel good if he believes he’s going to retire without fighting Lennox Lewis,” Lewis said this week. “How can he say he’s the best in this era? I’ve got the belt, he’s got to come and get it.”

If Holyfield delays a decision, then retires, Lewis could get very rusty.

Bowe: Time to get back in line, big guy, because people are watching. Is he the next Buster Douglas? In a chaotic situation Saturday, he was gracious and calm after losing. Is that a sign of growing maturity or slackening desire?

He says he has learned from his mistake--ballooning over 300 pounds before going into training for Holyfield--and will have to start proving it quickly.

Bowe has a tentative date on HBO, Jan. 14 (possibly against Jorge Luis Gonzalez), for the beginning of his comeback, and probably needs two or three impressive fights in 1994 before he gets a crack at Holyfield again.

HBO remains bound to Bowe, albeit on a lesser scale after the loss, and Bowe is still young, verbally adroit and very, very talented.

Moorer: He could perfect the art of making big bucks for the ability to step sideways. Moorer, who just turned 26, allowed Holyfield-Bowe II to happen by relinquishing his mandatory challenge rights as the No. 1 contender.

He got a bonus for that, and the right to get the next title shot. Contractually, if Holyfield does not fight Moorer next, he is supposed to relinquish the two belts.

But, nobody really wants to see a Holyfield-Moorer fight right away.

Moorer is giving no indication that he is willing to step aside again, but he might not have a choice and might get as much as $3 million to do it.

“(Stepping aside) may set his timetable back a bit, if he’s amenable,” Duva said of Moorer, who recently switched trainers, dropping the team of Lou Duva and George Benton (Holyfield’s former trainers) in favor of Teddy Atlas.

“But it ultimately may turn out financially better for him and gives him more time to be prepared to win the championship.”

Bentt: The WBO champion may be the main loser in the post-Holyfield fallout. His dramatic upset of Morrison had catapulted him into serious consideration to be Lewis’ next fight--until Saturday.

But with Holyfield a live option for Lewis, Bentt may be forced out of the top echelon, fighting the Brunos of the division.

Others: If there is as much activity on top of the division as forecast, second-tier guys like Morrison, Ray Mercer and Oliver McCall may not get much big-money action in ‘94--unless as potential Bowe foes.

Mercer might have as much talent as anybody, but he’s stuck fighting a rematch with Jesse Ferguson Friday, then has a December court date over his indictment for allegedly trying to bribe Ferguson during a loss in their first meeting.

Dan Duva: Is having partial control over all three belts (and the No. 1 contender) a blessing, or a curse? If he can wrap up 1994 neat and clean with two or three major fights, he’s boxing’s most powerful and richest man. If the division falls apart because of all the push and pull, Duva’s the goat.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Duva said. “All I do is talk to the managers, and I discuss with them all the possibilities and at the appropriate time hopefully I can get them all together in room and figure out a solution.”

Boxing Notes

The Oscar De La Hoya-Genaro Hernandez junior-lightweight title fight went on a merry-go-round this week, and the only important result, so far, is that the tentative date has been moved back, from Feb. 5 to sometime in early March and possibly much later than that. Negotiations continue with Hernandez, but, promoter Bob Arum has decided he probably wants De La Hoya first to be matched against World Boxing Organization champion Jimmy Bredahl, which would push any Hernandez fight into May or June. Hernandez might also fight be on the Bredahl card. De La Hoya-Bredahl could happen in March at the Olympic Auditorium, which apparently will not be ready for a February reopening.

A fight with Bredahl also jeopardizes De La Hoya’s long-awaited 2 1/2-year, multi-million dollar deal with HBO, which is not interested in Bredahl. It is unclear whether a future fight against Hernandez, the World Boxing Assn. champion, would revitalize the HBO deal, but Arum said he could sign a shorter-length De La Hoya-HBO package soon.

Arum, whose relations with HBO have recently grown chilly, abruptly canceled De La Hoya’s HBO deal when HBO refused to accept Bredahl instead of Hernandez, whom Arum said was asking for too much money. On Thursday, Hernandez rescued chances for the fight by lowering his demands (to about $525,000), but as of Friday afternoon, Bredahl was very much in the picture.

The MGM Grand Las Vegas is kicking off its boxing action with a fairly major splash: three title fights on Jan. 29, the Saturday before the Super Bowl. Involved are the American return of World Boxing Council junior-welterweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall; WBC junior-lightweight champion Azumah Nelson rematched vs. James Leija; and WBC welterweight champion Felix Trinidad vs. Hector Camacho. WBC junior-middleweight champion Terry Norris, who is fighting Simon Brown Dec. 18 at Charlotte, also could be added to the Jan. 29 card if he wins.