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Only real boxing fans will be watching
Eugenia Williams says she won't be watching the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis rematch tonight.
That's no biggie.
She didn't watch the first one either, and she was judging it.
You remember Williams. Six billion people on Planet Earth knew Lewis won the first punch-up, but she still selected Holyfield.
And when everybody called her bluff, Williams blamed it on ring-side photographers whose big ol' butts blocked her view.
Well, apparently, she's not interested this time.
To tell you the truth, she's not alone.
I can't remember a world heavyweight unification bout that generated so many 'ho-hums' from the general public.
Here's a short list of things I'd rather do than watch tonight's fight:
* Pay full price to watch Pokeman: The First Movie.
* Scrub out the bathtub (and/or toilet) at our apartment.
* Spend three hours trying to get through on the 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' contestant hotline.
* Stand outside without a jacket.
* Buy season tickets to the Los Angeles Clippers.
I'm more interested in watching Winnipeg's 'rassler Chris Jericho battle Chyna, the World Wrestling Federation's resident Amazon, for the Intercontinental Title belt tomorrow night on pay-per-view.
And I feel some shame from that.
Because it means I'm not as big a boxing fan as I once thought.
The real fans are still jacked about this one.
The real fans peel off the Don King layer, rip away the corrupt governing bodies, and discover two men who want to settle something.
One feels ripped off. The other's embarrassed.
"I was disappointed by the first fight, the decision was insane," said Bob Tapper, long-time local boxing judge and fanatic of the 'sweet science,' "but you've got the potential for a great heavyweight fight here.
"I haven't heard many people who aren't excited, a lot of people have called to ask when to come over.
"Nights like these, boxing people like to get together with boxing people."
The boxing people will always be there.
Like Eddie Yaremchuk, guru of the downtown Pan Am Gym since 1968, said, he wouldn't miss this match-up for the world.
He's running an amateur card today, 2:45 p.m. at the gym, and then hustling to the nearest TV with pay-per-view.
PROTECTING THEIR WALLETS
But he hears the not-so-sures scratching their heads, jamming their hands in their pockets, protecting their wallets in case Don King gets a sniff.
And he understands the problem.
"Holyfield, Lewis, these two are good, but they're just not in the same group as Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano," said Eddie. "Louis used to defend his title every three months, and when he and Marciano fought somebody, every time out, you'd know someone was getting knocked down. They were the best.
"There was none of this dancing for points back then."
Maybe it's why, wise as we got, we'll still flock to watch Mike Tyson.
"I saw Tyson in Vegas at a gym years ago when this 295-pound guy from the Los Angeles Rams football team challenged him," said Eddie. "This big guy bounced around the ring. Tyson came in, sat down, and just stared at this guy. Mike was being wrapped, never took his eyes off him.
"He got in the ring, rolled under a right hand, and gave one hook to the body. That was it for this guy.
"Someone asked him if he ever got hit that hard in football. He said 'No.'
"Mike Tyson could've been the best ever."
I would've paid big money to see what Eddie saw that day.
But I won't for Holyfield-Lewis.
And that tells you all you need to know about the general public.
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