Dan Duva

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It was a cleansing by blood, four rounds and change of the violence that uplifts boxing every now and then, that purifies the alphabets and closes the doors on the back rooms. For four rounds and change Friday night, Michael Moorer and Bert Cooper could make you forget Don King and fighters being ripped off, it was that exhilarating.If you didn't like this fight, you don't think boxing is about blood and guts, that there is something socially redeeming about two young men refusing to quit.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- On a lost weekend among the young heavyweight hopefuls, Riddick Bowe, by default, emerged as the leading title contender yesterday after winning a controversial decision over former champion Tony Tubbs at Harrah's Marina.The only ringside spectators who seemed to favor Bowe (23-0) were the three judges. Boxing writers supported Tubbs (30-3) overwhelmingly, and the crowd hooted in protest when the unanimous decision was announced. Judges Frank Cairo and Richard Strange favored Bowe, 96-94, and Jean Williams, 97-93.

LAS VEGAS -- Unbeaten Maryland lightweight Sharmba Mitchell, one of the brightest young prospects in professional boxing, finds himself fighting on the undercard of the Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield championship match tomorrow night at a time when the high rollers still are shooting craps or playing blackjack.Mitchell (30-0), who meets Chad Broussard (34-0), of Lafayette, bTC La., in a 10-round bout, has been exceedingly patient waiting his turn in the spotlight. Ranked No. 3 in the world by both the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, he repeatedly has been promised title bouts that failed to materialize.

The managers of heavyweight champions Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis moved farther apart -- literally and figuratively -- on their negotiations for a title showdown this summer.Rock Newman, who handles Bowe, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champion, yesterday flew with Bowe to Los Angeles, where the boxer will make a guest appearance in "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," a television show.Frank Maloney, manager of Lewis, who owns the World Boxing Council belt, returned with Lewis to their native England last night after a meeting Tuesday night with Newman, representatives of Time Warner and Dan Duva, president of Main Events Inc., failed to produce a signed contract.

Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield has a definite title opponent, Francesco Damiani of Italy, and a date, Nov. 23, but the fight site remained unsettled yesterday.Shelly Finkel, Holyfield's business adviser, said he was negotiating with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., and The Omni in Atlanta, the champion's hometown."We should have a definite site by tomorrow [today]," Finkel said.The next job could be in getting Damiani ranked among the top 10 heavyweights by the three main sanctioning bodies.

A Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield heavyweight rematch at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Nov. 5 is nearly set, Bowe's manager said yesterday.Negotiations are nearly complete, with Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, and promoter Dan Duva near a settlement on Duva's 28 percent interest in three of Bowe's future championship bouts, Newman said."

Promoter Don King landed the first big blow in the heavyweight conflict over Nov. 4 -- when Mike Tyson and Buster Mathis Jr. goes head-to-head against Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield at rival Las Vegas casinos.According to a boxing source, King has reached a deal for an undisclosed sum with Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network to show Tyson vs. Mathis at the MGM Grand on Fox affiliates throughout the country. There will be no charge to view the non-title bout.This, in effect, would undermine plans by Time-Warner, the parent company of HBO, to sell the Bowe-Holyfield III bout, scheduled at Caesars Palace, on pay-per-view for an estimated $40.A spokesman for Fox confirmed that a news conference will be held in New York today to announce its agreement with King.

With the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship fight jeopardized because of Tyson's recent rib injury and his pending Jan. 27 trial in Indianapolis for alleged rape of a teen-age beauty pageant contestant, promoter Rock Newman began a vigorous campaign yesterday for No. 2-ranked Riddick Bowe of Fort Washington to become Holyfield's next mandatory title defense.Advisers to Holyfield, who owns the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation championship belts, were trying to arrange a Jan. 20 date with Tyson at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the week before the Super Bowl.

Evander Holyfield and George Foreman are likely to meet in a rematch Nov. 8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas -- now that a last-ditch effort by promoter Don King to make a Holyfield-Mike Tyson fight has failed.Holyfield's promoter, Dan Duva, and manager, Shelly Finkel, met yesterday at the New York offices of Home Box Office with Foreman promoter Bob Arum and adviser Ron Weathers to hammer out details for a reprise of their April 19 bout, which was won by Holyfield. According to Finkel,an agreement was reached calling for roughly the same financial arrangement as in the first bout -- guarantees of $20 million for Holyfield and $12.5 million for Foreman.

NEW YORK -- Mike Tyson's wallet might be saying go for the big bucks and fight heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, but his head is telling him to fight George Foreman.Team Tyson guru Don King said yesterday that Tyson shaved his head in deference to the fighting preacher."Mike is so into fighting Foreman he's forgotten about Holyfield," King said. "Mike has shaved his head in tribute to Foreman. This starts the promotional wheels turning. Two bald monks of the same clan, the fighting preacher against the villain, Peck's bad boy."