June 24 - HBO 9:00 pm
Mike Tyson vs. Lou Savarese
Mike continues his title bid with no stepping stone in Lou. What can I say about Mikey
that most of you don't already know? Mike will always be a dominate force in the heavy
weight division, and is always dangerous. I believe that Mikey always has a punchers
chance, no matter who he fights. He can dispatch any man with a single punch. In his last
outing, he ended up with a no contest for hitting Orlin Norris after the bell and
rendering Orlin unable to continue. This was a weak arm punch that dropped Orlin in such a
way he wrapped his leg behind him and tore some cartilage in his knee. The same punching
power stopped Frans Botha with a single well placed match ending over hand right. Can he
do the same to Lou?
Lou is a durable, tough club fighter. He has mixed it up with some of the toughest
heavyweights in the division. In Aug 96 he banged out Tim Puller in 2. He went the
distance and lost a 12 round controversial split decision to George Foreman in Apr 97 (a
fight in which I believed Lou won). In his fight proceeding the Foreman loss, David Izon
stopped Lou in 5 in Nov 97. Lou does own an impressive 1 round blow-out of former world
champion and first Mikey conqueror James "Buster" Douglas in Jun 98. He showed
durability in both his win to Lance Whitaker (Prior to their match up, Lance was
undefeated with a record of 18-0 16 KO's) Mar of last year and his loss to Michael Grant
the following June (as predicted). Lou performed
better than I expected, but faded late in both fights. Lance almost stopped him in the
last round. Lou's past performance does prove 3 things. Lou has heart, fades late and
folds when faced with skilled power.
A perfect match up for a coming back Tyson.
Expect Mikey to go right after Lou. Vintage Mike style. Bobbing, weaving and dropping lead
right hands. It's just a matter of time before Mikey times one right and Lou folds. I
suspect Lou will last 8 heats.
Tyson inside 8
Zab Judah vs. Junior Witter
(For the IBF Jr Welter Title)
I have always touted the skill of Zab. I said it last July when he stopped heralded David
Sample in 1 round (as predicted). Prior to has match
with Zab, David had NEVER been down in a fight. Zab dropped him 4 times! I said it when he
stopped IBF #2 ranked Jan Bergman this past Feb in 4 rounds(as
predicted). From the first time I saw this kid from Brooklyn fight, I knew he would be
a force in the 140 pound division. Training under the tutelage of Lou Duva, the sky is the
limit with this kid. They only person who has remote chance to fair well against Zab is
Kostya Tszyu. Did I say win? No. Kostya has chance. If this matchup ever materializes,
we'll talk then.
Junior fights out of Ingle Gym in Sheffield England, the same gym Naz started in and
current home of WBO champ Johnny Nelson. Junior boasts that Zab has never seen a fighter
like him, and his awkward style will give the young banger trouble. Oh really? That must
be why Junior is unranked and has fought no note worthy opposition. That also must explain
Juniors lack luster 15-0-2, 4 KO record. Junior has never fought outside of Europe, and
has never faced a western boxer, let alone a natural KO banger like Zab. That being said,
Junior is fighting for Zab's IBF title. Hell, Juniors never been passed 8 rounds, and he's
in a championship bout? Bad form by the Zab handlers in my opinion to lay the title on the
line against unranked opposition, although it will prove to be an easy defense. How do I
see it?
Watch Zab overwhelm the light handed Junior. Zab will end this fight in the blink of an
eye. Zab can go home when he feels like it, but I suspect the smack talking Junior will be
lucky to see end of the 4th round.
Judah inside 4
In Retrospect:
Mike Tyson vs. Lou Savarese
As expected. Well, I didn't expect Lou to fold in 38 seconds!! Needless to say, this fight
seemed somewhat dubious to me. I watched the first knockdown several times in slo-mo and I
swear it looks as though that first blow just grazed Lou. When he got up, his legs were
visibly wobbly, then Mike landed some flush over shots that were doing serious damage.
Mikey's lucky he didn't get DQ's because when the ref stepped in to stop the fight, Mikey
was throwing hooks around the ref.
I'll keep an eye on Mikey. He will stir up the heavy weight division for a while, you can
bet on that.
Zab Judah vs. Junior Witter
Almost as expected. Junior didn't want to fight the quicker more experienced Zab.
Several times in the fight, Junior turned his back and ran. If I were the ref I would of
stopped the fight, but Zab boxed his way to an easy nod. I wasn't kidding when I said to
keep an eye on Zab.
