Sports,
Pg16Tuesday, June 16, 1981 The Michigan Daily
4
.AND IN THIS
CORNER... T9
Mark Mihanovic r
King deals and wheels.. ..
. Holmes searches on
UESTION: Who is the most significant figure in boxing today?
If you answer "Larry Holmes", you obviously missed his nauseating
pos-victory press interview last Friday night.
If you answer "Sugar Ray Leonard", you've been watching too much
television.
If you answer "Thomas Hearns", you must be from Detroit.
if you answer "Howard Cosell", you probably didn't notice the lack of
respect accorded him by Holmes, who split the verbose one's lip while
threatening to make "The Great White'Hope", Gerry Cooney, his second
knockout victim of the night.
Which leaves that walking Brylcreem advertisement, Don King, a man
who adds dimension to the term "wheeler-dealer".
Because of his rather comical appearance, loud mouth, and history of,
let us say, less-than-pure activity, it is difficult to recognize King as what he
really is - one of the shrewdest men in the world of sports.
After catching a glimpse of him in action Friday night at Joe Louis
Arena, I'd trade in four years worth of courses in public relations for the op-
portunity to observe King, up close, for a 24-hour period.
He had set upa card which included a WBC super lightweight champion-
ship, bouts featuring the third- and fourth-ranked heavyweight contenders in
the world, Michael Dokes and Greg Page, and, of course, Holmes-Spinks,
and dubbed it a formal dedication to the building's namesake. Never mind
the fact that there was never a formal ceremony Friday night. It. was a
dedication to Joe Louis because Don King said so.
One might think that, having delivered the city of Detroit with an in-
teresting lineup offights (by the standards of today, anyway), King would
settle back and enjoy the evening. Uh-uh. Rather, he spent it pursuing his
next coup.
After Page (Holmes' eventual successor as champion, if you're in-
terested) devastated Alfredo Evangelista in two rounds, King hurriedly
escorted the winner's mother into the ring. It goes without saying that the
next day's photographs of Mother and Son included the promoter's large
frame smack in the middle.
That out of the way, King disappeared momentarily; I next found him
holding court near the seat of Cooney, who many believe is the only man
capable of defeating Holmes, during the super lightweight title (ight between
Saoul Mamby and Jo Kimpauno.
"Five million dollars," King was bellowing. "We'll give you five million
right now to fight (Holmes)."
It didn't matter that Cooney has already signed a contract to battle WBA
champ Mike Weaver; King was on a roll, taunting Cooney as less than
courageous, calling his managers "amateurish". And he made sure there
were several reporters' notebooks in the area.
The next fight was Dokes versus European champion John L. Gardner.
The quick-fisted Dokes took Gardner down in four, and there was King
again, aim around Dokes in triumph. Then he pointed to the area in which
Page and his entourage were seated, challenging the Louisville, Ky. native
to meet Dokes in the ring. Page appeared bewildered, then just laughed.
What could he do? He was dealing with Don King, opportunist extraor-
dinaire.
And King is a personality badly-needed on the heavyweight boxing
scene; for the champion, as impressive a fighter as he is, still searches for
an identity.
Holmes' maior oroblem, largely a self-inflicted one, is his inability to
step out from under the shadow of you-know-who. He complains about-it
and pleads for respect as a great champion, as his own man; but it is a con-
tradiction because so much of it is an act, a cheap imitation of Ali.
The sad part is, Holmes could have appeared so-o-o impressive after his
third-round knockout of Spinks. There he was, an undefeated champ who had
just destroyed a credible challenger while barely breaking a sweat. He could
have been in command after the fight, on top of the world.
Instead, he let the presence of Gerry Cooney, a man who has not yet
defeated anyone of consequence, make him look foolish. He -might have
shrugged Cooney off, laughed at him - rather, he dove at him, shoving
Cosell and members of the ABC crew around before he was pulled away. We
all recall Ali similarly making moves as if to threaten a challenger outside of
the ring, but he always did it so much more smoothly..
Then it was to the press interview room for more nonsense. "I didn't
want him near me. I don't wanna make Cooney," Holmes screamed. "I'm
the champ. Thirty-eight fights, 38 wins, 28 knockouts. I'm bad, I know I'm
bad. "
And on he rambled, members of his crew echoing him, until he showed
that he was a merciful man.
"That's all, folks."
Subpoenas might be
used in WVU probe
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)-The president of the West Virginia Senate said
yesterday that subpoenas might be issued by the state's Commission on Special
Investigations when it probes athletic department spending at West Virginia
University.
The planned investigation was prompted by a recent series in the Morgantown
Dominion\Post, which examined records of the Mountaineer Illustrated account.
The newspaper found that money from the account was used for a wide variety of
personal expenses for athletic department officials.
SENATE PRESIDENT Warren McGraw, (D-Wyoming) said the staff of the 10-
member commission will investigate reports of seemingly extravagant spending
by West Virginia athletic officials "as expeditiously as possible."
"Obviously there is a need from what the press has uncovered," he said.
"Newspaper reporters don't have subpoena powers. The commission does."
The Dominion Post obtained access to the special account's records through the
state Freedom of Information Act. The records show that large amounts of money
from the account were used to pick up hotel, restaurant and bar tabs, buy country
club memberships and-in several instances-pay airline fares of relatives of
outgoing Athletic Director Dick Martin.
Martin, who has announced his resignation effective June 30, defends the items
as legitimate uses for the account, which is supported by revenue from the Moun-
taineer Illustrated, a program sold at WVU football and basketball games.
Revenues from both advertising and program sales go into the account.
Right foot green,' left
It's not the game "Twister,"but rather the First Annual East Coast National
Freestyle Frisbee Championship in which Don Rhodes, of Pennsylvania, and
Jane Engelhardt, of New York, are testing their propensities to contort.
Rhodes and Engelhardt performed in the Mixed Doubles Competition at the
three-day evept, which approximately 6,000 people attended at St. John.
Fisher-College in Rochester, New York.