Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 18, 1990 TAG: 9006180061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, NEV. LENGTH: Medium
And on Saturday night at Caesars Palace, the predictable came to pass.
Tyson knocked out Henry Tillman at 2:47 of the first round of a scheduled 10-round bout and Foreman knocked out Adilson Rodrigues at 2:39 of the second round of a scheduled 10-round bout.
Just the same, Tyson and Foreman managed to inject a degree of excitement with the big punches that dispatched their opponents.
Up to the point late in round one, when Tyson unloaded an overhand right to the forehead of Tillman, Tyson had appeared overeager and inaccurate.
"I know I'm the best fighter in the universe," Tyson said afterward.
But James "Buster" Douglas, the man who beat Tyson last February, was in the audience Saturday and saw things differently.
"He fought like he has been lately, ever since the Bruno fight," said the heavyweight champion, referring to Tyson's victory over Frank Bruno.
Foreman, who fought earlier in the evening in the 89-degree desert heat, started slowly. But in the second round, Foreman began assaulting Rodrigues with uppercuts to the head and body. Then came a three-punch combination - a left jab, a straight right and a left uppercut - that put away Rodrigues.
Where do the winners go from here?
Heading into Saturday's card, the plan had been for them to be co-featured in separate bouts again Sept. 8 at Caesars Palace: Tyson against Alex Stewart and Foreman against Francesco Damiani, who is the heavyweight champion of fledgling World Boxing Organization.
After his fighter beat Tillman, promoter Don King said Tyson would fight Stewart, a strong puncher, Sept. 8.
But there were questions about Foreman's next move.
Saturday morning, Seth Abraham of Home Box Office, which showed Saturday's bouts live and had planned to televise the Sept. 8 event, was backing away from Damiani as an opponent for Foreman.
"HBO spent $22 million with our unification series to get an undisputed champion," Abraham said. "It doesn't make sense to encourage the idea of multiple champions."
But for Foreman, it made no sense to put a big money match with Tyson on hold.
In the news conference following his victory over Rodrigues, Foreman said, "Let's get George Foreman and Mike Tyson together right now, once and for all. Let's stop playing around. Let's stop playing these games."
The compromise that emerged from a meeting Bob Arum, Foreman's promoter, had Sunday morning with King and Abraham was for Foreman to fight Damiani on the Sept. 8 card in a 10-round non-title fight.
Keywords:
BOXING
by CNB