European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday. March .24, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Tyson Yawner breathes life into Spinks in the late rounds when in appeared More and More evident that the fight in the eng was going to be a Wall to Wall Stinker Lite smile on inc face of a Man in Row 3 grew broader and broader Ronald Butch Lewis might have been the Only Guy in the crowd at the Mike Tyson Boner Shersmith Junior prom who was enjoying himself. From his Point of View it was a great tight. Not Dempsey Tunney perhaps but it went just the Way Butch wanted Illo go boringly. If you looked closely you could �mo5t Sec the Canary feathers at the Corner of Butch s Grin. It was my Friend Herbert Warren wind i believe who once dubbed Tennis " he Balkans of the game he Felt was constantly awash with open Border skirmishes. Well if Tennis is the Balkans boxing is wot Bei rut. It s the no Man i land of athletics anarchy in flounce gloves. Its Symbol should not be ring ropes it should be barbed wire. Its coat of arms should be double crosses rampant on a Field of Bald faced lie. The fights in the ring Are governed by he marquess of Queens Beny s rules. The ones outside the ring Are governed by Al Lila the Hun s. It s like saturday night in Dodge City. The Law is whatever the Guy with the gun says it is. Thai Side of the business is full of Fritzie about Eye gouges hitting after the Bell blow the Belt Rabbit punching kidney punching hitting a Guy when he s Down these Guys make Tony a Lenio look like a vicar. Which is Why Butch Lewis had this Seraphic smile on his face the night of the Tyson Smith fight. The worse the tight got the happier he got. You see before that debacle in inc desert Lewis was known in he fight game As a Guy who had per formed the unthinkable in pugilist. He seemed to have knocked himself out. And claimed foul anyway. Butch was the fight promoter who had sewed up the rights to the Guy who was widely considered to be the real heavyweight Champion of the world. The tight game is such that there Are at any give moment More heavyweight champions in the world than there Are crocodiles and just As hard to Tell one from the other. But if there was such a thing Butch i claims cd to be the most legitimate. Michael Spinks link to the i bronc trailed Back through Tarry Holmes to Ken Norton to Muhammad All a real purple accession As valid As any Hamburg s or House of Windsor a i mean Michael was not Michael Dokes John tale Mike Weaver Tony Tubbs Tim Wilh Era Poon or any of the of her who ats of the modern fight game. He was credentialed. So when Cable television came along looking for a Way to unify the division and restore the Marques value to the title again it followed they had to have Spinks in any elimination tournament. Butch Lewis went along and even struck a partnership with rival promoter Don King to recalled dynamic duo and Hob and the Hilton hotels. Lewis signed an agreement pledging Spinks to participation in the elimination tournament. This was Alt right to Long As Spinks was flattening european Lank town Paloukas but Spinks people read Butch Lewis got restive when it became apparent he might end up lighting a live Tiger like Mike Tyson for a paltry couple of million. Lewis proposed that Spinks step out of the tournament for one fight at 10 limes As much against the illusory Gerry Cooney. Now Gerry Cooney is an interesting Case history in that no one is quite sure there really is one. There used to be one. He got All the Way up to a title fight with Larry Holmes once but when he got his lock knocked off he disappeared from View like judge Crater or Amelia Earhart. There have been periodic sightings since then. As with the California Condor or big fool there have been people who claim to have seen a Gerry Cooney but by and Large you have to take in on Blind Faith. Cooney is like thai proverbial Man upon the was t there again today. He s the Fristic version of the easter Bunny. Bui there s one thing for sure if there is a Gerr Cooney he s White. And you can make a lot of Joney lighting him if you can find him and gel him in a ring neither of which is nil thai easy. Butch Lewis thought he had the problem licked. He tried to get out of the elimination tournament Long enough to Knock out c Conoy for several million easy dollars. His tournament partners thought that would be of provided Cooney look a Nicks place in the tournament and cough i inc rest of the Field in the event he beat Spinks. Now Cooney of course does t want to fight anybody. And this would certainly maybe especially include a certified Assassin Tike Young Mike Tyson. So. When Lewis could t deliver Cooney. His col leagues just thought Well that s thai. Now we for get about Cooney and get Back to the fights in the contract Butch did t want to forget Cooney. He preferred to forget the tournament but first he found he had an elimination tournament of his own to get through. He had to Gelby i. Don King 2. Hob. 3. Time life which owns Hob and 4. The Hilton hotels. Then he got Inlo an unscheduled bout with the International boxing federation of which Michael Spinks is the Champion. They announced that if Spinks withdrew from the tournament they would take his title away because he would t fight gel this Tony Tucker. Tony Tucker Don t look at me. Your guess is As Good As m inc. You can see Why defendant Lewis had a vested interest in seeing two tournament heavies stink the joint out the other nigh. If Tyson had proved to Bethe second coming of John l. Sullivan or i the fight had been one they write poems about no one would care if Michael Spinks Ever laced on another pair of gloves. If Mike Tyson had electrified the world Spinks and Butch Lewis would be standing there with no title no place in the tournament up to their hips in lawsuits. As it is Spinks May be holding the Only pal Lewis did t Knock himself out after All he got up at 9 and looks As if he can still stick and move and hit on the break if necessary. To us a grit to bpm Evert Lloyd rips Shriver in Dallas final Dallas Dpi Chris Evert Lloyd won 14 of the first 16 Points sunday and routed Shriver 6-1, 6-3 to win the $230,000 Virginia slims of Atlas. I wanted to get a tournament win under my Belt said Evert Lloyd especially since All i be heard recently is that 1 Haven t won since the French Evert Lloyd 32, of Boca Raton flo., broke in the first game without dropping a Point. Shriver charged the net three times and each time Evert Lloyd Slung her with passing shots Shriver netted the next return to give Evert Lloyd a 1-0 Lead and even Lloyd held serve in the next game surrendering Only one Point. After a 2-6, 6o, 6-1 first round Triumph Over Katerini Malleva of Bulgaria. Even Loyd allowed opponents toehold serve Only four times in 21 games sunday she broke Shriver six of eight limes. I feel fortunate that i was in the tournament after the first round said Ever Lloyd who won $50,000. After 1 gut through that match. I played some of the Best Tennis of my trailing 4-1 in the second set. Evert Lloyd hit a backhand Inlo the right Cor Ner. Shriver was Able to run it Down and flicked a Quick backhand Cross court Winner that brought a Roar from the crowd and applause from even Lloyd. Van Rensburg extends Connors title drought curls Evert Loyd. Breaks 6 of s service games it sparked Shriver s Only rally of i rematch. She won the game and broke Evert Lloyd in the next to make it 3-j. However Evert Lloyd broke Back in the Nam game. After the referee called Shriver s serve out and Ihen reversed therall the lop seed ripped three passing shots logo up 5-3, then held service inthe final game for the Victory. Orlando. Fla a Chislo Van Rensburg of South Africa stunned top seeded Jimmy Connors 6-3,3-6,6-1 Sun Day to win the Paine Webber classic and continue Connors 29-month Victory drought. Connors has t won a tournament since the Tokyo indoors in october 1984, having lost eight finals since had trouble with Nis serve throughout the match and lost All three of his service games in the third set. Van Rensburg. Ranked 68th in the world and playing in his first Nabisco grand prix singles final earned $50,000, while Connors collected $25,000. I fell a Little sorry that Jimmy had to lose but this made a lot More hearts Hap pier said Van Rensburg 24. I knew the people were going to Root for him. But i decided that if he was going to win. He was going to have to earn Connors who has won 105 singles titles the most of any Man was Dis appointed. I just could t hold my serve he said i Don t think 1 played that badly. Connors downplayed his two year title futility. It s not your problem it s my prob Lem he said. And i Don t look at it As a problem. I look at it As i m out there grinding out matches. I Don t think about winning tournaments just winning Van Rensburg played nervously As the match began. He double faulted on the first Point and was broken at love. But he regained his composure and raced to a 4-2 Lead. Connors broke to pull within 4-3. Only to see Van Rensburg break Back and hold to close out the first Sci. Connors gained control of the second Sci by breaking to go up 5-3. When Van Rensburg charged to the net Connors answered with a pair of lunging Back hand passing shots. He was unable to sustain that Momen Tum in inc third set however As Van Rensburg broke him three limes. The Keyway when Van Rensburg held to go up 4 i Connors had two break Points but squandered both on Volley errors. Van Kinsburg broke Connors logo up 5-1, then held to Clinch the match Fin Ishing with an Ace. "1 stayed with my serve and Volley game and in Van Rensburg said i decided i was l going to change my game. I Felt a bit funny bul i m Only human. It was a great Arn sports telf.v1sioni Lockey Chicago Al new York Kane i a taped 10 30 . Tuesday. Radio Coll a basketball it semifinal Arkins Ivull Hocks Lasalle i . Wednesday
