Minor roadblock in Tyson’s Hall induction
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Short shots about the world of professional boxing:
Mike Tyson is now eligible for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Boxers are required to be retired for five years before being eligible, so the former heavyweight champion will appear on the ballot for the first time next year.
Tyson's last fight came in Washington, D.C., against Kevin McBride on June 11, 2005.
But there has been talk that Tyson will fight Evander Holyfield again, a match that shouldn't happen but might because of the money involved.
At some point, Tyson is going to make it into the Hall of Fame, but if he fights Holyfield, he'd be delaying his induction until 2015 or 2016, depending upon when they fight.
Hopefully, Tyson realizes that he's not a fighter any longer and doesn't need to put himself through that.
The turnout in Canastota, N.Y., for a Tyson induction would be enormous. He deserves the tribute and hopefully, he'll be standing in front of the microphone a year from now accepting his place among boxing's legends.
• I was thrilled beyond words on Sunday to see longtime Associated Press boxing writer Ed Schuyler Jr. inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, Schuyler's longtime running mate, Michael Katz, of the New York Times and New York Daily News, gets in soon.
Katz was the most influential boxing writer of his time. He was a wonderful wordsmith who had his pulse on the finger of the game.
It's stunning that he's actually not yet inducted.
If Michael Katz doesn't belong in the writer's wing of the Hall of Fame, then very few of us in this business do.
• Ivan Calderon remains a masterful boxer, and his win over Jesus Iribe on Saturday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden is proof of that. But Calderon, who holds the World Boxing Organization light flyweight title, is 35 and increasingly vulnerable.
There was a time not so long ago when Calderon would not only defend his championship successfully, but he'd win a minimum of nine rounds on every judge's card.
Now, Calderon is being hit far more often, he's slowed perceptibly and his fights are much tighter.
He's 34-0-1 and has a chance to be one of the few world champions to retire without a defeat.
If he fights much beyond 2010, though, there's little chance of that occurring.
The only major recognized modern (last fight 1920 or later) world champions who retired unbeaten are heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano (49-0); Ji Won Kim (16-0), the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion; Michael Loewe (28-0), the WBO welterweight champion; Terry Marsh (26-0), the IBF super lightweight champion; Sven Ottke (34-0), the World Boxing Association and IBF super middleweight champ; Pichit Sitbangprachan (24-0), the IBF flyweight champion; and Ricardo Lopez (51-0-1), multiple-time minimumweight and light flyweight champion.
• I like the idea of a 140-pound tournament that promoter Gary Shaw proposed on Monday. A pairing of WBO champion Timothy Bradley, IBF-World Boxing Council champion Devon Alexander, interim WBA champion Marcos Maidana and regular WBA champion Amir Khan would be classic.
Khan is going to be the toughest one to get on board for the event. He's eyeing a fight against the winner of the July 31 bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.
• Freddie Roach is the world's best trainer, but he's not a miracle worker.
If you doubt that, watch Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight John Duddy on June 26 in San Antonio and you'll be convinced. Roach is training Chavez for Duddy.
• Oscar De La Hoya told an Internet site while attending the Lakers-Celtics game at the Staples Center last week that negotiations for a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the two best boxers in the world, are close to a conclusion.
Funny, but nobody else connected with the bout even remotely will so much as acknowledge that talks have begun.
• I like Andre Ward to defeat Allan Green on Saturday in their match for Ward's WBA super middleweight title that is part of Showtime's Super Six tournament.
Ward, you may recall, was my pre-tournament pick to win it all and nothing I've seen thus far has come close to changing that opinion.
• Happy birthday on Wednesday to Matthew Saad Muhammad, one of the most exciting light heavyweight fighters ever. Saad Muhammad will be 56.
