BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Holyfield Now Sitting on Top of the World

Welcome to the jumble.

The guy who used to rule has been tossed into limbo, the guy everybody forgot is now feted like a king, and everybody else is trying to grab onto something solid as the heavyweight division lurches like the Queen Elizabeth II during a dark and stormy night.

Evander Holyfield created this situation, of course, with his stunning and stirring upset of Riddick Bowe Nov. 6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to retake the heavyweight championship.

You bet it was an upset: It upset plans for a unification series of fights that was supposed to climax with a Bowe match against World Boxing Council title-holder Lennox Lewis. It upset HBO, Caesars and Fila’s hopes to make the 26-year-old Bowe the most popular heavyweight since Muhammad Ali.

It upset the whole chessboard, bless Holyfield’s weary soul, so here’s a stab at realigning the pieces as they stand in the aftermath:

Holyfield--After beating Bowe, his future is so bright (and his eyes so swollen), he has to wear shades.

An afterthought heading into the rematch against Bowe, and considered a caretaker in his previous two-year reign as champion, he now holds the division in his hands and has never been more marketable--and admired--in his life.

He can retire peacefully atop the summit or he can fight Bowe or Lewis or WBA No. 1 contender Michael Moorer, who is contractually owed a fight.

He will probably bide his time, at least until after Thanksgiving, and let the bidders sweat it out.

“Evander will decide in due course, and everybody will respond to that,” HBO Vice President Seth Abraham said.

Showtime officials, who threw Holyfield a party in New York Thursday, are after him to give them a legitimate anchor away from their increasingly uncomfortable relationship with Don King, who is reported to be under federal investigation.

His own promoter, Dan Duva, looks for hints and makes alternative plans for whichever way his fighter eventually chooses.

“What I can gather from what he’s said is that I think if he fights again, he’s leaning toward Lennox Lewis,” Duva said Friday.

“One thing he knows is that if he comes back, it probably can’t be for just one fight. If he comes back, he has to fight for another year or two, and does he want to do that?”

Lewis--All he can do is wait for Holyfield, because that’s the only fight that makes any fiscal sense for him. It also might make the best sense for Holyfield, who can see the logic in putting off (and building public demand for) Holyfield-Bowe III until late 1994.

Duva, who also owns promotional pieces of Lewis and Moorer, says the most profitable fight out there is Holyfield-Lewis, which he says, given Lewis’ European drawing power, could earn Holyfield close to $20 million and could happen as soon as April.

Lewis could make more than $10 million.

Duva also favors Lewis because it keeps the division in his hands. There’s no love lost between Duva and Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, so why give Newman a chance to get right back on top with a quick rematch? Plus, Newman has maneuvered around Moorer once. Duva could assure Moorer a guaranteed shot against the winner of Holyfield-Lewis.

Lewis, unimpressive in knocking out Frank Bruno last month, was originally supposed to fight then-World Boxing Organization champion Tommy Morrison in March, but that got wiped away when Morrison was wiped out by Michael Bentt.

Bowe--Time to get back in line, big guy, because people are watching. Is he the next Buster Douglas or the next great champion ( a la Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali) who comes back stronger from a major loss?

He says he has learned from his mistake--ballooning close to 300 pounds before going into training for Holyfield--and will have to start proving it quickly.

Bowe has a tentative date on HBO, Jan. 14 (possibly against Jorge Luis Gonzalez), for the beginning of his comeback, and it might be 1995 before he gets a crack at Holyfield again.

Moorer--He could perfect the art of making big bucks for the ability to step sideways. Moorer, who just turned 26, allowed Holyfield-Bowe II to happen by relinquishing his mandatory challenge rights.

He got a bonus for that, and the right to get the next title shot. Contractually, if Holyfield does not fight Moorer next, he is supposed to relinquish the two belts.

But, nobody really wants to see a Holyfield-Moorer fight right away.

“(Stepping aside) may set his timetable back a bit, if he’s amenable,” Duva said of Moorer.

“But it ultimately may turn out financially better for him and gives him more time to be prepared to win the championship.”

Bentt--The WBO champion may be the main loser in the post-Holyfield fallout. His dramatic upset of Morrison had catapulted him into serious consideration to be Lewis’ next fight--until Bowe lost.

But with Holyfield a live option for Lewis, Bentt may be forced out of the top echelon, fighting the Brunos of the division.

Boxing Notes

The Oscar De La Hoya-Genaro Hernandez junior-lightweight title fight went on a merry-go-round last week, and the only important result, so far, is that the tentative date has been moved back, from Feb. 5 to sometime in early March and possibly much later than that. Negotiations continue with Hernandez, but, promoter Bob Arum has decided he probably wants De La Hoya first to be matched against World Boxing Organization champion Jimmy Bredahl, which would push any Hernandez fight into May or June. A fight with Bredahl also jeopardizes De La Hoya’s long-awaited 2 1/2-year, multimillion-dollar deal with HBO, which is not interested in Bredahl. It is unclear whether a future fight against Hernandez, the World Boxing Assn. champion, would resuscitate the HBO deal.