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Fat chance for Moorer
It wasn't that he looked like Buster Douglas, who ate himself out of the heavyweight title and into a diabetic coma.
It wasn't that he looked like George Foreman, as gigantic as one of the casinos here, and almost as powerful.
It was that he didn't look like Michael Moorer. It was that he looked soft, rubbery, out of shape.
So was the scene late yesterday afternoon in a packed ballroom at The Mirage Hotel, where Evander Holyfield and Moorer weighed in for their heavyweight championship fight tomorrow night.
Normally, boxing weigh-ins are a made-for-television event, a way of promoting the fight. One fighter stands on the scale in his underwear. The other fighter stands on the scale. They pose for more pictures. They say a few words to the TV cameras. And the networks go away happy.
But once in a while, every once in a while, there is a weigh-in like yesterday's, a weigh-in where more than poundage can be interpreted.
It happened when Holyfield fought Buster Douglas, who was then the heavyweight champion. I'll never forget the night. Douglas came out, removed his shirt, and instantly members of the Holyfield entourage started screaming with glee.
And when Douglas stepped on the scale, and weighed in at a remarkable 247 pounds, Holyfield's manager at the time, Lou Duva, was shouting triumphantly, "We've won, we've won, we've won."
He was right. He was just a couple of days early. Three rounds into his fight with Douglas, Holyfield became heavyweight champion of the world for the very first time. Since then, Douglas has been little more than a wealthy footnote.
Moorer may have weighed in only at 223 pounds on Thursday, but it was how those 223 pounds appeared. There was sagging in his chest, with a spare tire of skin above his waistline.
LOOKS TERRIBLE
"He looks terrible," said boxing analyst Al Bernstein. "The last time he fought he weighed 212 pounds. Michael Moorer is not a big heavyweight at the best of times. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come."
Maybe, ironically, it's the best thing that could happen to boxing. Michael Moorer, it seems, is one of those people who keeps getting in the way of progress in the heavyweight division.
The first time he fought Holyfield in April 1994, Holyfield was on his way to a unification bout against Lennox Lewis. The truth was, he didn't want to fight Moorer at all and Moorer didn't want to fight him. In fact, Moorer had asked to be paid to step aside so that Holyfield could fight Lennox Lewis, with the winner to fight Moorer.
That's what Moorer wanted. That's what Holyfield wanted. But promoters did what promoters will always do: They took what they thought was the easy money and the easy fight.
Only it didn't turn out that way. Holyfield, who thought he had a heart problem and knew he had a shoulder problem, wasn't right.
One judge scored the fight a draw. The other two judges gave the decision by one measly point to Moorer. The heavyweight division was again in a mess.
Seven months after eking out a win over Holyfield, Moorer went into the ring against George Foreman. Old George Foreman. Washed up George Foreman. And for nine rounds, Foreman looked the part.
But in Round 10, with Moorer way ahead, Foreman hit Moorer with a straight right hand, thus ending his brief and insignificant reign as a champion.
Now, Moorer calls himself a champion again, although hardly anyone else does. He beat Axel Schulz for the IBF title in 1996 and the only reason he is back here in a big fight is because Holyfield believes there should only be one heavyweight champion and he is the man to make that happen.
But oddly, as it was the first time, Holyfield, looking like his normally chiselled self, would rather be fighting Lennox Lewis than Moorer. This time, he doesn't want to let the opportunity get away.
So Michael Moorer stands on the scale, with doubts about his training, his trainer, his repaired left shoulder. This is his opportunity, and two days before the fight, it looks as though he has already let it slip away.
Steve Simmons can be reached via e-mail at ssimmons@sunpub.com