Seth Abraham, President of Time Warner Sports, met with
reporters to give his version of the November 4 pay-per-view
dispute as well as a history lesson on Don King. Time Warner's
TVKO has Bowe-Holyfield set for Caesar's, while King and Showtime
Entertainment Television are likely to stage Mike Tyson against
Buster Mathis at MGM Grand -- both on November 4. Abraham said
that in negotiating over rights to Tyson in the '80s, King wanted
HBO to give in on Tyson's request that analyst Larry Merchant not
work any Tyson fights. He compares that to the present, and said
King is misjudging him and Time Warner. Abraham: "We're in the
boxing business. Showtime is in the Don King business." Bob
Raissman of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS: "This issue of Nov. 4 gets more
bizarre by the day -- even by boxing's twisted standards" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 8/25). Richard Sandomir calls it "filthy fun" and
reports that Showtime and partner MGM Grand "cannot persuade"
King to change dates and that it is Tyson co-manager John Horne,
not King, who "refuses to see how much more money can be made" by
moving Tyson-Mathis to December. King, on Abraham: "He's trying
to restrain trade and make people submit to him because he's the
biggest and baddest on the block" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/25).
