Mike Tyson will make his return to the ring in a pay-
per-view bout on January 16 against Francois Botha at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas, according to Rich Katz of DAILY
VARIETY. Showtime Event TV, Showtime's PPV division, will
produce and distribute the event (DAILY VARIETY, 11/13).
NETS NOT PUTTING UP A FIGHT: In N.Y., Mark Kriegel
looks at the state of boxing on TV, and notes that "most
people haven't heard of any fighter not named de la Hoya,
Holyfield or Tyson. And the reason they haven't heard is
network television, or rather the lack thereof," as
"corporate America will go for beach volleyball and bowling
on weekend afternoons. They'll even take a risk on a proven
money loser: hockey. But no boxing." NBC Dir of New
Business Development Kevin Monaghan: "Our business is based
on advertisers, and eventually with all the problems in
boxing you could get motor oils and beers as sponsors, but
no Procter and Gamble, no Coke, no Pepsi ... It's a shame.
I love boxing, but we just can't make the economics work.
It got to the point where one out of every three fights fell
apart. And if you're a sponsor with money, you want to put
it in something safe" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/13).
