There was another heavyweight tournament like the one promoter Cedric Kushner will put on in Atlantic City on Nov. 30th that went down on pay-per-view almost nine years ago in Mississippi. Former heavyweight titlist Tony Tubbs beat Jose Ribalta, Tyrell Biggs and Daniel Dancuta to emerge victorious from a motley crew of heavyweights on Dec. 3, 1993. Although Tubbs pocketed some decent money for the three-round exhibitions, the win did little to improve his profile in the fight game. Tubbs faded away from sight from that point, fighting sporadically on the now-defunct Tuesday Night Fights on the USA cable network.

The idea for Kushner's eight-man, winner-take-all heavyweight tourney is to push the winner from basic cable like Fox Sports Net and ESPN to high-profile bouts on the premium cable networks, Showtime and HBO. The tournament will be available on iN Demand and all the other pay-per-view systems and it will feature the following heavyweights: former two-time world titlist Tim Witherspoon (51-11-1, 32 KOs), cocky KO artist Jeremy Williams (34-2, 31 KOs), giant warrior Derrick Jefferson (26-3, 20 KOs), talented spoiler Maurice Harris (19-12-2, 10 KOs), Olympic Bronze medalist Paolo Vidoz (11-1, 7 KOs), undefeated prospect Gerald Nobles (20-0, 16 KOs), hard-nosed Ray Austin (17-3-1, 13 KOs) and skilled Anthony Thompson (17-1, 9 KOs)

"I think one or two, perhaps even three fighters from this tournament will get the opportunity to fight on HBO or Showtime," Kushner said during a national conference call last week. "I would like to be involved with the stars who emerge. That's the goal of the tournament."

And if his promotional company can make a few bucks profit, that's OK, too.

The promoters of the '93 tournament claimed they would pay the winner a cool million, but they had to renege on that promise after a poor pay-per-view turnout. Kushner is being a little more careful with his money. The participants of the Nov. 30th tourney will be paid $5,000 each for fighting the three-round bouts, which will not count on their official records. The winner will take home a bonus of $100,000.

Although Kushner's show will be broadcast in the same month that two other pay-per-view shows are being staged (the Nov. 9th card featuring lightweight titlist Paul Spadafora and the Nov. 16 featherweight fight between Erik Morales and Paulie Ayala), the veteran promoter is confident that the concept of evenly matched heavyweights going at it for three-round intervals in an round-robin-type tourney will capture the imagination of not just boxing enthusiasts, but sports fans in general.

Participant Jeremy Williams echoed his promoter's thoughts on heavyweights and the sporting public during the conference call.

"Don't ever try to compare featherweights and lightweights to heavyweights," exhorted Williams to members of press who questioned whether it was a good idea to stage this tournament in a month with two other pay-per-view shows. "Heavyweights are a different kind of athlete, a different animal all together. There's always room for heavyweights."

Maybe Williams is right. The fact that the participating heavyweights have a combined total of 148 knockout victories will attract most sports junkies. Fans love knockouts and this show looks like it will deliver. Kushner says it will also deliver general entertainment value as the show will take on the format of the popular ThunderBox television series (the brainstorm of Kushner's partner Jim DeLorenzo), which pairs the athletes with sexy female "managers" and includes top alternative, R&B and Hip-Hop music acts. The Nov. 30th show will feature Hip-Hop stars Eve and Xzibit between the two semi-final matches that follow the opening four quarter-final matches.

The first round of the tournament, which will run from 9 p.m. to 12-midnight, will be announced a week from now. Beyond those first four bouts, the participants will have no idea who they will draw in the next rounds.

The tournament, also the brainstorm DeLorenzo, was cleverly titled "Fistful of Dollars", and the fighters involved have taken a Clint Eastwood-esque gunslinger approach to showdown at the Trump Taj Mahal. All the fighters want the $100,000 prize, but they have different motives for entering the tournament.

Williams and Derrick Jefferson both say the tourney is a stepping stone to the world heavyweight title that both still believe they can win. The hot-and-cold Maurice Harris is looking for credibility. Paolo Vidoz and Gerald Nobles, both of whom are 31 years old but have recently begun their pro careers, are looking for exposure and a chance to advance beyond prospect status. Tough journeymen Ray Austin and Anthony Thompson are looking for respect. Tim Witherspoon, at 44 years of age, has been there and done that. The full-time Mr. Mom just wants the grand prize money to help take care of his 11 kids.

Witherspoon didn't have time for trash talk during last week's conference call, he had to leave early in order to have time to cook dinner for all of his kids, but the younger guns ‹ primarily Williams and Nobles ‹ engaged in back-and-forth taunts that may develop into a full-fledged rivalry.

Nobles started it off by asking Kushner to "go ahead and put the $100,000 check in my name."

Williams snapped at Nobles: "You need to be quiet, kid, you're too wet behind the ears! Oh my goodness, go back to the amateurs!"

Williams had plenty of venom for the other participants, too.

"Witherspoon, you need to stay home after the way you looked against [Lou] Savarese. Vidoz, you're a loser. You don't win a bronze medal in the Olympics, they give that to you when you lose. Harris, I'm gunnin' for you. Don't you ever believe that you beat me on my best day. I'm prayin' that I get you in the first round."

Nobles retorted: "Shut up Williams, Mo beat you on seven days notice."

The truth hurts, and Williams had to go after Nobles, who turned out to be just as cocky as the only West Coast participant in the tourney.

Williams: "Hey Nobles, you need to shut up, I heard you had trouble beatin' club fighters at the Blue Horizon."

Nobles: "The same club fighter that beat you [Maurice Harris], I beat."

Williams: "You wish you could be me. I'm chillin' out here in L.A., while you're freezin' out there in Philly. What's the weather like out there right now, 30 below?"

Nobles: "It's cold. Just like my heart. I'm gonna show you how cold it is when I get you in the ring."

Williams: "Oh I'm gonna get some tapes on you, Nobles, and I pray that I get you in the first round. I want everyone to know that I'm a grown-f__kin'-man and I will hurt a child like Gerald Nobles.

"How old are you, Gerald?"

Nobles: "Old enough to beat you up."

Williams: "Come on. How old are you in dog years?"

Nobles: "I hope I get to you in this tournament. If not, keep winning, one day we'll meet."

If they don't hook up on Nov. 30th, maybe Williams and Nobles will meet in another "Fist Full of Dollars" tournament. Kushner said he would like to put on six of these round-robin tournaments a year. Better yet, maybe both will win a tournament and one day meet in an HBO- or Showtime-televised main event. That's goal of this new series.

"There are other athletes out there besides Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Oscar De La Hoya who deserve to be on pay-per-view, HBO and Showtime," Williams said. "I'm glad Kushner is giving guys like me a chance to prove it."