Ten years ago, I trained alongside Mike Tyson in Catskill, N.Y. At the same time, not too far away, I watched Lou Savarese train in what is known as "The Catskills."

	Lou Savarese, who used to train near Mike Tyson, was impressive in knocking out Buster Douglas.

If anyone had told me there would be a time where Iron Mike would avoid a fight with Big Lou, I would've wondered just how Savarese transformed himself into the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Instead, it's a matter of Savarese maintaining his level of competence, while the greatest talent in heavyweight history has eroded into an ordinary fighter.

Don't get me wrong: I understand why Savarese fell off Tyson's "hit list." He's 6-foot-5, has a serious right hand, and is coming off an impressive knockout over Buster Douglas.

Word out of the Tyson "camp" (just who that is, depends on the time of day) was that Francois Botha, Brian Nielsen and Axel Schultz were all being considered, but Savarese was out. Sorry, kid, not your night.

Savarese is one of the nicest guys in the sport. He has a great work ethic and a winning personality outside the ring. He is, however, very hittable for a quick heavyweight. He was unable to outpoint George Foreman after winning most of the early rounds and wasn't fast enough to out-slug David Izon. No shame in losing to either, but he's certainly not a guy a former two-time champion in his early 30's should be avoiding. It's a very telling story in Tyson's latest comeback.

Now just who is Botha? He's the type of guy later in life who may be described by the uninformed as a former heavyweight champion. Botha beat Axel Schultz for the vacant IBF title after the IBF stripped the title from George Foreman.

The IBF rightly stripped Foreman, after he refused to give the robbed Schultz a rematch in 1995. The decision to have Schultz and Botha fight it out for the belt, however, is much more suspect. Botha, by the way, was stripped of that belt after testing positive for steroids. So much for the clear-cut good guy/bad guy story line for this one.

'Prince' gets bad rap

All right, most of us don't like "Prince" Naseem Hamed. He is pure ego run amok among featherweights. That doesn't mean he is isn't brilliant. To watch Hamed in the ring is to see someone with a complete lack of self-consciousness. His first four rounds against Wayne McCullough put him in the top three among the best pound-for-pound fighters and put him up against the top featherweights in the history of boxing. He is that elusive.

Now for the rest of the fight. Hamed looked more like Hector Camacho than Roy Jones. He opted to stay away from McCullough and avoid any chance of getting caught by the Irishman's shots. It made for a boring fight the rest of the way, but if you didn't see it, understand it was boring because Hamed was so much better.

He completely outclassed a legitimate former champion, and I'm reading how "unimpressive" he was in the national press. Personal feelings are getting in the way of proper boxing perspective.

Poor Ike

Let's hope Ike Quartey takes a tune-up while waiting for Oscar De La Hoya to heal from the cut eyelid he suffered during sparring.

Quartey hasn't fought in a full year already. He was ill, stripped of his title, and then lost a chance to fight Pernell Whitaker when Whitaker failed a drug test. He rebounded with a better prize, a signed deal with De La Hoya.

Now that's postponed, and word is it could be February before the fight is back on. Many a fighter has grown stale waiting around for injured opponents. Quartey, as one of the world's elite fighters, should be able to risk the payday against a lesser pug to keep sharp and boost his marketability.

King-sized problem

Lewis-Holyfield has yet to be finalized, and Main Events is blaming (oh no!) Don King.

Lewis' promoters claim to have had a verbal agreement with King (stop laughing) regarding the absence of options on Lewis' future fights. When the contract arrived from King, well what do you know? It included options on future fights with Lewis.

Now, again according to Main Events, the latest contract proposal still includes that little addendum. The haggling could reach David Stern-David Falk, steel-cage proportions.

Voice of reason

In boxing, the broadcaster's job is to sort out whatever truth can be found inside and outside the ring. It is that perspective we try to bring to Friday Night Fights on ESPN2.

We recognize the viewer is always looking to find some rational thinking in what is often a chaotic sport and corrupt business. Every week, we sort through what was, and what is coming up. We try to do so regardless of network or promoter affiliation. If a good fight is on Showtime or on Fox, we say it. If we have a lower-level fight on our air, or if we have an exciting matchup, we'll point it out as such.

With that in mind, credit should go to HBO for its usage of an on-air, unofficial "judge." I routinely score fights while watching and rarely find any discrepancy with Harold Lederman's card. If I had it one way and he has it another, I immediately question my own judging, not his. When I'm wondering if a fighter's been robbed, I look to Lederman's card. That's the mark of credibility.

I've been to fight cards when I've seen Lederman, and inevitably, some guy from some fighter's "camp" (the obligitory entourage from the hometown) will accost him for some unofficial scoring he did several years before. "What fight were you watching?" is the normal opening greeting.

It's not that I don't occasionally disagree -- slightly -- with his scorecard. More often than not, though, if your fighter didn't win on Lederman's card, your guy didn't do enough to win.

Pazmania runs wild

Vinny Pazienza is on Friday Night Fights this week, and I'm looking forward to it. A two-time world champ who has battled back from a broken neck, Paz somehow keeps his career going. His opponents now are chosen carefully, but for anyone who says he ducks people, I have three words -- Roy Jones, Jr.

Check the tape someday. Pazienza didn't try to survive the Jones hurricane; he assaulted it. With the exception of the first Montell Griffin bout, no one has backed up Jones or taken a round or two from him.

Paz did that, if only to get knocked out in the end. If you recall, Pazienza was bouncing up when the fight was stopped and vigorously protested (as opposed to meek/fake protesting when it's clearly too late). The fight was stopped at the correct time, but Paz wanted to fight on. His presence is still a needed one in boxing.