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what did larry merchant say that upset tyson and made him go over to showtime
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'Wham, Bam, Thank You ... Sir"
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Because Merchant joke that Tyson was some sick sodomite he left?
It was clearly only a joke.Comment
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It was because of Larry Merchants feud with Don King that led Don King to take Tyson to Showtime, that's my understanding. Much less so of a Merchant/Tyson feud.Comment
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I think Merchant made statements that boxing would be better off without corrupt promoters like King, things like that. Here is an article from the New York times I found from 1997:
King-Merchant: Eternal Fight
The HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant ''is a hater,'' said the promoter Don King.
''If you're known by your enemies,'' Merchant said, ''I'm happy to be his.''
Merchant and King have been feuding for the better part of a decade, since remarks Merchant made about Mike Tyson's myriad troubles led King to take Tyson from HBO to Showtime in 1990. They never see each other. They just feud.
''He doesn't realize how consumed he is with me,'' King said last week, with ire, as he promoted a pay-per-view card topped by Felix Trinidad Jr.
Not really, said Merchant. His critical remarks about King are based on some facts, some assumptions and some coincidences, like three King-promoted heavyweights who self-destructed and were disqualified: Oliver McCall, Tyson, Henry Akinwande. Put it together, Merchant believes, and it becomes a stinky brew.
After Akinwande clung to, but did not box, Lennox Lewis on July 12, Merchant said, ''Don King has corrupted the system, he has corrupted the rankings, so stumblebums like this can get championship fights in the heavyweight division.''
Said King, ''What he does is preach divisiveness.''
Merchant said: ''They call him DK. They ought to call him DQ.''
The rhetoric is familiar to Merchant. ''When he calls me a hater or says I'm divisive, he's really suggesting it's racial,'' he said by telephone yesterday.
King's presumed control over boxing's governing bodies -- which King denies possessing -- in which unqualified opponents suddenly become mandatory title challengers, is the clue to Merchant's harsh judgment of the promoter.
''Oliver McCall didn't belong in the ring that night against Lewis,'' he said of McCall's in-ring breakdown in February. ''Many people urged King and Sulaiman to stop it, but they insisted that it go on.'' Jose Sulaiman runs the World Boxing Council, and is one of King's closest compatriots.
''This isn't just my opinion, it's the boxing press's,'' Merchant said. ''They've all written it. And it's not like I harangue the subject all the time. But it's newsworthy. And as a boxing pundit, I have to say it on TV. When the public sees fradulent fights, they deserve an explanation.''
Even when Merchant's scorn was for Bob Arum, King joined his rival promoter in showering outrage on Merchant. It happened in April, when Merchant criticized Arum for hiring a mariachi band for Oscar De La Hoya, but no appropriate music for his foe, Pernell Whitaker.
Naturally, the hope is that Merchant eventually goes the extra mile, to reporting on King for HBO's ''Real Sports.'' If King orchestrates the governing bodies as if he were Leonard Bernstein, so that a McCall or an Akinwande is in an undeserved position, show us. If there is dirty business, show us.
''Would I love to do an investigative piece? Sure,'' Merchant said. So far, the story has not gotten past being one of several in a mix of ideas. But HBO has to be judged by the high standard it sets for itself. It is part of the boxing business. It knows how deals are done. It has dealt with King. And its entertainment side is making a movie about King, due out this fall.
''I have nothing against HBO,'' King said. ''Just some of its employees.''
Merchant would just as soon ignore the promoters and the managers. ''Boxing is interesting because of the fighters,'' he said.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A961958260
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Don King, according to Tyson, is a ******, racist scumbag.Comment
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