Heavily Anticipated Three gifted young punchers, led by Michael Grant, heat up the top division

The heavyweight division would seem to be in its usual muddle,
with all its bona fide stars languishing in promotional
purgatory. Champions Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield await
their rematch, which is becoming increasingly problematic as HBO
and Don King battle over a contract clause. The bout might never
happen, and the more you think about the first Lewis-Holyfield
fight, you're not sure you care. Mike Tyson, just freed from
prison, is trying to sweat off 50 pounds in a Phoenix gym to get
back into fighting trim. That might not happen either, and,
recalling his last two comebacks, who would be the poorer for it?

Despite all that, the division is neither dead nor even dormant.
A crop of young fighters is rising to supplant the older
generation, and although these cubs are untested, they're
causing a buzz. They're imposing physical specimens, athletic,
mostly personable and--bonus points!--at least two of them play
musical instruments. Now we're learning if they can fight.

Michael Grant is the biggest of the newcomers, has the sweetest
story and is probably the most musically inclined. He has also
been the most heavily promoted, having been nursed along for
much of his five-year career by a hopeful HBO (which, along with
SI, is owned by Time Warner). At 6'7", 250 pounds, the
26-year-old Grant been an anticipated presence ever since he
decided to give up basketball--he was a power forward at Cal
State-Fullerton--for boxing. It's no wonder that HBO has latched
on to him, marketing him as the anti-Tyson. He plays the piano,
speaks softly and, as his crusty trainer, Don Turner, says, is a
"wonderful, wonderful guy."

As he proved last Saturday night in raising his record to 30-0
(21 knockouts) at Madison Square Garden, he can also fight a
little. To the relief of his backers, Grant thoroughly battered
a stubborn Lou Savarese to score a 10-round unanimous decision
and move to the forefront of this new breed. "I will concede,"
says HBO vice president Lou DiBella, "to being one of those who
ordained Michael as the next guy, but this was the gut check he
needed to prove it."

DiBella has been blowing Grant's horn for so long, the pair of
them could probably make a living playing Ramada Inns as a
two-man band. In case they need another sideman, there's David
Tua, 26, who's a paralyzing puncher and plays the ukulele. "A
great TV heavyweight," says DiBella of Tua (33-1, 28 knockouts).
"He comes forward, throws big punches, can take anyone out."

What especially thrills observers is that Grant and Tua are of
such wholesome character that they, two-fistedly, might erase
the division's Tyson-spawned gangster mythology. A Tua story:
When the teenage daughter of Main Events promoter (and recently
widowed) Kathy Duva was awaiting her date, Tua made sure to be
at the house to provide a protective presence.

The third prospect of the bunch is not so sweet. Ike Ibeabuchi,
26, tabbed the President of course, served three months in jail
last year after pleading guilty to false imprisonment. "He's got
a lot of personal baggage," says DiBella. Still, of the three,
Ibeabuchi has been the most tested. Besides holding a win over
Tua from two years ago, Ibeabuchi (20-0, 15 KOs) won converts in
March with a fifth round stoppage of a very slick Chris Byrd.

These are three gifted heavyweights, but it's premature to
anoint any of them as anything more than exciting prospects.
More formidable fighters than Savarese and Byrd must fall for
that to happen. Further, even if you subscribe to the
increasingly popular theory that both Holyfield and Tyson have
suddenly grown old, it's impossible to dismiss Lewis. Still, as
Lewis edges closer to 40, there is a growing urgency to the
development of these three tigers. If they don't blossom soon,
the division is in real trouble. "It's a shambles," says trainer
Lou Duva. He adds, though, that, "these fighters are better
athletes than the last major group of fighters, like Tony Tubbs
and Larry Holmes."

Trouble is, the best fighters rarely fight each other. It was a
near miracle that Lewis and Holyfield finally met. And the
rematch--made necessary after they fought to a controversial
draw in March--may never happen because HBO wants to force out
King as promoter if the government indicts him as a
coconspirator in a bribes-for-rankings investigation of the IBF.
King, who believes a man is innocent until actually put in jail,
refuses to step aside. Insiders say the fight has a 50-50 chance
of coming off.

If the rematch doesn't happen, boxing will find out how ready
Grant is--and soon. He would likely be matched against Lewis, in
place of Holyfield, in what could be a much more significant
bout. If it turns out these three comers can really fight,
wouldn't that be music to our ears?

COLOR PHOTO: MANNY MILLAN Grant (right) battered Savarese to move to the forefront of the new breed.