BOXING NOTES : WITHERSPOON POINTS TO TITLE BOXER WILLING TO FORGET PAST FOR SHOT AT A BELT.

Byline: Associated Press 

Tim Witherspoon, who sued Don King and settled for $1 million, would fight for the promoter again if it meant getting a shot at becoming a heavyweight champion for the third time.

``If I can get a title shot, damn right,'' Witherspoon, currently promoted by Dennis Rappaport, said Wednesday at a news conference. ``If it comes to money and bettering myself. We're talking about business. A lot of other people went back to Don King.''

Witherspoon, who will be 39 on Dec. 27, will fight 35-year-old Ray Mercer in a 10-round bout Saturday night that should make the winner a major player in the heavyweight division that has opened up with Evander Holyfield's upset of Mike Tyson.

The fight in Atlantic City, N.J., will precede another important heavyweight bout - the rematch between Riddick Bowe, a former undisputed champion, and Andrew Golota. Bowe won the first meeting July 11 at Madison Square Garden when Golota was disqualified in the seventh round for repeated low blows.

Witherspoon or Mercer might have a better shot at a title match if Lennox Lewis of Britain wins the vacant WBC title against Oliver McCall, probably on Feb. 7 at Las Vegas, since neither of them is tied to King. Lewis is promoted by Main Events, headed by Dino Duva. McCall is promoted by King, who also has promotional agreements with Holyfield and IBF champion Michael Moorer.

Witherspoon, a former WBC and WBA champion, has righted his career under the guidance of Tom Moran and has won eight straight fights.

In 1987, Witherspoon filed a $25 million suit against King and his stepson Carl, who was Witherspoon's manager, accusing them of fraud and conflict of interest.

The suit was settled out of court in 1992, with Witherspoon getting $1 million. Most of it is gone, for a variety of reasons.

Mercer, a gold medalist at the 1988 Olympics, won the WBO title, but lost key fights that cost him big-money matches. On the verge of a challenge to then undisputed champion Holyfield, Mercer was outpointed by Larry Holmes on Feb. 7, 1992. Needing to beat Jesse Ferguson to get a shot at Bowe, then undisputed champion, he was outpointed by Ferguson on Feb. 6, 1993.

He also was arrested after the Ferguson bout on a charge of attempting to bribe Ferguson into losing during the fight. He was acquitted, but his role as a major player appeared over.

``I went through hell,'' Mercer said the Ferguson ordeal. ``I should never have been in the ring with him. I wasn't in shape. It was the reason I split with my manager (Jack Dell). They gave me three weeks to get in shape. I learned I was fighting him from my mother, who read it in the paper.''

Mercer has had only three fights since losing to Ferguson. He drew with Marion Wilson in 1994, lost a tough 10-round decision to Holyfield in 1995 and lost a decision to Lewis in a 10-round bout a lot of ringsiders thought he won May 10, 1996.

Tight security vowed: Promoters promised tight security for the rematch of last summer's riot-marred heavyweight bout between Bowe and Golota.

More than 100 security guards and city police officers will work Saturday's fight at Convention Hall and ringside access for the fighters' camps will be restricted to eight people apiece, Duva said.

The number of credentials issued to the fighters' supporters also will be limited in hopes of preventing a recurrence of the violence that broke out after the July 11 fight at Madison Square Garden, Duva said.

``I'm not worried,'' Duva said. ``The people who caused the trouble last time learned their lesson and they're not going to be in the ring.''

Sixteen people were arrested, 22 were injured and a man in a wheelchair was knocked to the floor in the fracas.

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Photo

Photo: Tim Witherspoon, looking to move up in the heavyweight division, meets Ray Mercer on Saturday.

Associated Press