The Rematch: Tyson Vs. Ruddock -- The Devolution Of Mike Tyson -- From Savior Of Boxing To Shame Of Boxing?

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Once called the "savior of boxing," Mike Tyson should focus his energies on a more ambitious reclamation project.

Himself.

That is the view of an increasing number of boxing observers who believe that the former heavyweight champion has deteriorated both in and out of the ring.

Just how far he has slipped as a boxer could become apparent tonight at the Mirage, where Tyson meets Donovan "Razor" Ruddock in their long-awaited rematch.

"He's simply not the same fighter anymore," said boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar. "He doesn't have the same arsenal. When he bobs, he doesn't weave. When he weaves, he doesn't bob. And, most of all, he doesn't throw those crisp punches anymore. He looks like Dwight Gooden hurling fastballs."

Tyson has changed outside the ring, too. A product of the gritty Brooklyn streets where fights and killings seemed as routine as games of stickball, Tyson was a teen-ager when he was arrested for armed robbery and sent to a reform school in upstate New York. It was there that he came under the attention of Cus D'Amato, who trained former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson and former light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres.

D'Amato legally adopted Tyson, who was 13. The trainer, sensing a vast potential in the youngster, declared him the "future heavyweight champion of the world" - a burden that Tyson seemed to handle well. And why not? D'Amato rescued Tyson, molding him into a great fighting machine.

Critics would later say that D'Amato created an environment that was too rigid, too Spartan, but nobody saw that at the time. All they saw was a kid with an engaging lisp and a sweet smile. All they saw was a heartwarming story about a kid with a dream and an old man who nurtured it.

That seems like years ago. D'Amato has died, and the other people who guided Tyson early in his career have been either fired or alienated. Since bursting onto the scene in 1985, Tyson has undergone enough turbulence to last him a lifetime - a stormy marriage, a bitter divorce, a series of scuffles with photographers, an automobile accident that a New York tabloid labeled a suicide attempt.

Through all the turmoil Tyson has experienced, the most profound change may be in his image. He has gone from the savior of boxing to the shame of boxing.

"Some fighters start out as bad guys and end up as good guys," Sugar said. "That's the usual pattern. Muhammad Ali, for example, started out as a loud-mouthed braggart and ended up as a revered figure. But, with Tyson, it's the other way around. He's gone from a good guy to a bad guy."

Tyson has always been a complicated man - benign one minute, malignant the next - but more and more he seems to be pure malignance - as he was during a news conference in early May.

Tyson and Ruddock attended the gathering to hype their rematch, but the erstwhile "Kid Dynamite" turned the session into a display of name-calling that was bizarre enough to shock the most jaded boxing fan.

"I can't wait until the 28th," Tyson told Ruddock. "I'm gonna make you my girlfriend. . . . You're sweet. I'm gonna make sure you kiss me with those big lips of yours."

The trashy comments, which Torres labeled "jail talk," could have filled a garbage barge.

Why did Tyson utter them? What happened to the kid who was supposed to redeem the sport not merely with his fists inside the ring, but with his sweet, charming manner outside?

Remember, this is the same man who in 1986 said he would never - ever - do anything to discredit boxing.

The reason for Tyson's hostility may be simple: Unlike most of the men Tyson has fought, Ruddock refused to be frightened during their first meeting March 18. ----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- TALE OF THE TAPE ----------------

Here is the tale of the tape for tonight's heavyweight fight between Mike Tyson and Donovan "Razor" Ruddock:

TYSON RUDDOCK 24 Age 27 216 lbs. Weight 238 lbs. 5-11 1/2 Height 6-3 71 in. Reach 82 in. 43 in. Chest 47 in. 16 in. Biceps 16 1/2 in. 14 in. Forearm 15 in. 34 in. Waist 34 in. 27 in. Thigh 26 1/2 in. 18 in. Calf 18 in. 19 3/4 in. Neck 17 1/2 in. 8 in. Wrist 8 in. 13 in. Fist 13 1/2 in. 11 in. Ankle 10 in.