clarinews@clarinet.com (STEWART SLAVIN) (02/04/90)
TOKYO (UPI) -- Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was pronounced ``ready to fight'' Saturday for his Feb. 11 bout against Buster Douglas despite another lackluster sparring session with former champion Greg Page. A full house of 700 Japanese fans paying $35 each watched Tyson spar only two minutes of a scheduled three-minute round against Page before the champion turned to lesser partner Phillip Brown for three more rounds. Trainer Aaron Snowell said he cut short the opening round when he saw the two heavyweights ``ready to really go at it.'' ``That's not what I'm looking for now just eight days outside of the fight,'' Snowell said. ``He wanted to go more rounds with Greg and kept saying, `No, let him stay in, let him stay in.' But it's not best for him to stay in with Greg Page at this time or he'll leave the fight in the gym.'' At his first public sparring Jan. 21, Tyson suffered a rare knockdown. The champion threw a wild left hook that left him off balance, then ran into a right hook by Page that put him on his back. Promoter Don King said Tyson is guaranteed $9 million for the bout and Douglas more than $1 million. At Saturday's workout at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, Tyson tried to get inside his taller opponent. Page easily tied him up with his longer arms and Tyson had difficulty breaking from clinches. Tyson also turned in a weak performance against Brown, but showed flashes of his deadly combinations in the finishing round. ``Mike is ready to fight,'' Snowell said. ``Mike started to move his head real well and he started to punch like he normally does -- really devastating -- and that's what we were looking for. Greg Page brings out the best in Mike and today he did it.'' After sparring, Tyson spent about 30 minutes in the ring practicing head movements and short combination blows with Snowell and fellow trainer Jay Bright. Douglas, ranked third by the World Boxing Council and fourth by the World Boxing Association, sparred six rounds later in the afternoon -- two each with James Pritchard, Eddie ``Young Joe Luis'' Taylor and Fred Whitaker. Douglas looked sharper than Tyson, using long left jabs and counter rights and putting his punches together when he had an opening. But, at times, the challenger from Cleveland appeared slow and was caught by right hooks when he lowered his left hand before jabbing. ``Mike's in shape to go from one to 12,'' said Snowell, adding the champion has lost two pounds and is now at 222, about four pounds heavier than his ideal weight. Tyson, who knocked out Tony Tubbs in Tokyo in 1988, is 37-0, including 33 knockouts. He has been idle since last July when he took 93 seconds to flatten Carl ``The Truth'' Williams in Atlantic City, N.J. Douglas, with a 4 1/2-inch height advantage over Tyson, is 29-4-1 with 19 KOs.