Fire Fight

Steele later told an interviewer that he had stopped the fight because Ruddock no longer could defend himself. "People just get out of hand because of the simple fact that they don't understand boxing," Steele said. "They must come to see someone get hurt seriously or death."

"All we want is justice," said Muhammad, after order was restored. Muhammad, who had copromoted the four-bout card with King, had not wanted Steele to work the fight. He claimed that Steele, who had refereed numerous bouts promoted by King, was too close to King. With, as it turned out, uncanny prescience, Muhammad worried that, if Ruddock was able to pose a threat to Tyson, Steele would call a premature halt to the fight as soon thereafter as Ruddock got in any kind of trouble. After first threatening to sue Steele and nearly everyone involved in the fight, Muhammad said that a rematch would patch things up nicely.

Ruddock will get another crack at Tyson, but whether it will be in a fight for the heavyweight crown largely depends on what happens next month in Atlantic City when Foreman meets the champion, Evander Holyfield. If Foreman wins, he will be in no hurry to defend his title against Tyson, but a Holyfield victory will mean that Tyson's long wait for an opportunity to reclaim his throne will be over.