JERSEY CITY, Jersey City (Ticker) -- While baseball had players breaking records in 1998, boxing had fighters worrying about criminal records.

The "Sweet Science" became the "Sour Silence" this year. As if the sport had not tried to cripple itself with poor pay-per-view matchups and made-for-cable mismatches, 1998 saw more time spent in the court than in the ring.

Oh, sure, there was "The Prince" and Arturo Gatti, Fernando Vargas and Roy Jones, Jr. But all too often, the best fights were on Court TV and not HBO or Showtime.

It's sad to say, but the biggest story in boxing this year didn't occur in the ring at all. It took place in a courthouse. As if 1997 wasn't bizarre enough for former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, 1998 saw his worst side put front and center as he attempted to regain his license to box.

With "Iron Mike," nothing is easy. His end around to the New Jersey Boxing Commission failed and after reading the writing on the wall, he decided to apply before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Along the way Tyson did have a fight -- with a couple of middle-aged men in Gaithersburg, Maryland after his wife, Monica, was involved in a minor traffic accident.

So with the whole world watching, Tyson was forced to apologize and state that he hopes never to bite off another ear. Of course, four of the five commissioners believed him and gave him back his license.

Maybe they should have scrapped the psychological evaluations and just gone by Tyson's "Playboy" interview in November, in which he candidly discussed everything from how David Stern owns the NBA to why Desiree Washington wanted it that night he raped her.

So if Tyson is so dysfunctional, why didn't the commission just tell him to get lost? Because in this wacky world of boxing, bizarre is the norm and the more bizarre, the more attractive. That sound you just heard was Rocky Marciano rolling over in his grave. How do you think some of boxing's greats would have felt about Tyson's appearance at Wrestlemania in March?

Tyson will be a huge draw in January when he faces the punching bag known as Francois Botha. With a break, Lennox Lewis will beat Evander Holyfield and Tyson will knock out Lewis, thus completing the circle of oddities.

How bad of a year was it? Consider the sport's most exciting fighter was a lightweight who fought three times and didn't win once. Gatti, one of the few throwbacks left in the sport, absorbed a ton of punishment in 1998. He took part in two of the top three fights of the year and three of the top seven. But he lost all three and his career may now be over.

Such is the state of boxing that the man that twice beat Gatti, Ivan Robinson, said that he probably could only get up for Gatti and has been accused of dogging some fights in the past. Gatti's other loss came to Angel Manfredy, another tattooed oddity from the Dennis Rodman collection.

So wasn't anyone marketable? What about the "Golden Boy"?

Well, Oscar de la Hoya was everywhere -- commercials, magazines, specials. Everywhere but in the ring. Sure, he made a couple of token appearances to pick up some big paydays, but de la Hoya was the poster boy for everything that was wrong about 1998. He singlehandedly could have saved the sport this year, becoming boxing's answer to Sammy Sosa and John Elway. Instead, he was the biggest question mark of all.

De la Hoya, whose year consisted of a pair of knockouts of aging veteran Julio Cesar Chavez and overmatched Patrick Charpentier, improved to 29-0. But de la Hoya was one of the main reasons why the sport struggled over the last 12 months, pulling out of one of the few fights anyone wanted to see. He withdrew from a scheduled bout with Ike Quartey in December when a "cut" appeared on his eyelid.

Why was de la Hoya so disinterested? It depends on who you talk to. He reportedly spent a good portion of this year partying and enjoying the prime of his life. He also was subjected to a magazine article discussing an out-of-wedlock child. In late November he was alleged to have raped an underage girl more than two years ago. Not exactly the image boxing's rising star was hoping to craft.

Such was the state of the sport that Quartey did not fight the entire year. First, he was stonewalled by Felix Trinidad, then by de la Hoya. The reason Trinidad pulled out? Legal problems, what else?

Trinidad's legal problems were of the business nature, with the central antagonist being Don King. How bad was the year in boxing? So bad that it took nearly 15 paragraphs to mention King's name.

And the venerable promoter was not without his legal wrangles. He beat an insurance fraud charge, then later treated the jury to a night of boxing in Las Vegas. Only in America could King pull it off, not to mention that he has taken very little heat for leaving Tyson virtually cash-strapped.

While King was toiling, one promoter did make some progress in 1998. Cedric Kushner stepped in and tried to revitalize the sport with a series of inexpensive pay-per-view cards revolving around contending heavyweights. He also played a major role in salvaging some cards at the last minute and was one of the few bright spots in a dismal year for promoters.

Another bright spot this year was "The Prince," Naseem Hamed. Hamed brought an electricity to the ring that has been missing since Tyson's prime of the mid-1980s. Hamed's ability in the ring is often overshadowed by his entrance to the ring, but he continued to dominate the featherweight weight class and should be poised for an even more exciting 1999.

Also providing excitement in the lower weight classes was Floyd Mayweather, Jr. This former Olympian burst on the scene in 1998, winning seven times and capturing the WBC super featherweight title in the process. Among the favorites for Boxer of the Year, the 21 year-old Mayweather quickly is emerging as boxing's most complete young fighter.

Vargas, one of Mayweather's teammates on the 1996 Olympic team in Atlanta, also moved into the title spotlight in 1998. He capped off a big year with a stunning eighth-round knockout of Yory Boy Campas in early-December. Vargas was so good over the last 12 months that he has closed the gap a bit on de la Hoya and may find himself promoted into some big paydays with the likes of Quartey and Trinidad.

While Mayweather and Vargas were establishing themselves as stars, other boxers such as Jones, Shane Mosley and Johnny Tapia continued to hone their craft by defeating all challengers.

Jones opened his year by dispatching Virgil Hill in four rounds in late April. He would add a 12-round decision victory over Lou Del Valle in July before capping his year with a 10th-round TKO of Otis Grant.

Mosley was even more impressive than his close friend, posting five victories, all via knockout. He needed just 35 rounds in the five title defenses and has teamed with Jones to provide HBO a sure-fire ratings winner on Saturday nights.

Tapia became the only fighter to win a title in two divisions as he posted a majority decision victory over Nana Konadu in early December to capture the WBA bantamweight title. Tapia also made a successful defense of his IBF junior bantamweight belt.

How bad of a year was it for the sport? We are nearing the end and we have yet to discuss the heavyweight title scenario. Sure, Lewis and Holyfield will meet in March, but that fight will have to be one of the classics to make up for the lost year that both of them endured.

Holyfield posted a unanimous decision over Vaughn Bean that was a snoozer from start to finish. One week later, Lewis outdid the WBA and IBF champion by recording a lackluster win over lightly regarded Zeljko Mavrovic.

In Lewis' defense, he did make his March 28th title defense against Shannon Briggs an exciting one, albeit by displaying his glass jaw. But Lewis rebounded to post a fifth-round technical knockout.

Now Lewis and Holyfield face off in one of 1999's marquee matchups. It might be one of the first, but for the sake of the sport, it better not be the last.

Tue Dec 29 14:25:57 ET 1998

**Taken fromCBS SportsLine**

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