This is an excerpt of a New York Times editorial that was published on Tuesday:

SOMEBODY once called boxing the sweet science, but there was nothing sweet about last Saturday night's Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title bout or scientific about the collective wisdom of the three judges who called it a draw.

Mr. Lewis was clearly the superior fighter for most of a dreary evening, and one judge actually awarded him the fight. A second judge called it a draw while a third, astonishingly, gave it to Mr. Holyfield. Mr. Holyfield and Mr. Lewis will continue to share the title. The only clear winners were the promoters, who will stage a rematch in six months.

This bout was supposed to be a big shot in the arm for boxing in New York -- a fight that would establish one clear champion in the heavyweight division and bring back the glory days of Madison Square Garden. When it ended the way it did, the state's leading politicians were furious and not a bit bashful about raising the possibility of fraud.

Gov. George Pataki ordered an inquiry by the State Athletic Commission, while Eliot Spitzer, the state attorney general, began a separate inquiry.

These responses are heartening. The usual reaction to bad boxing decisions is a shrug of the shoulders, but that will not do here.

The fight generated more than $50 million in TV revenue alone, and the fighters earned nearly $30 million between them. The vast television audience and the 21,284 spectators on hand have every right to know whether they got the fair fight they paid for.

If either the Athletic Commission or the attorney general turns up evidence of fraud, then other law enforcement figures, including District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, should be prepared to take the investigation further.

Boxing is suffering from widespread public mistrust. A good fight and a fair verdict in Madison Square Garden would have done it worlds of good. That did not happen, and it is important to ask why.

Pub Date: 3/18/99