On Friday she was so pain-free and brimming with fitness thatshe was happily taking part in a Comic Relief sponsored run at her local track in Bedford. She was only 20 years old, a former world junior cross-country champion and one of Britain's most promising young track prospects for the 1996 Olympic Games. Rooney developed and refined the style which made Tyson unbeatable, and the consensus of informed opinion is that Tyson's decline commenced the day he dumped Rooney.The prospect of the pair getting together again would reduce even further the odds against Tyson reclaiming his championships within a year - and if he does so without King's backing the once omnipotent promoter would find himself on the ropes.But for all his flaws and faults he remains the world's best at what he does. King may be down but - with or without Tyson - he should never be counted out.. LESS than a year ago Paula Radcliffe was told that she might never run again or that at best she would always run in pain from foot injuries that refused to mend.

The story does not, so far, stretch to Cayton resuming the management role, only to his being asked to enquire of Kevin Rooney whether he would be interested in training the fighter again but it is an intriguing development. Given the precarious state of Tyson's finances and the potentially expensive civil action by his rape victim Desiree Washington, those ex- amples could be powerful influences on his ultimate decision.There may yet be an even more dramatic twist: the hot rumour in Vegas was that friends of Tyson had approached his first manager, Bill Cayton, from whom King seduced Tyson after the death of Cayton's partner Jim Jacobs. But if Newman's offer of $160m is as bona fide as he claims then Tyson can make vast amounts without King.Foreman has already demonstrated dramatically that it is possible to get to the very top without him while the super- middleweight champion, Roy Jones, is so resolutely independent that he has never given King or anyone else a single option on his services. Despite the evidence produced by King's former accountant, the gloriously named Joe Maffia, of misappropriation by King of Tyson's earnings, there is still a chance that his will be the stretch limo into which the ex- champion steps.

Rory Holloway, his official manager, was very much part of the King entourage in the wild months before Tyson finally overstepped the line. None of that trio are likely to generate vast revenue so the re-emergent Tyson is crucial to his future as boxing's arch manipulator.When Tyson walks through the prison gates this Saturday all the world's hustlers will be waiting for him in the car park. Bowe operates without his involvement under Newman's shrewd direction. Television receipts around the world and massive spin-offs would conceivably push the total takings to around $200m, which leaves a profit margin comfortable enough to satisfy even Don King. Except that Don King isn't part of the deal.In fact King barely rated a mention at the conference and that in itself is proof that his hold on the heavyweight division is much weaker than in his heyday a decade ago. "We will be driving down to see Tyson in prison this week and we will talk to him in a very respectful and accommodating way to see if we can't get this fight put together."The amount mentioned is mind-blowing but just about believable. "We have a bona fide genuine offer on the table of a combined purse of $160m for Bowe to fight Mike Tyson at Madison Square Garden, New York, in November 1995," he said.

But in the midst of all the chaos the significance of a throwaway line by Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, may have gone unappreciated. The Cuban giant, 6ft 7in even without his trademark black Stetson, was "restrained" from attacking Bowe on the podium while Bowe cowered in mock fear as security men, the MGM Grand logo prominently displayed on their jackets, crowded into camera shot to wring every last sliver of publicity. Ever since Muhammad Ali drove Joe Frazier to distraction over 20 years ago, such knockabout stuff has become routine, although it must be said that Bowe - a funny man - and Gonzalez, who loves his role as the professional bad guy, do it better than most. RIDDICK BOWE'S shambolic though sometimes entertaining press conference after his defeat of Herbie Hide in Las Vegas last weekend was dominated by much ritual bad-mouthing between the new World Boxing Organisation champion and his first challenger, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, whom he faces at the same venue on 11 June. Eubank gestured angrily to the American referre Ron Lipton that it had not been a legitimate knock-down but had to take the mandatory eight count.Eubank has been in tight corners before, though, and it looked for a while in the later rounds as though he might extricate himself again as he landed the cleaner and crisper punches on the Irishman, who was now tiring.A long right dropped Collins to one knee early in the tenth but he signalled to his corner that he was all right and when he rose he frustrated all Eubank's attempt to build on that success.Surprisingly, it was Collins who produced the big effort in the eleventh, out-hustling Eubank and, as they past each other on the way back to the corners at the end of the round Eubank gave him a tap of the glove in acknowledgement of his fighting qualities.The Irishman was cut over the left eye in the last round but it was too late to make any difference and he kept bustling away to the final bell to hand Eubank his first defeat in 44 fights, 20 of them for the WBO middle- weight or super-middleweight championships..

Throughout it all, Collins sat in his corner with his eyes tightly closed and he maintained the posture even during his own introduction.He made the best possible start, outworking the lethargic champion in the early rounds and it was not until the fourth that Eubank at last began to impose himself on the fight, landing a couple of fierce uppercuts and knocking Collins into the ropes with a jab.Collins kept grafting away in the fifth and sixth but he was missing more than he landed and one questioned how much this might tell against him in the later rounds.But Collins, who had spent four weeks training in Las Vegas, was in magnificent shape for the biggest fight in his 32-bout career and he came back strongly in the seventh and eighth, even flooring the champion briefly in the eighth with a glancing right to the chest which appeared to catch Eubank off balance and sent him sprawling on his back against the ropes. But with the backing of a committed capacity crowd of 7,500, he was unbeatable.Not even the first knock-down of his career when a long right from Eubank dropped him to one knee early in the 10th was enough to break the Irishman's absolute concentration which remained rock solid during the most extraordinary ring entrance even this master showman had yet devised.Last December, when he beat Henry Wharton, Eubank came in on a crane over the heads of the crowd. Indeed, his demeanour throughout 12 absorbing rounds demonstrated a rare respect for an opponent who, like so many of his 14 previous challengers for the World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight title, had mastered his trade in the course of a long career spent mostly in American rings. Collins came home to win the world title last night but the real measure of his quality was in the defeats that he had suffered previously - three points losses all by close verdicts to world champions of a quality Eubank had not faced.Even on a neutral ground, the 30-year-old Dubliner would have been the most formidable opponent Eubank could have chosen outside of the other three rival world title claimants. Just as Muhammad Ali accepted his first loss with grace and dignity when Joe Frazier beat him in 1971, so Eubank showed class as his 10-year unbeaten record was smashed by the unsung Irish challenger Steve Collins in a night of unforgettable passion and emotion in the Green Glens arena here in the tiny village of Millstreet. All three judges had the Irishman in front by margins of 116-114 , 115- 111, and 114-113. After the fight, Eubank immediately congratulated his conqueror.