  This paper presents results of a series of numerical N-body experiments that
describe the merging of galaxy pairs containing a massive black hole in their
core. The aim is to study the orbital evolution of the two black holes through
the merger event. It is found that merging does NOT lead to the formation of a
CLOSE black hole pair} at the center of the remnant when the two progenitor
galaxies have (1) similar masses, (2) different central densities, and (3)
relative orbit with non zero angular momentum. Under these conditions, the
central black hole of the less dense galaxy settles into an wide orbit, i.e.,
at a distance from the center comparable to the half mass radius of the
remnant, where the time scale for orbital decay by dynamical friction can be
several Gyrs. The implications of this result are briefly discussed.
