A mellower Mike Tyson who has come to terms with his controversial past and portrayal as a boxing villain showed he still has a fierce side on Wednesday in his last appearance before Saturday’s comeback fight.
Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Tyson, who turns 39 on June 30, faces Irishman Kevin McBride here on Saturday in a 10-round bout that the ex-champ must win in order to retain any hopes of recapturing his past glory.
”I’ve been hearing Mike Tyson is back for years now. When is he coming back? I don’t think he’s coming back,” McBride manager Rich Capiello taunted at a news conference. ”He was a great fighter in his time. His time is over.”
Tyson, 50-4 with 44 knockouts, called McBride a ”tomato can” and warned that his tallest-ever foe was in for more punishment after the tough talk.
”You’re going to get Kevin killed,” Tyson told Capiello. ”You better stop. You better go sit down. I’m going to gut him like a fish. I’m going to cut his heart out.
”The one who is not throwing punches always talks the most garbage. I wish he would fight me, that slick-talking cat.”
McBride, 32-4 with one draw and 27 knockouts, said it will feel like all of Ireland is punching Tyson when he lands a blow to the chin.
”You’re going to break your hand,” Tyson countered, adding, ”That’s a first-class indication of his humility.”
Tyson lamented that he has become ”old too soon and smart too late” and accepts that his checkered past has made him a villain to many.
”I’m just happy to be back. I didn’t appreciate my work back then. It was a lack of self-respect,” Tyson said.
”Everything is not as I thought it was when I was younger. Sometimes you have to rectify your mistakes. I’m content with the way I am.
”I’ve got the stigma. I’m a bad guy. I can deal with that. I want people to know I can deal with that. I’ve never been image conscious. I am who I am. If they don’t like me, that’s fine.
”I’m not here to sell sneakers. Maybe I’m here to save somebody’s soul.”
Tyson has been humbled in the years since his ”Iron Mike” championship days from 1987 through 1989, having been convicted of rape and serving three years in prison, another jail stay for assault and a one-year ban for biting Evander Holyfield’s ears in a 1996 title showdown.
But through it all, Tyson has remained a pay-per-view drawing card. That has allowed him to escape from bankruptcy and create a final chance at returning to the top, if not redemption.
”I have made a tremendous amount of mistakes,” Tyson said. ”As you get older you become more aware of the mistakes you made. You can’t try to rectify them. You just have to let them die.
”People say, ‘He’s been convicted of rape. He bit this guy’s ear off.’ I’ve made mistakes. But my achievements have been sensational and they will continue to be sensational as long as I have the right people around me.”
In this case, that group includes Australian Jeff Fenech, a former world champion, who has guided Tyson through an enjoyable training camp in Arizona.
”Mike Tyson is finally going to show you all he has the hunger and the desire and loved what he is doing now in boxing. He is polished, smooth and ready to shine,” Fenech said.
”You will see the old Mike Tyson, someone who is hungry, someone who is patient and back to his devastating best. He will knock out Kevin McBride.”
Promoters said 13 800 tickets have been sold for the fight, with about 3 200 remaining priced from $50 to a ringside-high $700. – Sapa-AFP