BOXING
John Rawling
As the dust settled in New York’s Millennium hotel, after a press conference to showcase the richest fight in history had disintegrated into mayhem, one overriding conclusion was clear: Mike Tyson is patently unfit to be taking his place in a boxing ring.
This was no stage-managed World Wrestling Federation-style knockabout hype, where nobody is hurt and the promoters laugh all the way to the bank. This was sad, and more the language and behaviour of the Colisseum where sporting glory of an altogether different kind was achieved.
It is more than four years since Tyson plumbed the depths with one of the most despicable acts perpetrated in a boxing ring, when he gnawed a chunk out of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a world title fight before spitting it to the canvas. Many would have wished his ban from boxing had been permanent.
But Tyson’s career has always spelled money, and economic influences above all others dictated he would return. Since he did, the sequence of events has made shabby and unpleasant reading. He confessed to trying to break Francois Botha’s arm during a fight. He punched Orlin Norris after the bell had gone to end the round. Against Lou Savarese in Glasgow he aimed a swipe at the referee after earlier allegedly punching promoter Frank Warren. Between fights he spent another spell in prison after a road-rage attack on two elderly motorists.
The Lewis fight would make more than $100-million, we are told the financial rewards are potentially so great that even the sworn enemies, HBO and Showtime, have agreed to work together for the first time.
On April 6, Las Vegas would welcome the high rollers who would conveniently forget the riot that ensued after the second Tyson-Holyfield fight, which led to the MGM Casino being closed after reports of shots being fired. The casino supposedly lost upwards of $40-million but five years later it seems the world’s gambling capital is ready to recoup its money. However, Tyson’s loss of self-control will prompt the thought that, whatever the financial rewards involved, this is a gamble too far.
The wise men who will try to make sense out of this chaos are those of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who have the power to deny Tyson a fighter’s licence for April 6.
His mental state cannot have been helped by the announcement this week that his wife Monica has filed for divorce on the grounds of his adultery. Furthermore, he has been the subject of a four-month investigation by Las Vegas police into allegations by a lap-dancer that he had sexually assaulted her. That matter has been referred to the district attorney, and the Nevada commission has indicated a fight with Lewis would almost certainly not go ahead if any charges against Tyson were pending.
All fighters would state that the most vital attribute needed, more than bravery or punching power, is self-control. Without it a fighter is nothing. Tyson is well aware of the history that goes before him. And it may be that there is another conclusion to be drawn.
When Tyson was photographed on holiday in Cuba recently he looked like a candidate for liposuction. His best fighting weight has always been about 100kg and he was clearly way above that. Any attempt to hone his skills ready for Lewis would involve a drastic loss of weight, and the truth may be that Tyson simply does not want Lewis at this stage he may find it face-savingly convenient to be banned rather than beaten.