Sports Articles: Boxing Legends Part 1 - Mike Tyson page 11

Image from: thefightcity.com

Article page 11 of 13

Controversy continued to dog Tyson as his criminal record nearly blocked him from obtaining a visa and work permit for his January 2000 fight in Manchester, England against Julius Francis. Eventually he was given the necessary permissions and stayed in the Midland Hotel in the build up to the fight. Staff there said that even Princess Di had not created the public interest that Tyson's stay did, with fans gathering outside of the hotel each day of his stay. Tyson himself compared his reception to being akin to 'Beatlemania' while in England.

The fight itself was less of an event, though there is little surprise in that considering his opponent, Francis, sold advertising space on the sole of his boots to a tabloid newspaper, ready for when he was knocked down! Sure enough, Francis was little obstacle and was demolished, being knocked down 5 times in the 4 minutes and 3 seconds the 'fight' lasted. After the second round TKO, the British boxer even asked Tyson for his autograph in the post-fight press conference.

Tyson reached a settlement with Sherry Cole and Chevelle Butts the following month. The pair had claimed they were in a restaurant in the Georgetown area of Washington when Tyson grabbed Cole and requested a sexual relationship. The pair claimed he then swore at Butts after finding out she was a correctional officer. Tyson's lawyers had filed papers that stated 6 witnesses had seen the pair verbally harrass Tyson, who had not been abusive. The pair had sought $7.5m in damages but terms of the settlement were confidential.

May saw Tyson once again facing legal problems involving a woman, this time a topless dancer called Victoria Bianco. The Las Vegas stripper alleged in a report to police that Tyson had punched her in the chest and hurled expletives at her in a club while she was working. After police were called to the scene and interviewed witnesses, they declined to press charges. Bianco filed a claim for damages the following month, alleging Tyson hit her without provocation.

Just a few days before the lawsuit was filed, Tyson was back in the UK, this time Glasgow, Scotland, to face Lou Savarese. Tyson knocked Savarese out in just 38 seconds but continued to punch the downed fighter after the referee stopped the fight. When the ref stepped in to try to separate the boxers, Tyson knocked him to the floor. Following the fight Tyson went on a bizarre rant saying: "I'm the best ever. I'm the most brutal and vicious, the most ruthless champion there ever has been. There's no one can stop me. Lennox is a conqueror? No! I'm Alexander! He's no Alexander! I'm the best ever. There's never been anyone as ruthless. I'm Sonny Liston. I'm Jack Dempsey. There's no one like me. I'm from their cloth. There is no one who can match me. My style is impetuous, my defence is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"

The bizarre rant, and the loss of control after the fight was stopped, can be put down, in part at least, to Tyson's later confession to being high on cocaine and weed for the fight. He later admitted in his autobiography; "I had to use my whizzer, which was a fake penis where you put someone's clean urine to pass your drugs test." 2000 was a year when his drugs use, according to Tyson himself, was out of hand, as he had fired everyone working for him and got new accountants. They showed that he started the year $3.3m in debt, but had made $65.7m. Tyson said later: "The problem was that I spent $62m that year. I just said to myself, 'wow this is over. Now I can go out and really have fun.'"

He was later fined $187,500 for his behaviour in the Savarese fight but escaped a ban from fighting in the UK again. Tyson fought once more in 2000, this time against another controversial fighter, Andrew Golota, in yet another fight that ended in bizarre circumstances. It was dubbed 'Showdown in Motown' but it was not quite the showdown the crowd were hoping for. Golota refused to come out for the 3rd round, complaining that a cut above his left eye had been caused by a deliberate headbutt. "I quit", he told referee Frank Garza. His cornerman Al Certo pleaded with him to fight on and tried to force the gum shield into his mouth, later saying, "I should have shoved it up his ass". Tyson needed restraining and Golota was being pelted with objects thrown by the crowd, but the fight was over. Certo later revealed that Golota had tried to quit after the first round.

It was found that Golota had suffered concussion, a fractured cheekbone and a herniated disc in his neck, so it is little wonder Golota wanted no more. The result was later changed to a no contest after Tyson failed a post-fight urine test, he had refused to even take a pre-fight one. Tyson said later that the positive test for marijuana was caused when he was unable to get his 'whizzer' off the member of his team who carried the device before he was tested.

2001 was a quiet year, by Tyson's standards. Just a couple of legal issues, as he was investigated over allegations of sexual assault of a woman at his rented home as he prepared for his one fight of the year. California prosecutors decided not to pursue the case a couple of weeks later. In October there was a 7th round TKO victory over Danish fighter Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen. Then December saw police begin investigating claims from a former heavyweight boxer, Mitchell Rose, that Tyson had assaulted him outside of a New York night club. Rose claimed Tyson attacked him after he made a joke about Tyson's entourage of women.

→

Mike Tyson page 12 of 13

Written by Ed001 - June 04 2018 10:30:52