Sports Articles: Boxing Legends Part 1 - Mike Tyson page 12

Image from: thefightcity.com

Article page 12 of 13

New Year's Day 2002 was marred by reports of witnesses alleging he threw glass Christmas ornaments at journalists trying to interview him. There were no injuries or arrests reported. Now there was just one thing on his agenda for the year. Everything was building up to a fight that had been in the making since the pair sparred as teenagers in the Catskills, under the watchful eye of Cus D'Amato. Lennox Lewis, the holder of the WBC, IBF, IBO and lineal titles was to be his next opponent.

It was an extremely difficult to set up for a number of reasons. Firstly both boxers were contracted to different promoters and both had contracts binding them to a different cable TV network. Eventually all that was left was to find a venue to host it and a televised press conference was set up to publicise the bout for 22nd January 2002. The press conference was, just like all of Tyson's life, packed with action as Tyson admitted afterwards he was high on cocaine and that his drug usage, by this stage, was causing what he described as 'Herculean' mood swings. So much so Ring magazine named it as their Event of the Year for 2002.

Tyson was first on to the stage at the Hudson Theatre, where the press conderence was held, and stood staring towards where Lewis was set to enter from. As soon as Lewis appeared, Tyson stalked over to him, looking like he was about to attack him. One of Lewis's bodyguards attempts to stop Tyson, who threw a left hook at him. It then descended into a mass brawl on stage as the two boxers ended up rolling on the floor with both camps involved in the ruck. Tyson even managed to get in yet another bite, this time biting Lewis on the leg.

Lewis said: "He bit me at the press conference and I said to myself, 'I'm not fighting this guy. He's mad. We don't fight like that, we're supposed to be gladiators.' My trainer (Emanuel Steward) told me he did that because he was trying to get out of the fight. If I had not gone through with, he would always have that bite, and I would never have had the chance to get him back. So I went through with it, and I didn't complain about the bite because people would have accused me of not wanting to fight him."

The chairman of the WBC, Jose Sulaiman, even claimed to have been involved when he alleged that he had been knocked out during the fight when he hit his head on the table. He also claimed he was spat on and that Tyson threatened to kill him after he got up. Sulaiman later filed a $56m lawsuit against both Lewis and Tyson for injuries he had received during the scuffle.

After the brawl was broken up, Tyson stood on the edge of the podium, grabbed his crotch and started shouting expletives at someone in the crowd. Tyson overheard a freelance journalist, called Mark Malinowski, suggesting he should be in a straight jacket. That prompted another profanity laden tirade, directed at Malinowski, repeatedly referring to him as a 'punk white boy' and a 'faggot' and vowed to 'fuck you till you love me'.

Unsurprisingly, a week later the Nevada Athletic Commission rejected Tyson's request to get his Nevada boxing license back in a 4-1 vote. More states baulked at giving Tyson a license, but Memphis, Tennessee bid $12m to host the fight and it was finally held there on the 8th June 2002. The fight lasted 8 rounds, with Lewis dominating right up until he knocked Tyson out in the 8th round. Tyson was full of praise for Lewis after the fight but, at the age of 35, it was clear Tyson was no longer a genuine title challenger.

His training was disrupted badly by his lifestyle and heavy drugs usage. In January 2003 his second marriage ended as wife Monica divorced him over his adultery. The build up to his next fight was hit by rumours of a lack of fitness as he took time out to party in Las Vegas and to get a new facial tattoo. It did not stop him finishing Clifford Etienne in just 49 seconds in February, but it did ensure it was the final professional victory of his career.

Sometimes problems were not actually of his making, they were merely because of who he was, as he found in 2003 when three drunken tourists stumbled across in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Downtown Brooklyn after a night of partying. Reports varied about what actually happened to spark trouble, but most reports suggest they threatened Tyson after he refused to sign an autograph. Tyson was arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct. The DA's office called Bruce Silverglade, the owner of Gleason's Gym, probably the world's most famous of all boxing gyms, to ask Tyson's team to talk to the investigators.

The DA's office was led by Charles Hynes, who felt Tyson had got, according to Silverglade, "the short end of the stick" but was forced to investigate the allegations because of who he was. Silverglade suggested that Tyson be given community service at Gleason's, who had a number of charity programs for disadvantaged youth. Hynes loved the idea, as did Tyson's attorney Mel Sachs, but Tyson feared a civil suit as he would be admitting guilt if he took the plea bargain. Eventually Tyson was persuaded to take the deal and was given 100 hours of community service working with children and 6 months counselling.

Tyson's first day was just meant to be thirty minutes to fill out some paperwork, but ended up staying for 2 hours working with a program for disadvantaged youth. Hilary Swank was also there, training for her role for in the movie 'Million Dollar Baby' and was confused that there were hundreds of cameras from around the world there and none were focused on her. Everyone just wanted to see Tyson. One thing that can never be disputed is that Tyson is pure box office. Unfortunately he still struggled to avoid trouble, with one of his bodyguards suing him in July, claiming Tyson punched him twice in the face and broke his left orbital bone.

→

Mike Tyson page 13 of 13

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