Does Mike really want to fight?

[Yogi#8Fan]

I'm wondering if Mike Tyson really wants to fight Lennox Lewis. The way he grabbed his crotch, yelling at reporters and being an overall thug, returning to biting an opponent, this time at the press conference instead of Evander's ear in the ring, I get the feeling he's scared to lose. Would anyone agree that he's lost confidence in himself and thinks that avoiding the loss by sabotaging it was his real goal here?

In further news, the Nevada Boxing Commission KO'd his fight in Reno (http://espn.go.com/boxing/news/2002/0128/1319188.html). I'm wondering where else he'll fight, since about all states require a Nevada license.

[BuzzBuzzard]

Make no mistake, Mike wants to fight him, but he wants to street brawl with him. Tyson is beyond comprehending the term boxing. He's a fighter who fights without rules. He also is a violent, violent man who is a risk to society because he can no longer discern right from wrong.

[Xanadu Dragon]

Just a side note - - this is our 2000th thread - - boy, wish it had been a baseball one.

[Yogi#8Fan]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
Make no mistake, Mike wants to fight him, but he wants to street brawl with him. Tyson is beyond comprehending the term boxing. He's a fighter who fights without rules. He also is a violent, violent man who is a risk to society because he can no longer discern right from wrong. I'm someone who grew up loving and adoring Muhammad Ali and all he'd been through. I loved his 3 fights against Frazier and his Foreman fight in Zaire. A friend of mine is a boxing fan the way some of you folks are into baseball.

It's very unfortunate that Tyson puts such an ugly damper on boxing. Considering how bad Vegas business has been post-9/11, it's obvious that nobody wanted him to further ugly up the picture til he'd practically tainted the whole town. $300M alone from one day's fight would've kicked the spark for any town, including what I understand are several NY restaurants like Lutece opening up in Vegas.

I wish him the best but hope he can end up calming down. I was listening to WFAN last night and someone mentioned that since leaving his trainer Kevin Rooney, it's been all downhill for him. Cus D'Amato saved him lots of grief before he passed but he was open to leeches like Don King and ex Robin Givens later on. He's a speedboat w/o a rudder or a captain but is still paddling away at sea.

I don't know if it's hangers-on or whatever but he should start surrounding himself w/some positive people. In a sport of the Brown Bombers, Marciano, Dempsey, Johnson, Tunney, Ali, Robinson, I'd hate to think the kids will see tapes of this and say that this is what the heavyweight champ becomes. He should honor the sport and himself, clean up his gutter act and act like a decent sociable human being. After he'd bitten off Evander's ear, he'd blamed that on his Brownsville, Brooklyn upbringing. He'd need to take responsibility f/his own actions as well!Originally posted by Xanadu Dragon
Just a side note - - this is our 2000th thread - - boy, wish it had been a baseball one. Should I change the title before we go further? :D

[Yogi#8Fan]

Now Lewis says he'd still fight Tyson (http://espn.go.com/boxing/news/2002/0130/1319883.html):

Wednesday, January 30

Lewis maintains Tyson fight would please public
Associated Press

LONDON -- Lennox Lewis says he still has Mike Tyson's teeth marks in his thigh after a news conference brawl. The Nevada boxing commission won't let Tyson fight in Las Vegas, and the former undisputed world champion reportedly faces two possible rape charges.

Yet Lewis is confident the two will still get together in the ring.

Lewis says he required a tetanus shot after Tyson bit a chunk of flesh out of his left thigh in New York last week. But the champion described the fracas and the Nevada ruling as "minor setbacks" and hopes a venue for the fight can be found.

[snip]

[Xanadu Dragon]

Mike Tyson. What a great thing to be discussing. :willis: He's an insult to humanity. Pasadena. No thanks. Next.

[Yogi#8Fan]

XD, agreed. I just had some thoughts on him so figured I'd air them. Better than keeping them bottled up, no? ;)

[chrisfostermusi]

Mike should be institutionalized. I agree with buzz he is a danger to society. It is sad to see this guy who was just the most menaceing fighter I have ever seen (in his prime) just go to hell in a hand basket. His talents were abused by those around him. People like Don King are the skid row of humanity.

[Skip]

Originally posted by chrisfostermusi
His talents were abused by those around him. People like Don King are the skid row of humanity.
So is Tyson. I dont buy the poor guy who just needed the right influence/if only Cus D'Amato hadnt died/just giving the people what they want/blah blah blah stuff.

[chrisfostermusi]

I am not making an excuse for Tyson. He has made plenty of bad choices. What I see here is a man whose talent has been exploited and his way of dealing with it has been unacceptable. He is now a danger to society. I feel what you fail to see is that Tyson is truly a sick person. It doesn't excuse his behavior but it helps explain it to some degree.

I am very hestitant when it comes to writing people off. Tyson once was a model citizen and excelled in his sport. He has had terrible guidance, made bad decisions and now is a walking time bomb. No matter how you look at it now it is a sad sad story. One that they will make a movie out of one day I am sure!

[Yogi#8Fan]

Originally posted by Skip
So is Tyson. I dont buy the poor guy who just needed the right influence/if only Cus D'Amato hadnt died/just giving the people what they want/blah blah blah stuff. I'm actually the one who wished Cus hadn't passed on. I also won't make excuses f/him but do think he's given boxing a black eye. That Nevada, which sorely needed the money, didn't want to take a $300M windfall because of the expected stench he'd probably have put on the town, says a lot about his overall persona.

I feel that had he had a good clean fight, win or lose, he'd have been respected, won back some of the fans he'd lost when he bit Evander's ear partially off in one of his fights. All this time HBO & Showtime were squabbling like they both wanted the fight and the rematch, then an agreement is made and now then.

I hoped that when he'd married that doctor, he'd be cool now. He seems very much returning to his old thuggish ways, including when he'd blamed his ear-biting on his Brownsville, Brooklyn rearing. I've known a few people from Brownsville, none of whom ever did this. It's high time for him to be responsible for himself and run his own life. Otherwise, it's always the next person's fault, he'll never take the blame for his errors, the ones that shock reasonable people the most.

[Skip]

Originally posted by chrisfostermusi
I am very hestitant when it comes to writing people off. Tyson once was a model citizen and excelled in his sport. He has had terrible guidance, made bad decisions and now is a walking time bomb.

Agreed about guidance and decisions. Aghast at the thought he was ever a model citizen. Agreed about the time bomb. Please - he is an adult, has had millions of $$, has been helped by numerous "good guys" as well as bad guys, and has chosen his path.

Originally posted by Yogi#8Fan
I'm actually the one who wished Cus hadn't passed on.
Actually I agree. It might have made a difference, but at this point we can no longer make excuses. The Tyson mega-boxer with D'Amato and immediately after was the most compelling heavyweight story in a long time. Now he is a joke, and more importantly, the good part of his legacy AND all of (at least) heavyweight boxing is besmirched.

I have never been a boxing fan, but what has happened to boxing in the last decade, largely but not totally due to the heavyweight division BS, is a travesty.

[Yogi#8Fan]

When Ali, Foreman, Frazier and Norton were around, the heavyweights ruled. To me, the lighter guys were the undercard. Now they're getting the top treatment. To me, that's because of quality fighters in the 130-160 lb division and lack of the number of quality guys in the heavyweight division.

I'd thought Tyson would've been one of the greats. Head bobbing, fast feet, quick hands, ferocious and damaging power, agility, he had it all. As of now, I feel the purse will need to be serious snipped due to lack of fan interest.

If I were head of Showtime or HBO, I'd be livid, since Mike both had a chance to somewhat redeem himself, at least temporarily, and make a windfall of cash for both feuding cable companies, fighters and a betting town complete w/high rollers. All this because he had to act like he's head of a badder than bad street gang, making this into a "who cares?" type of thing.

I wish Mike luck but not sure I'd pay dearly to see his mental undoing in or outside of the ring.