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January 1999
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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WHATEVER NEXT
Given Mike Tyson's history, only a fool would not expect the unexpected when the former champ returns against Francois Botha this month. GRAHAM HOUSTON handles the tough task of predicting the run of the fight |
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NO REPEAT: this time, it's essential that Tyson gives his referee
no cause for complaint
- Get Big Pic Seven and a half years ago, after Mike Tyson ground out a
gruelling points victory over Razor Ruddock in their rematch, Boxing Monthly asked in a
front-cover headline: "Shot or not?" The feeling in boxing circles, even then, was that Tyson's skills
had regressed, that he was not the fighter he had been. And he was only 25. Now Tyson is 32, but such is his mystique, such is the aura that
surrounds him, that his comeback fight on 16 January at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is
going to be the biggest boxing event since, well, the last Tyson appearance. That, of course, was in this same ring at the MGM Grand in June
1997, when Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ears in their rematch, an
outrage that caused his boxing licence to be revoked by the Nevada commission but restored
in October, Tyson having been eligible to apply for relicensing after one year. Tyson has jumped through the proverbial hoops to get his licence
back, submitting to questioning by psychiatrists, putting on his most humble front at the
relicensing hearing in Las Vegas after being criticised for tetchiness in New Jersey
during an ill-advised attempt to outflank the Nevada authorities. He has been inactive in the boxing sense but hardly out of the
news, what with the massive coverage generated by his appointment with the shrinks and the
hearings in front of boxing regulators, not to mention an alleged table-overturning
incident in a Washington restaurant, a motorcycle mishap, his lawsuit against his former
promoter Don King, various personnel changes in his camp, a profanity-laced Playboy
interview in which he revealed that he could "blow at any time" and not
forgetting the assault charges filed by a couple of motorists in Maryland who allege that
the former heavyweight champ assaulted them after a minor traffic accident. While the
Maryland matter was settled out of court, Tyson still had to go before a judge; sentencing
will follow later. Some of the above might lead us to the opinion that the safest
place for Tyson is inside a boxing ring, what he did against Holyfield notwithstanding. And all the publicity - mostly adverse - will not hurt Tyson's
drawing power one bit. He represents the dark side that many of us find so fascinating,
and no heavyweight brings such instant excitement into the ring as does Tyson. So, even
though he may have regressed technically, his status as a box-office and pay-per-view
television attraction is undiminished. While boxing insiders might debate whether or not Tyson has
forgotten how to slip a jab or punch in combinations, the public at large simply want to
see brute force displayed the way only Tyson can. The long wait has whetted the public
appetite. A large portion of the world will be watching, then, when Tyson is turned loose
against 30-year-old South African Francois Botha, the International Boxing Federation's
No. 2-ranked contender, who is a legitimate test, unlike the plucky but clownish Peter
McNeeley, who was wheeled out as the sacrificial victim when Tyson made his last comeback,
once again at the MGM, in August 1995. Not that Botha is expected to win, of course. The "White
Buffalo" as he calls himself is flattered by his record of 39 wins (24 KOs) in 41
fights, losing only to Michael Moorer in a heavyweight title challenge. His one truly
significant victory - the split decision over Axel Schulz at Stuttgart three years ago -
goes into the record books as a no contest because Botha tested positive for steroids, a
finding that he disputes to this day. But he is a major improvement on the hapless
McNeeley. Botha, while an unexceptional fighter, is game and durable. His
courage was very much in evidence in the fight with Moorer, when Botha took heavy
punishment before being halted in the final round. He never gave up trying against a
technically more gifted, harder punching opponent and his gutsy, free-swinging rallies
convinced one of the judges that Botha was actually in front on points at the time the
fight ended. If Tyson is in need of a confidence-enhancing fight, as some
believe, then Botha is perfect. The South African is not a seriously heavy puncher, nor is
he quick - and he is definitely not elusive. This is a fighter whom Tyson should be able
to hit hard and often. If Tyson makes mistakes -such as leaving himself off-balance after
missing - he is unlikely to suffer distressing consequences. Tyson will go into this fight much as he did the one with
McNeeley, feeling himself hugely superior to the opponent. I remember attending a Don King
press conference at Phoenix in January 1996 when Tyson turned to an aide on the dais and
sneered: "Here comes the white boy." I looked around, and Botha (who was then
being promoted by King) had walked in, accompanied by his manager, Sterling McPherson. But while Tyson may have little respect for Botha, the South
African probably will not be intimidated. Botha has always wanted to fight Tyson. When I
interviewed him for this magazine a couple of years ago, prior to his fight with Moorer,
Botha told me that meeting Tyson would be his dream fight - his "ultimate
challenge". He said then that he thought Tyson's style would suit him, that
sparring partners who had also worked with Tyson made complimentary comparisons. Botha
said of Tyson: "He's got too musclebound. He only throws uppercuts and hooks. If
Muhammad Ali fought Tyson he'd beat him to death. That's how I'm going to fight him, like
my idol, Muhammad Ali, would fight him." Presumably this means that Botha will seek to jab Tyson, move
around him, counter him. But while Botha holds his hands low in the Ali manner the
comparisons end there. Botha is not a bad boxer, as he showed in the fight with Schulz,
but it is difficult to imagine him being able to outsmart and outmanoeuvre the onrushing
Tyson - not for very long, anyway. It is more likely that Botha will find himself having to slug it
out or be overwhelmed. And although a big, beefy fellow at 6ft 2ins and around 230lbs
(16st 6lbs), Botha cannot hope to win a firefight with Tyson. One thing about Tyson which is not in doubt is that he can still
punch. His new trainer, New Jersey's Tommy Brooks, has commented that Tyson still
possesses "tremendous speed and tremendous power". Brooks was previously co-trainer of Evander Holyfield, who, he
said, gave him his blessing to take the Tyson opportunity. If Holyfield beats Lennox Lewis
on 13 March, a third fight with Tyson becomes likely. And the Tyson camp could be thinking
that having a former Holyfield trainer in the corner could make the difference this time. For now, though, Tyson has Botha to take care of. This really should not be a terribly difficult task. I have found Botha to be a pleasant, sincere individual. He told
me that he has never knowingly used steroids and could only think that medication he had
taken for years because of an old arm injury he suffered in South Africa (in which a nerve
was severed) caused the test result to come out positive. I am sure that, in his own mind, Botha believes he can defeat
Tyson. But when the fight starts and the first blows are landed he may realise that he is
in a very bad place indeed. Botha is unlikely to freeze with apprehension the way that Frank
Bruno did, nor will he drop at the first whiff of gunpowder in the manner of Bruce Seldon.
But Tyson will simply hit too hard for him. It has been a long time since Tyson won a real fight, that is,
against an opponent who was capable enough and willing enough to make a contest of it -
not since the Ruddock rematch, in fact. Bruno and Seldon were mentally beaten before a
punch was thrown; McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr. were outclassed and massively outgunned. Botha will do his best and will not be disgraced, but he will not
win. Tyson should get this one over and done with in four rounds. The real test of
character for Tyson will have to come later. DIMINISHED BY INACTIVITY Looking back at my ringside report of Mike Tyson's rematch with
Razor Ruddock, I wrote that Tyson's assault had become ponderous and added: "Perhaps
he has reached the stage where he is there to be beaten." And that was in June 1991, before the three-and-a-half years of
inactivity caused by his prison sentence after being found guilty of rape, then the latest
layoff of 19 months because of his licence revocation. Six fights in seven and a half years is the sort of enforced
idleness that can diminish the skills of any fighter, not to mention one who had seemed to
be slipping even before the lengthy absences from boxing. In Tyson's favour, though, is the fact that he has kept himself in
good physical condition ("Mike's body is his temple,") the Tyson attendant known
as Crocodile told me in Los Angeles a year or so ago. And on his punching power alone,
coupled with the skills that remain, Tyson can probably take care of most heavyweights. The so-called fear factor may still be in evidence. Angelo Dundee
says that Evander Holyfield stripped Tyson of his "cloak of invincibility" the
way Muhammad Ali did with George Foreman. But Tyson can still be an alarming proposition. AS STABLE AS PINOCHET Will Mike Tyson do something reprehensible again if under
pressure? The psychiatrists do not think so, and I am willing to buy Tyson's explanation
that the ear-biting of the Evander Holyfield rematch was an aberration. Many are sceptical
of Tyson's explanation that he simply snapped after believing Holyfield was being allowed
to butt him. I can accept this temporary-insanity plea but am probably in the minority.
Many experienced boxing people take the view that Tyson deliberately sought to get himself
disqualified rather than take another licking from Holyfield. Francois Botha is unlikely to put Tyson under pressure, but the
public will be waiting to see if Tyson "loses it" in the ring again, and this
will add to the sense of expectation - if morbid in this case - whenever he steps into the
ring. Tyson, meanwhile, is still very much Tyson in the tasteless-remark
department. He was quoted in an Associated Press story out of Phoenix, where he is
currently training, as saying of the Botha fight: "I think I'll take a bath in his
blood." |
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