Few athletes transcend sport. No athlete has transcended sport in my lifetime as Mike Tyson has. Who would have paid their cable company $50 to watch Michael Jordan dunk or Mark McGwire hit home runs? Millions shelled out $50 to watch Mike Tyson fight on their television screens, even long after Tyson's skills had eroded.
I spent a lot more than $50 to see Mike Tyson fight live tonight at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. He's not the guy who obliterated Michael Spinks in 91 seconds, but he once was that guy and I'm hoping that that guy shows up, even if just for a few spurts, to take on Irishman Kevin McBride. Last summer, I detailed my fascination with Iron Mike. This week, ESPN.com has profiled some of the fascinating characters that Tyson scrapped with over the years. You couldn't make up Mitch "Blood" Green, the Jeri-curled warrior who battled Tyson twice: once in the ring, and once in the a.m. hours on the streets of New York. The lanky Green went the distance with Tyson inside Madison Square Garden. I hear Tyson scored a TKO in Harlem. Other memorable characters include Peter McNeeley, who promised to wrap Tyson in a "cocoon of horror," Francois "the White Buffalo" Botha, and James "Buster" Douglas, whose 10-round KO of Tyson stands as the greatest upset in boxing (sports?) history.
Tonight, I will watch a man fight who weighs fifteen pounds more than Kid Dynamite, and sports tatoos that couldn't be seen on the Iron Mike who made Trevor Berbick look as if he'd just stepped off a 100-mile-an-hour merry-go-round. But I'll be looking to catch glimpes of the guy whose first fifteen fights totaled just twenty-three rounds.
Dan,
the kid is gone. Desire, coordination, reflexes, and fitness level are gone from Tyson. He will probably knock big paddy into next Tuesday for several reasons: paddy will go into panic mode quickly, Tyson can take a punch, and Tyson can still deliver a very heavy blow. But the prime and prepped dynamo of the late eighties is as gone as they are.
If you want to see a huge and telling upset, watch Liston-Clay I. Savvy, reflexes, good power, and movement like the heavyweight division has never seen. Clay is a thing of beauty to watch: enormously elusive, terribly frustrating, and surprisingly hard hitting.
Two words: Max Schmelling, baby. Max Schmelling
(ok, that was five).
The greatest fighter who ever lived.
Grüße aus Deutschland.
tyson was an absolute disgrace to pay-per-view boxing tonight! anyone who shelled out a nickle to watch this clown on t.v. should be fully reimbursed by the cable companies because it was robbery pure and simple.
tyson was an absolute disgrace to pay-per-view boxing tonight! anyone who shelled out a nickle to watch this clown on t.v. should be fully reimbursed by the cable companies because it was robbery pure and simple.
I wont forget his crushing first round 93-sec. KO of Leon Spinks.
That was Michael, Leon's little brother. Leon had long before been disposed of as a boxer.
