January 22, 2002

11:09 AM

Lewis-Tyson Conference Disrupted by Mass BrawlDetermined to turn this conference into a World Wrestling Federation spectacle, Tyson took a swing at Lewis and one of his handlers, pointed to his crotch while yelling at Lewis and screamed profanities at some of the boxing writers in attendance. Yes, Tyson BIT Lenox Lewis in the foot! Bert Sugar says Tyson was trying to get out of the fight since he is in the process of applying for a Nevada license which he had lost for biting Evander Hollyfield.
posted by Mack Twain (24 comments total)

Now THAT boy needs meds......
posted by bunnyfire at 11:31 AM on January 22, 2002

Mack Twain - your post is not only succint but way better written than the news item it links to. In fact I'd say it was a linkless post in the nicest possible way. Is this a first? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:38 AM on January 22, 2002

It's sad -- from guys like Ali, Joe Fraser, Sugar Ray Leonard to this. Boxing today is lower than pro wrestling, lower than demolition derby driving. I know there's folks who say that any "sport" devoted to hurting each other should be put to sleep permanently but somehow they manage to have karate tourneys and other martial arts competitions without getting this sleazy.

Give me a magic wand and I'll fix boxing -- by eliminating 1) money prizes, 2) the mob, 3) Las Vegas and 4) Don King.
posted by jfuller at 11:45 AM on January 22, 2002

Gee whiz, a brawl at a boxing news conference? That just reeks of sincerity, just screams "unplanned". As for the fight itself, let 'em go at it. It's heavyweight boxin' fer pete's sake- you have to be a little crazy to even get in the ring to begin with.
posted by hincandenza at 11:48 AM on January 22, 2002

To me the real tragedy is what Tyson could have been. He had the skills, the hands, the feet, and the temperment to be the greatest heavyweight of his time.

Now he's a sad joke.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:50 AM on January 22, 2002

Well, either he's disgraced himself again (in which case they'll give him his license back in a year and a half because they know how much money he's worth), or it's all a stunt, in which case he'll have his license back a little sooner. Oh well.
posted by tweebiscuit at 12:01 PM on January 22, 2002

Shouldn't Iron Mike be in the casino-greeter phase of his career by now?
posted by Ty Webb at 12:05 PM on January 22, 2002

In all seriousness-I think he is mentally ill and his handlers are screwing with his meds royally.

I actually feel sorry for him.

I hope I never run into Don King on the street.
posted by bunnyfire at 12:08 PM on January 22, 2002

WWF is more real than boxing.
posted by owillis at 12:10 PM on January 22, 2002

I have never understood the appeal of boxing. I usually try to avoid getting the crap pummelled out of me (or pummeling others) when possible.

The article on ESPN was pretty poor too. What is up with the photo? If you are going to have an article about a fight, then at least show a picture of the fight.

I will agree that this was an excellent post though. Very well written.
posted by DragonBoy at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2002

my word, i would have expected more from two professional bashers.

next thing i'll read that the politicians are trying to blow hot air my way.
posted by tsarfan at 12:21 PM on January 22, 2002

The man has to be mentally ill, and it's no doubt somebody is manipulating him.

I wouldn't care if I was bigger and stronger, I'd have be have to be equally insane to get in the ring with him. Who would still want to fight Mike Tyson after all that's happened in his recent history? I'd be nervous being in the same room.
posted by tomorama at 12:27 PM on January 22, 2002

i have the feeling that mike tyson's sportscentury episode is (or will be) excellent.
posted by moz at 12:45 PM on January 22, 2002

Tyson has become far too unstable to be allowed to fight humans anymore. It looks like Mike's boxing career is close to over, and Battlebots is hurting in the ratings... hmm.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:47 PM on January 22, 2002

This has to be a publicity stunt. And why do some articles say that Mike took a bite, while others don't mention it at all? Perhaps I'm too cynical. But if it was a publicity stunt, it was a good one. It got my attention. Not that I'll watch the fight.
posted by emptyage at 1:05 PM on January 22, 2002

This link (same as emptyage's) has video of the fight.

Is it just me, or did he yell "I'll fuck you until you love me, faggot"?
posted by jragon at 1:45 PM on January 22, 2002

I don't think all boxing is bad. There's a lot of trouble in the heavyweight ranks, to be sure. But look at some of the classier fighters in the lower weight classes: Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, Chavez.
posted by Kevs at 3:16 PM on January 22, 2002

"You can't last two minutes in my world, bitch!"

Did he mean in his world, or on his planet?
posted by Chairman_MaoXian at 5:30 PM on January 22, 2002

Two words, boys & girls: Oral fixation.

I believe that about covers it ;)

I agree with Kevs, by the way. The lower weight classes are more exciting to watch, too.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 7:52 PM on January 22, 2002

Will this guy end up under a bridge? Or will he get life eventually? Very sick. Yet I will still split $100 PPV in two months. The pot calling the kettle black?
posted by kremb at 8:54 PM on January 22, 2002

That is some scary, scary footage. (jragon's link) I'm gonna go with the majority here and suggest that he's in serious need of tranquilizers or some form of medication that reders him a little less dangerous to the world at large. That is obviously a crazy man.
posted by dejah420 at 9:42 PM on January 22, 2002

I don't know if anyone's reading this thread anymore, but, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to tell you a Mike Tyson story, take it or leave it, for whatever you think it's worth. First, however, recall that at yesterday's press conference/brawl, Tyson reportedly shouted at a reporter "You're afraid of a real man!" Observe, here is a man who was heavyweight champion of the world, yet he still has to pound his chest and remind people that he is a "real man."
I would think that once you were heavyweight champion you didn't have anything more to prove. But it's not so strange when you contemplate...
During the 1980s, I worked for a TV network with a large sports department. Mike Tyson was then a rookie boxer who was getting a lot of word of mouth. His trainer, Cus D'Amato, had sent our network a copy of Tyson's now-famous "knockout reel" showing his string of kayos in quick succession. The network was excited, and proposed signing Tyson to a two-year contract, whereby he would fight exclusively on our channel. But before the network signed, it wanted to make sure that the boy was for real. So our vice-president of Sports Programming and a small entourage traveled to Tyson's upstate training camp, to spend a week there meeting Tyson's people and watching him spar and work out. Among those in the entourage was the network's sports PR guy. At the end of the week, everybody returned, and I happened to run into the PR guy at the copy machine. "How did it go?" I asked. "Is this guy as good as they say he is?"
"Good?" says the PR guy. "He's incredible. The most incredible boxer you've ever seen."
"Do you think he'll be champ?"
"Absolutely. The world's first gay heavyweight champion."
"Are you kidding me? He's gay?"
The PR guy nodded.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "How could you tell?"
"There's nothing to tell. It's all so obvious. They're all very open about it at his training camp. Nobody makes a big deal about it."
"That's big news," I said. "How are you going to handle it."
"That's up to... [he mentioned the name of our vice president of sports programming]." Then the PR guy shrugged and walked away.
After hearing this astonishing news, I made further inquiries among those who'd spoken to people who'd made the trip to Tyson's training camp, and they all came back with the same story. A few months passed, the network signed the contract, and I waited for the big "outing." But it never happened. When the contract was announced, Tyson suddenly had a "girlfriend." We all knew her. She was a secretary at the network.
I asked the PR guy about it. "Hey," I said. "I thought Tyson was gay?"
"We don't talk about that any more," he said, turning and walking away.
After that, there were other girlfriends, the marriage, the fights, the rapes, etc.
Over the years, I met a few other people who'd met or interviewed Tyson in those very early years, and they also thought he was gay. They also thought he was an extraordinarily complex mix of violence and sensitivity who, one-way-or-the-other, was destined to make his way outside the common herd.
I'm sure there are ten thousand other people who know Tyson very well and could clarify or debunk this story. This is just one little tiny corner of the saga that I happened to cross onto, and I'm always reminded of it whenever Tyson is involved in some kind of outlandish brouhaha like yesterday's press conference. Why should this man be so confused, so unhappy? Does anybody know more...?
posted by Faze at 6:50 AM on January 23, 2002

I have never understood the appeal of boxing

two half clothed, sweaty men, often grappling with each other. the only thing better (sportswise) is freestyle wrestling.
posted by tolkhan at 10:17 AM on January 23, 2002

the more i see the footage, the more i believe it was staged. and pretty convincingly, i might add, in that it was the most widely covered boxing press conference in a long long time.

mike is always the entertainer.
posted by tsarfan at 3:50 PM on January 23, 2002