Has Mike Tyson met his Waterloo?<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The recent Tyson-Holyfield bout was expected to
\nbe full of nail-biting suspense. Instead, it collapsed in ear
\nbiting, a piercing scream and bedlam. Its outcome was a life-term
\nboxing ban on Tyson.<\/p>\n
The haunting jingle of "Tyson finished" rings around the
\nworld. Pak Karim, goaded by Ahmad, who is rabidly anti-Tyson,
\nhosted a party to celebrate Tyson's downfall.<\/p>\n
Karim invited Pak Sulaiman, a fanatical admirer of Tyson, on
\npurpose. "A Tyson proxy in our midst will help to generate fun
\nand ridicule without any let-up," he said to all and sundry.<\/p>\n
Nobody really expected Sulaiman to show up. The consensus was
\nthat Tyson's lobby was also decimated, literally as dead as dodo.
\nNeedless to say, Karim was really surprised when Sulaiman showed
\nup. He didn't wait to make his first dig -- "With Tyson in the
\ndoghouse, I thought your tribe would avoid parties."<\/p>\n
Sulaiman ignored the remark. His eyes were searching for
\nAhmad, his bete noire. "Ahmad will be arriving any moment," Karim
\nvolunteered gleefully.<\/p>\n
Boxing is a duel of fists, not heads, right? Remember, Tyson's
\nact of bitting was sanctified by an illustration showing the
\nprecedent of bombing. Yet for his selfless and audacious
\npioneering act he gets banned.<\/p>\n
"Tyson is a criminal. Jack the Ripper, he is. He should be
\nlocked up, not banned from boxing."<\/p>\n
"Oh! really!" said Sulaiman sarcastically. "I say, Tyson is
\nnot Jack the Ripper of Briton. He is Napoleon of France." This
\nlanded as thunderbolt. Ahmad was furious. He could only drum up,
\n"It is grotesque to equate Tyson with Napoleon."<\/p>\n
"Why not?" came the rejoinder." Now, listen to a litany of
\nsimilarities between them." "Everyone thought that a curse on
\nFrance brought Napoleon, the Corsican ogre, into France.<\/p>\n
Similarly, everyone thinks that it is the curse of boxing that
\nhas brought Tyson, the Catskill ogre; into boxing. Napoleon was
\ndethroned and sent to Elba. He got out, staged a comeback, and a
\nfearful Europe united against him.<\/p>\n
Tyson was sent to prison, got out, staged a comeback and a
\nfearful heavy weight division has united against him. Napoleon
\nsighed "Able was I ere I saw Elba"; Tyson has reasons to sigh!
\n'Able was I ere. Desiree Washington sent me to prison."<\/p>\n
"Are you finished?" This was Ahmad. "This very comparison
\ndooms Tyson. Napoleon met his Waterloo and Tyson his, with the
\nboxing ban." There was a buzz as if Ahmad had made a killing
\npoint.<\/p>\n
No doubt it is hard to refute that Tyson has met his Waterloo.
\nBut Tyson's following is fanatical and Tyson is Sulaiman's hero.
\nHe would not give up. "A boxing ban is no Waterloo for Tyson" he
\nsaid with conviction. Now the gathering was mystified.<\/p>\n
Even Pak Arman, who came to steal the limelight, asked
\nreverentially, "How, Pak Sulaiman?" "That is what the crystal-
\ngazer says: Tyson is no gone-to-seed, paunchy Napoleon, he is
\ntrim and raunchy.<\/p>\n
Second, it was not Waterloo, but the island prison, Saint
\nHelena, which finished Napoleon. Nobody sees a Helena for Tyson.
\nOn the contrary, he is the hailed head of a multi million dollar
\njuggernaut.<\/p>\n
This immense dollar power will bring him back into the fold of
\nboxing; ban head butts; induct him into the Boxing Hall of Fame;
\nand pamper him all the way.<\/p>\n
Feeling utterly out of his depth, Ahmad freaked out. "What's
\ngoing on?" Sulaiman knew that he had turned the tables. It was
\nnow his turn to admonish. "Stop flying against facts of life.
\nAhmad, and don't be a bore. Accept gracefully that Tyson will
\ncapture his crown back and get rated higher than Napoleon."<\/p>\n
When the joust ended, even Karim, the Tyson-inimical host, was
\nsoft on Tyson. His vote of thanks was a gem. Indeed it was a
\ngenerous toast. To triple-star Tyson, the Champion, the Reformer,
\nthe Saint, who stooped to cleanse boxing.<\/p>\n
-- G.S. Edwin<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/has-mike-tyson-met-his-waterloo-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }