Tyson-Holyfield rematch, let the fighting begin

Tyson-Holyfield rematch, let the fighting begin

By Steve James

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuter): Now, says Mike Tyson, is the time for the talking to end and the fighting to begin.

After all the hyperbole and the public posturing, the mind games and the protests, Tyson's challenge Saturday (Sunday Western Indonesian Time) for Evander Holyfield's World Boxing Association heavyweight title bout comes down to two men battling in the ring in front of as many as three billion television viewers worldwide.

The eagerly anticipated rematch features an angry Tyson out to prove that prison did not soften "Iron Mike" and that last November's loss -- in which he was knocked down for only the second time in his career -- was a momentary aberration.

For Holyfield, who along with Muhammad Ali is the only three- time world heavyweight champion, the fight will determine how history rates a fighter who was an underdog last Nov. 9 and still attracts little respect from the oddsmakers.

Tyson, a stocky 5-feet, 11-1/2 inches (1.82 meters), is the 2- 1 favorite in Las Vegas for a fight dubbed "The Sound and the Fury" that will pay each man around US$30 million.

Both men weighed in Thursday at 218 pounds (99 kg) and both express confidence they are in the best shape to win.

But there the similarity ends. While Holyfield exudes an inner calm, Tyson appears to be seething inside.

Tyson, who turns 31 on Monday, closed his training camp to the press and has limited his public comments to monosyllabic predictions.

"People on his side are talking, people on my side are talking. They're not fighting," Tyson told reporters this week. "I'm going to fight and he's not going to have the championship come Saturday."

Tyson, who has lost only two of 47 fights, appeared angry this week, blaming the media for painting him as a boxer whose time in jail for a rape conviction softened his once intimidating style and the killer punching that made him the youngest world heavyweight champion at the age of 20.

A convert to Islam, Tyson has publicly identified himself with one of boxing's least popular champions, Sonny Liston.

"He was a great fighter and I think an interesting person," Tyson said when asked about Liston. "He maybe got a raw deal, but we write our own book in life."

And yet, when asked whether he had reached the same inner serenity as Holyfield, Tyson snapped at the reporter.

"I'm not going to answer your question. I'm all right. I'm OK!" said the man who earlier denied he was emotional.

Despite railing against the press and claiming to be a victim, Tyson got a break Friday when the referee who stopped the last fight in the 11th round -- to prevent him receiving more punishment -- withdrew from the rematch.

The challenger's camp had objected to Mitch Halpern refereeing back-to-back Tyson fights. Although the Nevada State Athletic Commission voted not to switch referees, Halpern decided to step aside anyway, clearing the way for Mills Lane. Holyfield says he does not care who referees.

In contrast to Tyson's simmering fury, Holyfield, 34, has been all goodness and light, constantly attributing his mental strength to the power of his Christian convictions.

Confident

Asked why he was so confident, the 6-feet, 2-1/2-inch (1.89 meters) fighter replied that there were many reasons "but when you look at the whole thing, I think 'Why wouldn't I win?'"

The biggest question surrounding him has been whether he will retire from boxing if he wins. His doctor wife has expressed her concern about her husband's occupational hazard of frequently getting punched in the head.

Holyfield (33-3) refuses to say whether he would step down from the ring, especially since a Tyson win on Saturday would almost certainly prompt promoter Don King to set up a third and even more lucrative fight.

King himself has compared the fight to Ali's classic battles with Joe Frazier and George Foreman, but Ali's legendary manager- trainer Angelo Dundee sees more of a parallel with the 1964 battle that Ali -- then Cassius Clay -- fought with Liston.

Seeing Tyson in the role of Liston, Dundee said Friday: "His cloak of invincibility is gone -- just like Muhammad Ali did to Sonny Liston.

"When you take the bully out of the guy, you're the boss."

With celebrities, rap music industry figures and fight fans flocking to America's gambling mecca, Las Vegas police -- who expect an unusual influx of 100,000 people, in part due to an "Ozzfest" heavy metal concert -- are keeping a close eye out for possible trouble.

They want no repeat of the aftermath to the Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight in September 1996 when rap star Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded in a drive-by shooting still unsolved but believed to have been part of a war between East and West Coast rappers.

"We'll be working the vice angle, the organized crime angle, the gang angle, along with traditional pickpockets, drunks and minor fights, and there is also the concern about the East Coast- West Coast rapper situation," police Captain Ray Flynn told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.