12/21/24
June 12, 2005
More Than He Could Chew: Declaring that he doesn't want to "embarrass the sport," Mike Tyson retired after his seventh-round TKO against Irish boxer Kevin McBride. Tyson's parting gift: $5 million dollars, all but $250,000 going to bankruptcy creditors.
Man, the attempted headbutt was such a climactic end to a career.
posted by dfleming at 10:51 AM on June 12, 2005
I'm not remotely concerned about the guy. He's a drama queen.
posted by rcade at 11:37 AM on June 12, 2005
I doubt we've seen the last of Mike..His ego and wallet won't allow it.. He'LL probley have his own reality show next.
posted by maclmn at 12:14 PM on June 12, 2005
I don't care one way or the other about Mike Tyson, but the fact always remains. For a period of years in the late 80s - early 90s, he WAS the baddest man on the planet. Michael Spinks was scared to go into the ring against him. I don't know if there will ever be a fighter that exciting again. If there is, it won't be Mike again.
posted by patrickje at 12:17 PM on June 12, 2005
Did anyone actually watch the fight? How as Tyson doing at the time?
posted by jmd82 at 01:30 PM on June 12, 2005
TSN ran a show (from ESPN? HBO?) that highlighted all the early fights in Tyson's career (he had 28 fights in the first 2 years of his career). It was stunning to see how absolutely dominating he was, right up until Buster Douglas shocked the world. He was so terrifyingly ferocious in the ring, the other boxers would often resort to grabbing/holding on for dear life...from the first round on. I can't think of any other boxers that had their opponents beaten before they even got into the ring. Another thing was how gracious he could be at times. After knocking out the great Larry Holmes, he said "Larry Holmes is a legend of boxing and in his prime I wouldn't have stood a chance against him." While I obviously won't forget all the terrible things he's done, I hope people don't forget how he was THE KING of the boxing world for 5 years.
posted by grum@work at 01:35 PM on June 12, 2005
He was fun to watch in his prime. He was affected and is still affected today by the passing of Cus. Mike had no real Dad and then his adopted Dad died. No one prepares for fame and wealth unless you are born into it. No wonder he went broke. He is a pitiful figure, most likely lonely, most definately suffering from some form of mental illness. I did think his response after the fight was adequate. He admitted the his fight life is over. His story is ultimately the story shared by a large number of other famous fighters. Talent, fame, wealth, decline then fade away broke and broken!
posted by mikemora at 02:46 PM on June 12, 2005
I have always found him a curious personality. He's a brutal street thug that, when left to his worst instincts, would beat up anyone on the street after almost no provocation whatsoever. Yet when I have watched his beatings of late, particularly when Lewis brutalized him a couple years ago, and his painful post bout interviews, I feel tremendous empathy for him. He could well be a decent person deep down, and perhaps his viciousness is the result of some form of mental illness, but the most heartbreaking thing about him is that the guy has been exploited by everyone around him for all of his adult life (except for those years that Cus protected him), and he never had enough wits about him to get out of that terrible situation. A truly pathetic character indeed. At times, during the post fight interviews, he seems almost helpless. Of course, his pre fight interviews ("I'm going to eat your children", "I'm going to gut you like a fish") are a different story altogether.
posted by psmealey at 08:38 PM on June 12, 2005
"I'm going to eat your children." "I'm going to gut him like a fish." "I just want to conquer people and their souls." Mike Tyson's said many things in his celebrated life. He saved his best for Saturday night. "I quit."
posted by PhoenixRenaissance at 09:54 PM on June 12, 2005
I hope people don't forget how he was THE KING of the boxing world for 5 years. I hope people don't forget how Tyson RAN and HID and PAID MILLIONS of dollars to avoid facing Lennox Lewis for those five years. Tyson was exciting, he was entertaining, but he was certainly no King (not even a Don King). More like a Clown Prince. Such is boxing, that their sport has to be hyped as if it is professional wrestling. And Mike Tyson is the most over-hyped of the lot.
posted by the red terror at 06:30 AM on June 13, 2005
Read Jim Lampley's latest piece: The hypocrisy of sports editors.
posted by the red terror at 06:31 AM on June 13, 2005
Man, Lampley hits hard.
posted by rcade at 07:19 AM on June 13, 2005
Well, that Cotto fight was a good 'un.
posted by yerfatma at 07:45 AM on June 13, 2005
Re: arcade, Lamps. It's funny... TV media journos are always besmirched as flyweight logrollers (hello Ahmad Rashad), whereas the print media is serious and asks the hard questions (Will McDonough, etc.). So it's a very nice surprise indeed to see Lampley -- a veteran TV guy -- come out from behind the makeup and take up the writing, because as you say his stuff hits hard, he doesn't take prisoners, and truthfully he puts most of the print sports columnists to shame.
posted by the red terror at 08:25 AM on June 13, 2005
So glad that Lampley has managed to settle into a sport he loves and to which he can can speak truth. I will do my best to remember the late-80's Tyson, the fearsome force in the ring, and not the sad clown he became, racked with undiagnosed depression and dangerously unchecked id.
posted by chicobangs at 09:29 AM on June 13, 2005
I hope people don't forget how Tyson RAN and HID and PAID MILLIONS of dollars to avoid facing Lennox Lewis for those five years. Um, I think we might not be talking about the same time period. I was talking about Mike Tyson from 1985-1990. Lennox Lewis hadn't even won the European title by the time Tyson had lost to Douglas (which is when I think Tyson's "reign" as king of boxing ended), so I don't think Lewis was ranked high enough to be considered "dodged". Also, it should be pointed out that Lennox Lewis couldn't have been too angry at the Tyson/King camp. He did, in fact, take a $4 million dollar payment from them to step aside and let Tyson fight Bruce Seldon for the WBA title in 1996.
posted by grum@work at 09:45 AM on June 13, 2005
the print media is serious and asks the hard questions (Will McDonough, etc.) Maybe back in the day, but when's the last time Wil McDonough asked a tough question?
posted by yerfatma at 09:59 AM on June 13, 2005
Also, it should be pointed out that Lennox Lewis couldn't have been too angry at the Tyson/King camp. He did, in fact, take a $4 million dollar payment from them to step aside and let Tyson fight Bruce Seldon for the WBA title in 1996. And when he didn't step aside, a champion threw his belt in the trash rather than face him.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:26 PM on June 13, 2005
And when he didn't step aside, a champion threw his belt in the trash rather than face him. That was Bowe, right (1992)? I can understand why Bowe didn't want to fight Lewis: he'd already lost to him before in the gold medal bout at the 1988 Olympics. Or are you talking about when Tyson returned the favour to Lewis by relinquishing the WBC belt so Lewis and McCall could have a bout for the title (1997)? Or when Lewis gave up the IBF and WBA titles when he didn't want to fight John Ruiz (2000)? Or when Lewis didn't want to have a rematch with Klitschko (one that boxing officials wanted because Lewis won by TKO (when a cut wouldn't stop bleeding on Klitschko's face) despite trailing on all three cards after six rounds) and elected to retire instead (2004)? Champions "dodging" other fighters is as old as the sport itself.
posted by grum@work at 10:27 PM on June 13, 2005
And the winner of the Grum vs. Bismarck by TKO is the NEW and undisputed heavyweight typer of the world!!! GRUM!!! *hands over belt*
posted by YelirNoj at 12:27 AM on June 14, 2005
We were punching the same guy, Yel. My point was that sometimes you dodged, sometimes you were dodged - there was a lot of it going on back then, more than just Tyson buying Lewis some new lawn furniture to fight someone else. And, aye, Grum, I was talking about Bowe - although I think his manager was rather more to blame. Rock Newman, I think? I've heard tell of a Bowe comeback of sorts, but it's not getting any air over here, outside of a sham fight last year.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:39 AM on June 14, 2005
I just heard an interview with Burt Sugar, who in in new book on the 100 best fighters of all time (all classes). He says that Mike Tyson is listed as number 100. He gave a little more of a tease saying that he Lists Ali number 10 and Sugar Ray Leonard as number one. Its sad that all Mike Tyson is at this point is a sound bite. He is a joke with a built in punch line.
posted by daddisamm at 07:19 AM on June 14, 2005
And the winner of the Grum vs. Bismarck by TKO is the NEW and undisputed heavyweight typer of the world!!! GRUM!!! *hands over belt* But I don't want a rematch, so I'm throwing the belt into the garbage. Whoever wants it, can have it. *toss* We were punching the same guy, Yel. That doesn't seem very sporting. But, yah, I wasn't arguing against you in this case.
posted by grum@work at 09:30 AM on June 14, 2005
Watching the post-fight interviews was very painful. It almost sounded like Tyson was writing a public suicide note. This sounded like a guy who had done everything he wanted in the world, has nothing else to work (or live) for and just wanted to check out. He talked of doing missionary work outside America...am I the only one concerned by this? Thanks to Mike Tyson for being the most fearsome fighter the world has ever seen. You deserve peace now, Mike, and I hope you can find some inside.