Home
News
Three years ago my mom and I traveled to Las Vegas to watch my little brother's AAU basketball team play in the Big Time Adidas Tournament. After landing at the Las Vegas Airport we wandered down to the baggage claim area where I immediately saw a face I recognized.
Standing near one of the claim stations, with an entourage of body guards and friends around him, was Evander Holyfield - at least I was pretty sure it was him.
I told my mom who I thought it was, but she wasn't too much help in confirming that Holyfield was in fact Holyfield. I decided to take a walk past him to see if I could catch a glimpse of his famous ear - the ear that Mike Tyson wrapped his teeth around and bit. Sure enough, I saw the injured ear and knew it was him.
Saturday night I flipped to SportsCenter to see the post-fight interview Tyson gave after losing the match to Kevin McBride.
He told reporters, "I'm not interested in fighting no more. I can't beat Father Time. I don't have the desire to do this stuff anymore. I don't want to take anything away from Kevin. He fought a great fight. But we know his resume. If I can't beat him, I can't beat (former 130-pound champion) Junior Jones."
I'm not surprised Tyson is saying he wants to retire, but the real surprise will be if it actually happens. He owes nearly $20 million to the Internal Revenue System and unless he can find a job that pays $250,000 a day, I have a feeling he'll be back.
But, for the sake of argument, let's pretend that Tyson is indeed going to hang up his gloves and disappear out of the boxing spotlight he has lived in for more than two decades. How and what will Tyson be remembered for?
Earlier in this column I touched upon one of the most-talked about Tyson moments, which occurred during the November 11, 1996 match against Holyfield. In the third round Tyson was disqualified for biting a piece of Holyfield's ear off.
I wouldn't really call myself a huge boxing fan, but I will always remember that moment. I can still see Tyson turning his head and spitting the piece of ear to the side of the ring.
Three years ago Tyson was set to fight Lennox Lewis. At the press conference in New York to announce the fight, the scene turned into a brawl between the two camps. The anticipation built in the months after the press conference and I remember a group of my friends and I got together and ordered that fight - excited to see if the match could out do the press conference drama.
It didn't. Tyson was knocked out in eight rounds and afterward had nothing but complimentary words for Lewis - so much so that those of us in attendance wondered if the fight had been fixed or if Tyson took a dive.
I can't reflect on Tyson memories without thinking about how he was sentenced to six years in prison in March of 1992 for the sexual assault of Desiree Washington. I remember thinking about what a monster he was at the time. Tyson ended up serving three years of his sentence.
Eleven years later Tyson did a TV interview in which he said he was innocent of the sexual assault and said that he wished he had raped her.
Wow, what a classy guy.
Oh, speaking of classy, don't forget the time after his fight against Lou Savarese he told reporters that he wanted Lennox Lewis' heart and then went on to say, "I want to eat your children."
So what do a majority of these Tyson memories have in common? Many of them occurred outside the boxing ring.
In 1986, at the age of 20, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history with a second-round TKO of Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas. However, in the next 19 years how much of the Tyson news in the media was about how well he was fighting or how talented he was?
The answer is, very rarely did the publicity and buzz surrounding the fighter ever center on the actual fighting he was doing in the ring. Much of the excitement and headlines were generated by Tyson's crazy comments or actions.
In the years to come I guess I won't remember him as much for being an athlete or an amazing boxer, but rather for being one heck of an entertainer. With Mike Tyson we have always been able to witness one heck of a show or at least get a gem of a sound bite.
It may be a long time again before another boxer commands the kind of attention Tyson has throughout his career. And you know what - maybe that's not such a bad thing.
<I>To contact sportswriter Stacy Hicklin, e-mail stacyh@theunion.com or call 477-4244.</I>
Standing near one of the claim stations, with an entourage of body guards and friends around him, was Evander Holyfield - at least I was pretty sure it was him.
I told my mom who I thought it was, but she wasn't too much help in confirming that Holyfield was in fact Holyfield. I decided to take a walk past him to see if I could catch a glimpse of his famous ear - the ear that Mike Tyson wrapped his teeth around and bit. Sure enough, I saw the injured ear and knew it was him.
Saturday night I flipped to SportsCenter to see the post-fight interview Tyson gave after losing the match to Kevin McBride.
He told reporters, "I'm not interested in fighting no more. I can't beat Father Time. I don't have the desire to do this stuff anymore. I don't want to take anything away from Kevin. He fought a great fight. But we know his resume. If I can't beat him, I can't beat (former 130-pound champion) Junior Jones."
I'm not surprised Tyson is saying he wants to retire, but the real surprise will be if it actually happens. He owes nearly $20 million to the Internal Revenue System and unless he can find a job that pays $250,000 a day, I have a feeling he'll be back.
But, for the sake of argument, let's pretend that Tyson is indeed going to hang up his gloves and disappear out of the boxing spotlight he has lived in for more than two decades. How and what will Tyson be remembered for?
Earlier in this column I touched upon one of the most-talked about Tyson moments, which occurred during the November 11, 1996 match against Holyfield. In the third round Tyson was disqualified for biting a piece of Holyfield's ear off.
I wouldn't really call myself a huge boxing fan, but I will always remember that moment. I can still see Tyson turning his head and spitting the piece of ear to the side of the ring.
Three years ago Tyson was set to fight Lennox Lewis. At the press conference in New York to announce the fight, the scene turned into a brawl between the two camps. The anticipation built in the months after the press conference and I remember a group of my friends and I got together and ordered that fight - excited to see if the match could out do the press conference drama.
It didn't. Tyson was knocked out in eight rounds and afterward had nothing but complimentary words for Lewis - so much so that those of us in attendance wondered if the fight had been fixed or if Tyson took a dive.
I can't reflect on Tyson memories without thinking about how he was sentenced to six years in prison in March of 1992 for the sexual assault of Desiree Washington. I remember thinking about what a monster he was at the time. Tyson ended up serving three years of his sentence.
Eleven years later Tyson did a TV interview in which he said he was innocent of the sexual assault and said that he wished he had raped her.
Wow, what a classy guy.
Oh, speaking of classy, don't forget the time after his fight against Lou Savarese he told reporters that he wanted Lennox Lewis' heart and then went on to say, "I want to eat your children."
So what do a majority of these Tyson memories have in common? Many of them occurred outside the boxing ring.
In 1986, at the age of 20, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history with a second-round TKO of Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas. However, in the next 19 years how much of the Tyson news in the media was about how well he was fighting or how talented he was?
The answer is, very rarely did the publicity and buzz surrounding the fighter ever center on the actual fighting he was doing in the ring. Much of the excitement and headlines were generated by Tyson's crazy comments or actions.
In the years to come I guess I won't remember him as much for being an athlete or an amazing boxer, but rather for being one heck of an entertainer. With Mike Tyson we have always been able to witness one heck of a show or at least get a gem of a sound bite.
It may be a long time again before another boxer commands the kind of attention Tyson has throughout his career. And you know what - maybe that's not such a bad thing.
<I>To contact sportswriter Stacy Hicklin, e-mail stacyh@theunion.com or call 477-4244.</I>
