Tyson Set
To Show Nielsen The Dark Side Of Life
By Chris Curry
13.10.01 - When Mike Tyson is mentioned
there are three things that can be said about
him, you either like him, loath him or hate him,
but one thing is for sure, whenever "Iron"
Mike Tyson pulls on his black boots and shorts and
laces his gloves to go to work, the Boxing World
will watch him.
Saturday night the former Undisputed,
two time Heavyweight Champion of the World and the
most feared Heavyweight World Champion of his era
will go to work. Parken Stadium, Copenhagen Denmark
will be graced by the badest man on the planet,
Tyson may not be the Heavyweight Champion, but he
is still a fearsome fighter, although controversial
over the last few years, Mike Tysonis set on regaining
the Heavyweight Crown and when on form, who is going
to stop him? His opponent, Denmark's "Super"
Brian Nielsen is merely a showcase for Tyson's skills
and his phenomenal killer instinct and "if"
Mike fights a clean fight and is free from controversy,
Brian Nielsen will need to be "Super"
to survive the raging brutality Iron Mike possess.
Mike claims he's in perfect shape
for Saturdays showdown, despite a career high of
a staggering 239 lbs, his previous heaviest fighting
weight being 223 lbs, Tyson said of his conditioning
" I feel young and vibrant. I feelenergized
and in better shape. Conditioning is the key. It
is not as easy as it used to be when I could walk
around the block and lose 20 pounds. I am inbetter
shape now than I was for the Golota fight. I won
my last few fights on brute strength and intimidation.
When I was out of condition, I would get very discouraged
and sometimes could not walk around the block without
huffing and puffing. When you are not in condition,
you want to throw it out the window." This
is backed by Tyson's new strength and conditioningtrainer,
Gunnar Peterson who joined the Tyson team four months
ago. Peterson made his name training NBA basketball
stars and said "You know Mike is a legend.
It's very exciting. Mike came to my gym in Los Angeles.
He worked out with me for a little bit, then he
asked me to join his team". I said to him,"Do
you want to get the belts back or are you just fooling?
"And he said,"No, I want to get the belts
back".
"I've had Mike now for four
months, three times a day, I was with him in Big
Bear, I was with him in Phoenix, in Vegas and I've
been with him here (Copenhagen). I've been home
for a total of 47 hours in that time. In that time
with Mike I've seen drive, I've seen dedication
and I've seen passion. The passion is what is beautiful."
Tyson with his trainer Tommy Brooks
and his conditioner Gunnar Peterson, have been training
hard on his endurance. Boxing being a tremendously
gruelling sport, Mike has been going through the
pain barrier three times a week and doesn't want
to do anything that doesn't benefit what he can
produce in the ring on the night.
Iron Mike is on the verge of a World
Title shot, being the WBC's number one ranked Heavyweight
contender, Shelly Finkel, Tyson's advisor, said
he has awritten agreement from the WBC stating that
Tyson will be next in line for ashot at the Heavyweight
Crown. Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis meet on November
17th for the Heavyweight Championship, the winner
will enter a multi million dollar showdown and the
fight of their life with "Iron" Mike Tyson,
but like Shelly Finkel said "Those fights are
immaterial at the moment. I read an interesting
quote recently. It said, "If you want to win
everything that you do, you have to start with the
first win, but there won't be a fight if he doesn't
win that fight with Nielsen. We'll talk about Lewis
and Rahman after Saturday night".
The Only man who stands in the way
of Mike Tyson getting a shot at becoming Heavyweight
Champion for the Third time is Brian Nielsen, with
a record of 62-1- 43 KOs, weighing 259.75 lbs of
an unspectacular torso that fails to look the part,
Nielsen to his credit has fast hands, good stamina
for his size and hits well with both hands, but
lacks an explosive punch. Nielsen's record consists
of wins over an aged and finished Larry Holmes by
split decision in 1997, and another faded former
Champion Tim Witherspoon in 1999 by fourth round
KO, he has wins over Tony Tubbs, Orlin Norris and
James "Bone Crusher" Smith, most of his
other wins are over low key heavyweights but he
keeps winning.
When "Super" Brian Nielsen
enters the ring to Monty Python's "Always Look
On The Bright Side Of Life" he will find out
Mike Tyson is set to show him the dark side of life,
Once Tyson's presents awakes him, he will realise
he'snot in with Tim Witherspoon, but a fighter cut
from the cloth of the Greats and the most destructive
and fearsome Heavyweight Champion of them all.
By Chris Curry, Belfast, Northern
Ireland.
NIELSEN LANDS A LOW BLOW ON TYSON
13.10 - Former Heavyweight Champion
Reacts After Danish Boxer's Demeaning Comment
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (Oct. 11, 2001)
- Members of Mike Tyson's camp reacted angrily at
Thursday's weigh-in here after learning that Brian
Nielsen had called the former undisputed heavyweight
champion a "monkey-man" during a press
conference earlier this week to formally announce
their 10-round fight Saturday on SHOWTIME.
The meaning of Nielsen's comment
was confirmed by Team Tyson after reviewing the
audio tape of Sunday's press conference with four
Danish translators.
"It is pathetic to see such
ignorance in this day and age," said Tyson,
who was informed of the comment shortly before weighing
in. "This will make me punish him even more
than I had planned."
Nielsen, who uttered the slur in
Danish, could not be reached for comment late Thursday,
but a Nielsen spokesman said the remark, if true,
was not aimed at Tyson.
"If the alleged statement is
accurate, and I am in no way acknowledging that
it is, I do not believe it was directed at Mr. Tyson,"
Robert Mittleman said. "Mike has been a complete
gentleman at all times and in all dealings with
both Brian Nielsen and the fight promotion. If anything,
Brian may have been reacting to the incessant insults
aimed at him by members of Tyson's camp before and
during the press conference.''
