Mike Tyson: Lennox, I Promise Your Days Are
Numbered
By Chris Curry
21.11.01 - The mouth watering fight
on all Boxing fans lips and many who do not even follow
the sport is Lennox Lewis verse's Mike Tyson. The
mega fight between the two rival Heavyweights has
been in the making for many years. April this year
all the plans for the fight may have well been binned,
when the lightly regarded challenger Hasim Rahman
changed the course of Heavyweight Boxing, when he
landed a knock out punch to relieve Lennox of the
Heavyweight crown.
Shelley Finkel, "Iron" Mike's
manger was on the phone straight away, wanting to
get Hasim Rahman into the ring. He saw an easy opportunity
he get his number one contender and former Undisputed
Heavyweight Champion, who over a decade before was
reigning "Fear and Terror" on the Heavyweight
division, the World Heavyweight Championship back
for a third time, against a fighter who really had
no hope of tackling the onslaught he would have faced
in Mike Tyson.
With Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson both
taking their case's to court with Lennox wanting to
enforce the rematch clause and Tyson wanting to enforce
his mandatory contender position, Hasim Rahman, although
hard to believe, sat at the top of the Heavyweight
division. Worst of all, he was Champion of the World,
with the biggest names in the sport wanting to get
at him for the title.
When all was heard and settled, it
was Lennox Lewis who was granted the chance to fight
for the Championship and to avenge his worst defeat.
Well it's a toss up really between Rahman and McCall,
I'll go with Rahman. Meanwhile, Mike Tyson was put
on the sidelines were he faced the Danish "Blimp"
Brian Nielsen. Nielsen's only credit was he was able
to last six rounds in a one sided contest. Tyson sent
the "Blimp" flying into the ropes and bombarded
him with heavy shots in a contest that was halted
at the end of the round six.
Everything is set for the mega fight.
Lennox has done what should have been done in April,
Knocked Rahman out, bringing him down to the level
that he should be at. Let Rahman face the like's of
Corrie Sander's and leave the Championship of the
World to the big boy's of Heavyweight Boxing. Now
that the history line in Boxing has been brought back
straight, Lewis verse's Tyson is closer than ever.
Mike is due to meet Ray Mercer in New York on January
19th, the former two time Champion stated he wants
at least another fight. From his Phoenix, Arizona
training camp "Iron" Mike said "I want
to congratulate Lennox Lewis on regaining the Heavyweight
Championship. He said he wants me. Well I am really
looking forward to it. It would be the biggest fight
in Boxing. You better start counting the days Lennox
because I promise your days are numbered."
Shelly Finkel stated that he will
be holding talks with Lewis' American promoter Gary
Shaw and that there is very little standing in the
way of getting it done, he seems to be very confident
in getting it finalised. Rival television networks,
HBO and Showtime look set to come to an agreement,
both networks are saying there is no problem in making
the fight happen sometime in the new year. If the
dream fight can come true, then fight fans are in
for two showdowns between the "Heavyweight Giant"
and the "Heavyweight Pit Bull". Lewis' network
HBO rumoured to show the first mega fight possibly
in April with Tyson's backers Showtime rumoured to
show the return in either September or November.
Fight fans could be in for a real
treat in the most anticipated two fight deal in Boxing
history. Lennox Lewis looked sensational in his knock
out win over Hasim Rahman, but Rahman surely is a
fighter that he should have beaten first time. Will
Lennox's chin withstand Tyson?
Mike Tyson, the controversial fighting
machine, may not be the same fighter of old, but he's
still is a very dangerous fighter and when on form
is unstoppable.
This is a classic match up between
two rivals destined to meet. Lets hope the fans get
the fight they deserve, not once but twice and we
will all find out if Lennox is this "Great fighter"
that he claims or are his days simply numbered.
By Chris Curry, Belfast Northern Ireland.
Mike Tyson tune-up
fight against Ray Mercer set for Jan. 19
NEW YORK, NY (Nov. 20, 2001) - Former
undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and current
World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 1 heavyweight contender
Mike Tyson will square off against former World Boxing
Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion Ray Mercer
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002, live on Showtime Event Television
(SET) Pay Per View at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The suggested retail price for the
SET Pay-Per-View telecast is $39.95. The remainder
of the pay-per-view card and a venue will be announced
in the near future.
Tyson (49-3, 2 NC, 43 KOs), of Catskill,
N.Y. is coming off of an impressive seventh-round
TKO over Brian Nielsen on Oct. 13, 2001, in Copenhagen,
Denmark. Fighting for the first time in 51 weeks,
Tyson floored Nielsen in the third round and showed
excellent poise and stamina in a dominating performance.
Tyson's last appearance in the United States came
against Andrew Golota on Oct. 20, 2000, in Auburn
Hills, Mich. Tyson seemed headed for certain victory
after knocking Golota down in the first round and
having his way for most of the second. Golota abruptly
bolted from the ring before the bell sounded to start
round three. Tyson is the mandatory challenger to
fight Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis.
Tyson was the youngest man in history
to capture the heavyweight championship when, at the
age of 20, he knocked out Trevor Berbick in 1986 to
win his first WBC title. The following year, Tyson
unified the heavyweight division by capturing both
the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International
Boxing Federation (IBF) belts. In 1996, Tyson recaptured
the WBC heavyweight championship with a third-round
knockout over Frank Bruno.
Mercer (29-4-1, 21 KOs), of Jacksonville,
Fla., is coming off of a second-round knockout over
Brian Scott on the Tyson-Nielsen undercard. Mercer,
who has won six straight bouts, captured the WBO heavyweight
title on a ninth-round KO over Francesco Damiani on
Jan. 11, 1991. In his first defense, Mercer destroyed
Tommy Morrison in a fifth-round KO on Oct. 18, 1991.
The granite-chinned Mercer never has been knocked
out. Three of his losses came against former world
heavyweight champions Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield
and Lewis.
Tyson vs. Mercer will be the ninth
telecast of a Tyson fight distributed by SET Pay Per
View, which on June 28, 1997, presented Holyfield
vs. Tyson II, the most watched pay-per-view event
ever. SET's first distributed telecast of a Tyson
fight was on March 18, 1991, when it presented Tyson-Ruddock
I. SET (Showtime Event Television) is the pay per
view production and distribution arm of Viacom Inc.
and is managed by Showtime Networks Inc. SET Pay Per
View is the industry leader in sports and event distribution.
The unit has produced and distributed seven of the
top ten pay per view events of all time, including
the top two: Tyson vs. Holyfield I and Holyfield vs.
Tyson II. SET has also been instrumental in bringing
milestone events to the viewing public such as numerous
music concerts, including The Last KISS, Spice Girls
in Concert - Wild!, The Backstreet Boys, Tina Turner,
the Rolling Stones, Prince's Trust Party in the Park,
Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Music for Montserrat: An
All-Star Charity Concert feturing Paul McCartney,
Elton John and Eric Clapton, and the Moscow Music
Peace Festival.
