A Myth Crumbles While The Truth Rumbles

Hype Vs. Reality

By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

10.06 - Saturday night at “The Pyramid” in Memphis Tennessee, the heavily hyped and long awaited showdown between Iron Mike Tyson (49-3-0/2NC-43 KO’s) and Lennox Lewis (39-2-1-30 KO’s) finally happened.

The Pay-Per-View event was a cooperative venture of Showtime and HBO. It was a funny mix of personnel with HBO’s Jim Lampley paired up with Showtime’s Bobby Czyz as the ringside announcers. It was comical to see Lampley apparently holding back bursts of laughter at the things Czyz would say. Czyz goes out of his way to make sure everyone knows that he’s a former fighter. He also has a tendency to drool over Mike Tyson. Listening to Czyz talk about Tyson, you’d think they were getting married after the fight. Showtime’s Jimmy Lennon Jr. and HBO’s Michael Buffer introduced the different fights on the under-card separately. For the main event, they both introduced their respective network’s fighter. Buffer introducing Lewis and Lennon introducing Tyson. For $54- plus tax, the two networks tried their best to give a good show. Whether or not they were successful, is left for you to decide.

Samuel L. Jackson appeared with HBO’s Jim Brown for a pre-fight analysis. Jackson was colorful and articulate to listen to as he broke down his reasons for why this fight was such an exciting event. For a man who makes his living as an actor and not a commentator, he put the entire combined announce team to shame with his ability to be informative and entertaining. Jackson’s succinct words were a fine example of what good Boxing commentators should sound like. Later, a very energetic Cuba Gooding Jr. was on with Brown and although his sobriety was questionable, his predictions for the fight were right on target. He practically prophesized the script as it would later play itself out in the ring moments later.

Jim Grey, who acted as the roving reporter, interviewed various people involved in the grandest hype machine I’ve yet seen. Grey is not very tactful in his approach, often asking questions that are rude or unwelcome. Since his infamous interview with Baseball legend Pete Rose, I lost respect for Grey and how he does his job. Its one thing to ask tough questions, its another thing to simply be obnoxious. To me he’s the Jerry Springer of sports reporting.

The hype surrounding the event was like a swarm of Locusts. There was the reporting of the mansion Tyson stayed in, the 100 rooms in the hotel that he rented yet never used (and you wonder how this guy owes so much money?). The gated community Lewis stayed in leading up to the fight. The separate weigh-ins, held three hours apart for security reasons. There were interviews with various police personnel overseeing security. Hell, there was enough security on hand to overthrow a small nation.

Before the fight, the Judges were announced. There were some very interesting selections for a fight not expected by anyone to go to the scorecards. There was Alfred Buqwana of South Africa, who had NO Heavyweight title fights on his resume, and had not judged a fight since May of 1999, three years ago. Then there was the infamous Anek Hongtongkam of Thailand, who recently judged the Mayweather vs. Castillo bout, which ended with a controversial decision. Hongtongkam scored that fight 116-111 in favor of Mayweather in a fight that most ringside announcers and fans saw Castillo winning. Lastly, there was Bob Logist of Belgium, whose most notable decision was scoring the Trinidad vs. De La Hoya bout, 114-113 in favor of Trinidad, in what was also considered a controversial decision.

Stacy McKinley, one of Tyson’s co-trainers, was given a microphone and a moment in the spotlight where he ranted about how Lewis, “Has a lot of bitch in him. He’s a real bitch!” said McKinley. Wow, that’s a lot of bad karma, I thought. Considering that Max Kellerman, of ESPN 2 predicted Lewis would win, I figured McKinley’s bad karma had nullified Kellerman’s usual jinxed prediction. Whew.

“Iron” Mike Tyson was polite when interviewed before the fight, even lightheartedly joked with reporters. There was a certain eerie calm about Tyson that was uncharacteristic of the man who recently said he wanted to eat Lewis’ children and once upon a time branded himself, “The Baddest man on the planet.” Now he’s just one of the baldest.

Lennox Lewis was ‘no frills,’ he looked serious and focused. Like he’s said many times before, “Mike Tyson has never seen a fighter like Lennox Lewis.”

Ringside seats went for $2400.

Round 1

Tyson starts in his famous, fast and furious manner, throwing lots of punches, going for the quick knockout. Lewis holds his own, clinching whenever Tyson gets too close. Lewis lands big shots to Tyson’s head and body after warding off a barrage of Tyson leather. Lewis landed the cleaner punches but Tyson may have thrown more as he dictated the initial pace of the fight. Lewis did more holding than Tyson. I scored round one for Iron Mike, just barely.

Round 2

Seconds into the round, referee Eddie Cotton sternly warns Lennox about holding. Tyson still comes forward with bad intentions. Forced by Cotton to stay off of Tyson, Lewis finds his jab and the range to throw it. Both fighters later clinch and Cotton angrily warns Lewis again about holding. I thought both guys were holding in spots. Apparently Cotton was looking for reasons to take a point from Lewis. Both fighters were fighting a clean fight. It’s a known and proven strategy to clinch with Tyson when he comes in close so as to neutralize his power punches. Cotton looked like he was rooting for Tyson and couldn’t stand to see what was unveiling before him. Lewis gets the better of the exchanges and wins the round.

Between the rounds, Tyson’s trainer Ronnie Shields tells Mike, “you got to make this a very ugly fight…NOW!”

In Lewis’ corner, Emanuel Steward tells Lennox, “He’s slowing down real bad now. Work your jab. Your jab is pumping. You’re on your way baby!”

Round 3

Lewis establishes his range and catches Mike on almost every try. Although Tyson is frustrated, he continues to fight cleanly, except for hitting on the break. Cotton said nothing to Tyson. Mike gets cut above his right eye. Tyson catches Lewis with a big left uppercut. Lewis’ chin holds firm as he returns the favor with a solid right hand. Tyson’s chin is like a rock. Lewis battles both Tyson and Cotton. He controls the tempo and wins the round, wary of the biased referee who stalks him in another angle of the fight. After the round, Tyson looks bloodied and tired. In Lewis’ corner, Steward implores Lennox to, “shoot that damn uppercut some, the man is tired!”

Round 4

Lewis is in control of the fight. Tyson lunges on occasion but mostly misses, usually throwing only one punch at a time. Lewis pops Tyson with multiple shots. Tyson is dazed. Working the jab, Lennox dominates Tyson, whose confidence is shot. With 11 seconds remaining in the round, Tyson gets caught with a Lewis right hand and starts to fall down as Lewis goes to clinch, giving the appearance of a push by Lewis. Cotton calls the knockdown a slip and charges Lewis a point for pushing, something Lewis was not previously warned for. Mike Tyson took exactly nine seconds to get up. He was wobbled and his face was a mass of swelling. Between the rounds, Emanuel Steward was livid as he screamed at Lewis, “Get this M*fkr out of here man! Step it up! The man is ready!” I wondered if Steward was worried about Tyson as much as Cotton.

Round 5

Tyson lunges forward and misses. Lewis smartly sticks to his game plan and jabs and sets up his right hand shots. During a clinch, Tyson leans low and Cotton comes in and singles Lewis out again, threatening to take another point for hitting on the break. It was target practice for Lewis at this point. Tyson’s both eyes were cut and his nose was bleeding. Even with Cotton’s help, Tyson was clearly involved in a mismatch. Only this time, Tyson was the prey. With 13 rounds fought in five years, against lesser opponents, Tyson was hardly prepared for Lewis. Apparently his lack of dedication and proper preparation would lead to Tyson’s demise.

I’ve never seen Emanuel Steward so riled up. He demanded of Lewis, “Finish him off! Take him out!” It was clear to Stewart that Tyson was ready to go, but Lewis just wouldn’t pull the trigger. His safety first mentality was driving Steward crazy, but it would prove to be the right recipe.

Round 6

Tyson has a chin of stone. Lewis batters him with big shots. Tyson still stays on his feet, even though he looks like he’s sleep walking. With Tyson being totally dominated, Bobby Czyz continues to sing Tyson’s praises, saying, “Mike is dangerous at all times, etc. etc.” Between clinches, mostly initiated by Tyson (apparently with Cottons permission), Lewis peppered Mike with jabs and big right hands. After the round, Steward implored Lewis, “The longer he’s in there, the more dangerous it is. Take him out!”

Round 7

Lewis dances round Tyson, popping the jab and following up with right hands to Tyson’s head. Tyson is little more than a punching bag at this point. Cotton found a reason to stop the action so he could warn Lewis about using his elbow to push off. Ridiculous. Bobby Czyz immediately noted that Lewis was using illegal tactics, etc. Lewis lands a big right countered by a Tyson uppercut into Lewis body. Czyz gets excited and again starts talking up Tyson. Meanwhile, Mike is being pummeled by Lewis’ jabs. Wobbling a bit, Tyson continues to come forward for more punishment. Tyson gets off a low blow. Cotton says nothing. He must have been checking his watch at that instant. As the bell rings, Tyson looks destroyed. His corner tells him to do this and do that, calling him ‘champ’ and Tyson mumbles to them, “I’m done!” It was almost sad.

Round 8

Tyson might have thrown a total of eight punches in the span of 1:30 of the round. Lewis teed off on him and as the fighters are in close, Lewis hits Tyson with a vicious uppercut to the chin and he starts to fall but doesn’t. Cotton accidentally counts it as a knockdown. With all looking lost, Tyson lands a big uppercut inside. Lewis didn’t even budge as he rocked Tyson with another right hand, sending Tyson down probably more from the accumulation of punches. Tyson would not beat the count. Lennox raised his arms in victory. Eddie Cotton cuddled Mike and helped him to his corner. There would be no mysterious scorecards to worry about.

It was over.

* * *

As Lampley and Czyz mull it over in closing, they speculated about Lewis’ future. Would he retire, or take on the winner of Ruiz vs. Johnson? And as for a rematch with Tyson, Jim asked Bobby why anyone might think it would even be competitive in light of the one sidedness of this fight. Czyz said, “He’ll probably go after the winner of Ruiz, Johnson. I bet that’s what comes out of his mouth in the post fight interview!” Bobby Czyz seemed almost annoyed at the outcome of the fight. He went on to say that Lewis knew, and Tyson knew that he’d picked Tyson to win and that if they had a rematch, Tyson would be better prepared. Next time he would know what to expect…” etc. etc.

Mike Tyson shocked the security forces who, “ooh’d and aah’d” as he made his way over to Lewis and hugged him in a show of good sportsmanship. Tyson was gracious in defeat. He was humbled before Lewis, whom he praised as the greatest fighter. He thanked Lewis for the opportunity and the great payday. Lewis smiled.

Later in the interview, Tyson reached over and wiped the sweat off Lewis’ face while he was answering a question by Jim Grey. He even kissed Lewis’ mother on the cheek as she stood by her son in the ring surrounded by a swarm of people.

With all the niceties going on, Jim Grey sort of instigated bad blood by reviving questions of the nasty things they said about each other in the moments leading up to the fight. Tyson admitted that he’s known Lewis since he was 16 years old and their old trainers were friends and that he knows that Lewis knows that he has nothing but respect for him. Lewis didn’t deny this. Tyson also admitted that the trash talk was all in line with promoting the fight.

Although Lennox Lewis sought to humiliate Hasim Rahman after their last fight, which he won by knockout, he was almost friendly with Mike Tyson when after their fight. And Lewis never mentioned anything about Ruiz or Johnson, as Czyz had predicted. (So much for the prediction powers of Bobby Czyz.)

With his legacy secured, Lennox Lewis has got to be satisfied with Boxing. He has made lots of money and has been disciplined, so he must be very wealthy. It could be said that he has nothing left to prove. Yet, of the four most recognized Alphabets soup organizations (the IBF, WBA, WBC and the WBO), Lewis might want to capture the WBO title, which is better regarded in Europe, where Lewis is from. After all, he may be Jamaican, but he’s from England, which is in Europe.

Wladimir Klitschko, a 6’5”, 250-pound, athletic Heavyweight owns the WBO title but may not be ready for the likes of Lewis just yet. Wladimir is still young and being carefully managed. It would make for an interesting fight though. The winner of Ruiz Johnson would seem like a walk in the park for Lennox, who has once again shown the world that he is the best Heavyweight in the World. A rematch with Tyson would be looked at as a fight just for the money. Can the hype machine reinvent Tyson again? If so, you never know.

Agree or disagree? Send comments to dshark87@hotmail.com