Tyson: 'I Deserve Another Chance'

[The Finman]

<h2><font color=#003399>Tyson: 'I Deserve Another Chance'</font></h2>
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson said despite his troubled past, he thinks he deserves a second chance.

Tyson, who took the boxing world by storm in the late 1980s, will fight former British champ Danny Williams at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., on July 30.

Tyson spoke to reporters at a news conference in Louisville Tuesday morning, Louisville television station WLKY reported.

"This is a free country," said Tyson, who's squandered approximately $400 million in career winnings and is now trying to get out of debt.

He hasn't fought in about 17 months, and has spent some of his time lately living on the street, according to the London Evening Standard.

"For two years, I have been a bum."

"For two years I have been a bum, truly a bum in the streets," he told the newspaper of Williams' hometown.

I've been crashing with friends, literally sleeping in shelters."

Tyson, whose troubled past includes a rape conviction among other transgressions, said Tuesday he looks forward to the opportunity to show he's matured, WLKY reported.

"I may have a checkered past, which we all have, some more publicized than others," he said.

"But I think I've grown since then, and I deserve another chance to prove that my checkered past can be swept away."

Though the boxer has been in and out of hot water for much of the last 15 years, sports fans have seemed forgiving of Tyson, as the ovation at the conclusion of Tuesday's press conference might have suggested.


Full Article <font color="red"><u>Here</u></font>

[Dutch]

Think of the money he could have made doing the "Bum Fighting" videos.

[Hane]

To his credit, I haven't heard Iron Mike try to foist the blame of his situation onto anyone but himself.

No, I don't think he deserves another chance but as long as Don King has sway anything can happen.

[Houston67]

Getting knocked out by Buster Douglas was the end of his career, basically. The bully got whipped & there went his fear factor. Who will ever forget the look on Michael Spinks' face as the 2 met in the center of the ring for pre-fight instuctions - he looked like the little kid on the playground that was TERRIFIED of the bully. Once Tyson lost that, he was just a another fighter. Sonny Liston comes to mind - very similar situation.


[img]graemlins/gop.gif[/img]

[Mr. Ray]

I used to work at a place here in Louisville that Muhammad Ali brought his kids to. I got to talk with him a few times, back when Tyson was first getting popular. Ali told me that Tyson was the most dangerous fighter that he'd seen... since himself! He also told me that nobody that was fighting back then could beat him... and he was right. Tyson embarrassed everyone he fought in his early days but let himself become what he has. He's an admitted bum now, but I have always enjoyed a good come-back.

If Iron Mike could mend his ways, I'd love to see him make a run at another championship. (The fight here is just back page news btw...)

[Dutch]

I used to be a fan of Mike Tyson’s. The saddest thing is watching someone with a special gift turn into a common idiot. Mike Tyson is common.

And the tattooing doesn’t help either. He looks like he should be in the circus. I would hate to be the person drawing the “Days of Grace� tattoo of Arthur Ashe on his left shoulder. I am sure that after he got done Mike Tyson beat him to a pulp for drawing Jeff Goldblum instead of Arthur Ashe.

[Hane]

You're right, Dutch. That tattoo looks more like Jeff than Arthur.

Maybe Iron Mike did the tattoo himself. [img]graemlins/Laughing.gif[/img]

[northern light]

Tyson was awesome in his day, and had most fights half won before the bell went. It's a shame what happened to him, in his sport and his life.

I'm not too thrilled with the new image he's cultivated for himself, and I gotta be honest and say I cheered the roof off when Lennox gave him a good hidin' and a lesson to boot.

[The Finman]

I used to be a huge Tyson fan back in the 80's, I even met him once. He is just a shell of his former self. Anyone with Che Guevra and Mao Tse Tung tattoos should have used them for an insanity defense. I also cheered when Holyfield whipped his butt.

[Mr. Ray]

Great photo, Finman!

I found a little of an interview with Tyson and Williams. Just thought that I'd add some of it in here...

Tyson hasn't fought in more than 16 months.

"I'm so happy ... about my self-inflicted exile and giving up everything," he said. "I relieved myself of so much extra baggage. And being in Phoenix, Arizona, I really found out what it really means to have decent people in your life."

Why did he stay away from the ring so long?

"I didn't like the way my life was going. I rejected society for a while. I guess I believed somebody else would feel sorry and come and grab my hand and pull me out, but they left me there. To diiie," he said with a slight laugh.

"I just want to fight," he said, "to hear the sound of the crowd, to hear the sweat, to hear people hit the mat, to hear the gloves on people's heads and bodies. ... That's something I took myself away from for a long period of time. I was so foolish. I'm the most foolish person I know. And I'm just happy to be back."

Tyson has served time in prison for rape, been sentenced to jail for assault and created one of the most negative public images in sports history.

"I may have had a checkered past ... but I think I've grown," he said. "I think I deserve another chance to prove that my checkered past can be swept away."

He played down recent British tabloid stories that said he had been homeless and taken loans from sympathetic drug dealers. He said he never stayed in a homeless shelter and added, "I wish a drug dealer would loan me some money."

Tyson is bankrupt and deeply in debt — perhaps as much as $38million. He recently won a $14million settlement from promoter Don King. He said he's glad to have King out of this life and also is happy to be rid of former associates he called "emotional vampires."

"I rejected society for a while," he said. "I was disappointed in people I believed were in my corner but I really deep down inside knew they weren't in my corner. I was lonely. ... Loneliness makes you do the bizarrest things, I guess."


He spoke of an old addiction.

"I was addicted to chaos, and therefore I had a very difficult time settling into the person I am now," he said.

Occasionally the talk turned from Tyson's psyche to boxing. His trainer, Freddie Roach, suggested that age has not slowed Tyson, who turns 38 today.

"His speed's great. He's the fastest heavyweight in the world," Roach said. "That's where his power comes from — speed — and he hasn't lost that."

At one point Tyson asked the media, "Would somebody please be kind enough to ask Mr. Williams some questions?"

Nobody was. But the night before, at his hotel, Williams spoke.

As a teen-ager, he said, he saw Tyson fight on television and thought: "This guy is unbelievable. He's the greatest fighter ever to live. He can't be beaten."

That was long ago.

"He's definitely not the same fighter (now)," Williams said. "But I'd say even though he's probably 40percent of what he used to be, he's probably still good enough to be one of the best in the world today — still a tremendous puncher.

"I want what he's got."

And what does Tyson — a 38-year-old ex-champ with a prison record and epic money troubles — have?

"His name," Williams said. "He's one of the great heavyweights ever to live. He's a living legend. And if I beat him, I'm going to be an instant hero back in England."

By Williams' estimate, Tyson is 40percent of the fighter he once was. From the temperature of the room yesterday, Tyson seemed 40percent — or less — of the tough guy.

"I never really was a tough guy in the streets," he said, "but I always wanted to be a tough guy.... I had a temper, and I was pretty emotional."

That was then. This is now.

"I know I seem like a nicer guy," he said. "I don't want to scare the ladies. I don't want to make any crazy statements."

I'm not here to be a tough guy today

I might just go to this. There's still some good tickets left!

Here's a poll too: Would you pay to see Tyson fight? Right now it's 53% to 46% saying yes, with 3700 votes... [img]graemlins/popcorn.gif[/img]