Paul Barker
21.08 - Just when we're ready to write Mike Tyson off, there arises a very real possibility of him becoming heavyweight champion again! Apparently, WBA king John Ruiz is among those ready and willing to take him on. The only seeming obstacle to this match-up is everybody's favorite prickly haired promoter, Don King.
Without going into too much detail (it's an intricate situation that changes daily), King is attempting to use his fighter, Ruiz, as a bargaining chip in his legal battle with Tyson. Ruiz, needless to say, objects to being denied the payday of his dreams, and has launched a suit of his own against King.
However, all parties involved - even King - seem to believe that the situation can and will be resolved quickly. So let's take 'em at their word and assume Tyson/Ruiz is imminent.
Much as Tyson makes me retch these days, I think he's more than a match for The Quiet Man - under any circumstances. If the lumbering David Tua could knock Ruiz out in seventeen seconds, what is the equally powerful, light-years faster Mike Tyson gonna do to him?
And don't you worry about a thing, Mike. If negotiations for the Ruiz fight fall through, there's always Francois Botha.
Tyson and Botha -what a pair! IN THE RED CORNER: A jaded, psychologically damaged, rudimentary slugger who once put the fear of God into a wussified heavyweight division. IN THE BLUE CORNER: A stolid, lumbering, ham-fisted "white buffalo," who works his ass off, but is betrayed by his lack of talent every time. Touch gloves, boys, and come out fighting!
These guys would do well to emulate each other to some extent. Tyson could use a dose of Botha's work ethic and (relative) cool headedness; Botha would benefit from liberal helpings of Tyson's hand speed and punching power. Of course, what both fighters need more than anything, neither has in any appreciable quantity.
Defensive skill!
Mike had it once. There was a time he could slip a punch with the best of 'em. Then he went and did a stupid thing. The guy jettisoned his entire, original "inner circle" - that shrewd team of trainers and businessmen who had molded him into a tolerably well-rounded fighter back in the eighties - ultimately supplanting it with the biggest crew of hangers-on and yes-men since the days of Al Capone. Needless to say, such training "subtleties" as bobbing, weaving, and covering up fell by the wayside, were lost in the shuffle, or (insert appropriate cliché here.)
If I appear to be coming down hard on Mikey, it's only because I had such high aspirations for him at one time. Even today I'll see him in a fight, and wonder to myself how an athlete so physically blessed can be so utterly bereft of heart and focus. As of this writing, I'm leaning toward the theory that TOO MUCH OF THE GOOD LIFE has corroded his "iron" carapace. It seems as plausible an explanation as any.
Frans Botha may have his shortcomings, but lack of heart and lack of focus are not among them. He is another Rocky Marciano, sans punching power. Of course, he's about as easy to hit as Rocky was. (If Lennox Lewis ever does retire, he could make a lucrative second career outa teaching some of these klutzes how to MOVE inside that ring.)
Botha's been around a long time. He knows how to handle Mike tactically, if their first fight was any indication. Anyone recall that fight? Botha was comfortably ahead on points when he was dropped in the fifth round by one of the prettiest rights Tyson's ever thrown. Botha had been taking the fight to his opponent for virtually the entire contest - shoving him around, landing hard right hands of his own - but he allowed his cockiness to get the better of him and paid the price for it. Perhaps The White Buffalo would be a little more vigilant in the rematch.
All in all, I give Botha a marginally better chance of beating Tyson than I give Ruiz.
Tyson's professional future looks as rosy as any Harvard grad's. The Klitschko brothers have unhesitatingly expressed their desire to fight him, Lewis is salivating over the prospect of a rematch, and I'm sure that fringe contenders like Larry Donald and Monte Barrett would love to beef up their records with victories over the self-confessed "baddest man on the planet."
And his future as a human being? Hmmm… How to address this one… I guess I'm hoping beyond hope that he mellows with age. Kinda like Jake LaMotta did...
