Boxing

 

Sharkie’s Machine: Seconds Away From The Big Pay Day Etienne Stays Down


Photo: Tom Casino / Showtime

Mike Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne
(50-4-2NC-44 KO’s) (34-2-1-17 KO’s)

25.02 - By Frank Gonzalez: Why are people still so fascinated with Tyson? He hasn’t been a dominating figure in the sport for more than a decade. Outside of troubles in his personal life (if you can call it that), what has Tyson done besides lose to the only other two Champions he’s faced since the late 80s?

He certainly didn’t earn a title shot against Lennox last time and whoever saw that fight knows there’s only one reason for making a second one; money.

After the first Holyfield fight, I thought maybe Tyson just didn’t have it anymore. Then after he bit Holyfield’s ears off in the second fight, it was clear that Tyson’s lifestyle and fighting all those lame opponents had caught up with him. Other than fouling Evander, he had little else to compete with in the ring against a true warrior Champion, someone accustomed to fighting the best. Big power is great, but the best fighters know how to avoid your power while delivering their own. Against the Lou Savereses, Bruce Seldons, Julius Francis’ and Orlin Norris’ of the world, Mike was Conan The Destroyer. But against Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, he was more like Sylvester Pussy Cat in the Dog’s house without a backup plan.

This past Saturday’s showdown with Clifford Etienne was reminiscent of Bruce Seldon in Atlantic City. Fans who spent lots of money to see it either live or on Pay-Per-View were not happy with what they got. Déjà vu.

After another Tyson postponement, surprisingly this time the show went on—on schedule. Rumors were that Tyson had the flu, missed lots of training and now, that he hurt his back. Tyson got a new tattoo on his face only days before the fight. And as usual, he had some internal problems with his camp. This is standard Tyson fare.

Etienne, a volume puncher with no chin, was a good fight for Tyson. It gave the public a chance to see how much Tyson has left against a lesser fighter. Not that this would prepare him for the unnecessary, contractually arranged, lucrative rematch with Heavyweight Champion, Lennox Lewis, who soundly beat Tyson nine months ago. Go figure, the challenger loses to the champ and the challenger is granted a rematch? Lewis seems more anxious for the rematch than Tyson is.

Etienne broke training and then had to snap back and be ready when Tyson called the fight back on. I credit Tyson for at least staying somewhat active, albeit reluctantly, while Lewis saves himself for Tyson, avoiding any other fights for now.

Ridiculous.

* * *

The Fight

Clifford Etienne entered the ring first, looking confident and capable. Then Tyson paraded his way into the ring, sporting his new facial Tattoo, a branching symbol just around his left eye and forking across his cheekbone, some sort of motif similar to the Maoris of New Zealand perhaps.

The referee gave instructions and the fight began. Etienne and Tyson mix it up straight away. They both swing wildly as if it were a three round amateur fight. Tyson in his usual ‘knock ‘em out in the first round’ mode and Etienne throwing shots as if that were his plan as well. They wrestled each other to the canvas and the referee Bill Clancy told Tyson as they got up, “Keep it clean Mike.”

The action continued for about another five seconds when Tyson throws a left hook that Etienne ducks and as he comes up, is met by a follow up Tyson short right cross into the cheek of Etienne, knocking him to the canvas in dramatic fashion. The strategy Etienne might have used (if he were trying to actually win the fight) might have been to stay away and box from the outside for a few rounds to test Tyson’s stamina or stay in too close and avoid being target practice for Tyson, although you can lose an ear that way.

Etienne removed his mouthpiece on the count of two. Then he lay down till the count of nine. When he started to stand and was graciously assisted by Mike Tyson, in his ‘sorry I hurt you’ mode that many have seen before. It was over.

For the PPV, that was about one dollar per second. The fans booed. I wondered if they were booing for the same reason I was.

Etienne got up and looked fine. Not dazed, not wobbly, just fine. He missed the count and was out by KO, 49 seconds into the fight. It didn’t even seem that long.

Against Frans Botha, who put him down a few times, Etienne got up and showed heart. In secret, I wondered if Etienne took a dive? He looked capable of getting up a second earlier if he wanted to. Why not against Tyson? Did he quit?

Hey, Mike Tyson is the biggest payday Etienne has ever enjoyed. Even losing to Tyson will improve his economic forecast for fights to come. There’s always some big name out there in need of a KO victory to spice up their record, or just a tune-up to prepare for another big name.

From a business standpoint, perhaps Etienne was prudent not to get up. Why risk getting hurt? The style he was using was a guarantee to lose and either way, he was getting paid the same money.

From a competitor’s standpoint, he looked like he sold out. For the Black Rhino, this was his chance to seriously improve his stock. A win over even an aged Mike Tyson could have been a springboard to other, bigger paydays. I question if Etienne was there to win or simply to exaggerate the value of Mike Tyson.

Then again, maybe Tyson’s power is under rated these days?

As a fan, I felt gypped. 49 seconds?

* * *

During the lengthy post fight interviews with Tyson, he said he needed a few fights before he’ll be ready for Lewis, maybe two or three. How long will Lewis wait?

There is something likable about “Iron” Mike; he does have personality. He can be soft spoken, polite or completely vulgar and out of control with no regards for tomorrow’s headlines. Maybe he likes the negative publicity? Who knows? Even Tyson admits he doesn’t know. “Demons” he calls them. I bet Promoters have a different name for it. They know a gold mine when they see one. And they’ve been selling us Mike Tyson successfully for about 15 years now. Hey, as much as his career is past any glory, who out there would ever miss him fight? He still commands an audience in or outside of the ring. Tyson’s psychotic, friendly, angry, sad, funny, unpredictable and great with babies. What he showed most of all Saturday night was that anytime he’s ready, he’ll be great on The Jerry Springer Show.

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

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