Boxing

 

Clifford Etienne is a wrong choice for Tyson

Janne Romppainen

14.02 - Mike Tyson makes his eagerly awaited comeback to the boxing ring at the 22nd of this month as he faces Cliff “The Black Rhino” Etienne in a ten-round non-title fight in Memphis. It is the first fight for Tyson since the beating he received from Lennox Lewis last June and it is the only fight that he has planned to take before his proposed rematch against the WBC champion.

The fight itself promises to be a colourful one. We all know how demolishing and unexpected Tyson (49-4, 43KOs), even a little rusty one, can be in the ring. Even though he is not near his peak anymore, the people will still watch him fight. He still is without a question the biggest money-maker of the division. He is one of the biggest punchers out there and he always wants to knock his man out as quickly as possible. Now he faces an opponent whose style suits him perfectly. Etienne (24-1-1, 17KOs) is a fighter who has never been afraid of mixing it up inside either. Everything indicates that we are going to see a collision, an explosive – and short – match where one of the fighters will get blasted out.

With all likeliness the one who meets the sandman earlier that night will be Cliff Etienne. He was down no less than seven times during eight rounds against Fres Oquendo in his only loss back in 2001. Also Francois Botha put him on the canvas twice when they fought a draw. Mike Tyson as a puncher is in a different class than those two and if he didn’t show much else against Lewis, we know he can still take a good punch. Getting over Etienne shouldn’t give him much trouble at all.

So, from the financial perspective the fight is good for Tyson. He meets a colourful top-30(?) challenger and probably gets the public a little more excited about his rematch with Lewis if his performance is anything sort of convincing. The fight can also help Tyson rebuild his confidence. Even for a fighter as experienced as him that means a lot. And of course, he makes a good money out of it.

But apart from that, the fight does very little for him to help his preparation for a new title fight. His goal is to fight Lennox Lewis, a tall, athletic, cautious and powerful fighter. It does not sound reasonable to fight an all-out slugger without a proper defence in order to get ready for that. If Tyson’s target was to get back to the top slowly and maybe to fight John Ruiz for the WBA-belt soon there would not be a problem, but Lewis is a different animal completely.

In my opinion Tyson should have fought at least twice before getting at the championship bout again. One confidence-builder victory is good, but he should also fight some real challenger to get some touch at the world level again. Fres Oquendo or Jameel McCline could have been good choices. Even if Tyson only wants to fight once during this time, he could have chosen a more suitable opponent. Larry Donald or even Henry Akinwande would have resembled Lewis much more (even though they are not his calibre) than Etienne does. Neither would have been as marketable opponents as the Black Rhino, but the fights would have sold anyway because they include Tyson. And especially American fight fans be fair: who of you would not want to pay to see Tyson knock Henry Akinwande out?

Unfortunately it seems to me that if Lewis does fight Tyson again only because of money, Tyson is doing the same. He does not take his comeback too seriously. Apart from the first Lewis fight Tyson’s last fight against a real top-opponent was over half a decade ago. Beating a fighter who is tailor-made for him is not enough for him to redeem himself.

Comments/questions to janneromppainen@hotmail.com

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