NOT SO RUSTY IRON?

Jim Kurtz

11.04 - "UNBELIEVABLE!", exclaimed Sugar Ray Leonard moments after referee Octavio Meyran administered the count. "Four - Five - Six" seemed more like "Forty - Fifty - Sixty" as the whole world watched in disbelief, everything moving in super slow motion, a moment frozen in time. Meyran continued, "Seven - Eight", his voice echoing throughout the Tokyo Dome and the world beyond, as the stricken fighter struggled to find his mouthpiece.

"Mike Tyson Has Been Knocked Out!" Jim Lampley stated emphatically and that quickly reality had set in. The man who was thought by many to be invincible had just been stopped by a career underachiever and 42-1 underdog.

The man who was a lock to go down in history as one of the all time greats, if not the greatest. The man who was destined to join Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis in the rarefied stratosphere of Heavyweight immortality. The man who was going to be champion for the next 10 or 15 years had been exposed.

Instead of observing with a neutral eye and concluding that Tyson had been overrated all along the vast majority of people were willing to dismiss the Douglas fight as an aberration. Let's take a closer look.

Iron Mike bullied his way through Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart on the comeback trail with two-first round annihilations before facing Razor Ruddock. Ruddock, possibly the only top contender more one dimensional than Tyson, proved to be the perfect opponent. The atmosphere was electric and the two bouts generated tremendous excitement due strictly to the raw power involved. Twice Tyson prevailed setting the stage for a showdown with Evander Holyfield. Unfortunately, before the Holyfield fight could materialize Iron Mike became a guest of the state of Indiana, better known as inmate #922335.

During his four year hiatus from the ring the Tyson mystique had actually almost fully redeveloped. After overwhelming the underwhelming McNeeley, Mathis, Bruno and Seldon in less than 8 rounds, and winning two World Championships, the Tyson phenomenon was back in full force.

Finally the youngest fighter to win the Heavyweight championship, as well as the youngest to lose it, would face Holyfield. 14 rounds, and two losses, later Tyson was considered by many to have been a completely overblown, overrated media creation. Mike was considered to be a fighter with no heart, no stamina, no chin, no movement, and no commitment to the sport. Four nondescript victories, as well as two no contests, failed to refuel the machine known as Tyson.

Iron Mike had become a novelty act. His behavior, real or manufactured, had become more and more bizarre with each passing minute. Unpredictable and crazy had replaced indestructible and intimidating as words most often used to describe the pug who was once dubbed "Kid Dynamite". A shell of the Tyson which burst onto the heavyweight scene 17 years earlier climbed through the ropes the night he faced Lennox Lewis.

After a thorough and relentless eight round pounding, once again, rendered Tyson helpless his career was considered finished. Words like overrated and stiff were often mentioned in the same breath as Tyson. People were asking who had he beat? Spinks was scared to death and Holmes, who had been inactive, was more concerned with his paycheck. Berbick, Smith, Thomas, Tucker, Biggs, Williams, and Tubbs were hardly Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Quarry, Liston and Patterson.

"Why does he continue to fight?" and "Why waste our time with a Lewis rematch?" are just two of the many questions often asked. The answer is simple: Mike Tyson may never be as good as many people had believed he was going to be but he is also not as bad as people now believe he is. Outside of Lewis, Holyfield and Wladimir Klitschko who would be favored over Tyson? No One! There may be a couple of even money matchups but that's it.

Tyson's punching power is undeniable. He has excellent hand speed and he has a very good chin. His head movement has always been overrated. He is a front runner and he is a typical bully who relies on intimidation. When someone stands up to him and fights back he goes into a shell. These are hardly the qualities which helped elevate Ali and Louis to their lofty status but still enough to carry a fighter a long way. The deficiencies are why Mike Tyson never achieved what many anticipated for him but what he does well he does very well.

Does anyone believe Tyson is ever more than one punch away from redemption in a rematch with Lewis? His destruction of Clifford Etienne proved one punch power is the great equalizer. Who would have thought that one of history's most overrated fighters would today be considered one of boxing's most underrated? Mike Tyson ... Underrated! Amazing, or as Sugar Ray Leonard would say, "UNBELIEVABLE!"

Email Jim at: BOARDWALKBOXING@AOL.COM