The Rhinos False Charge

Mike Samuels

20.02 - Mike Tyson is notorious for pulling out of fights for one reason or another. Clifford Etienne had to have known this before agreeing to be the tune up man for Tyson's inevitable June 21st clash with Lennox Lewis.

Both camps worked hard for 6-8 weeks, and both men promised victory, or at least a tough and exciting fight. Then moving into the last two weeks before the fight - with ticket sales down - Mike Tyson stopped showing up, stopped running, stopped talking to the media, and appeared to have finally stopped giving two hoots about his career. And when the fight was called off within the next few days, I just know that somewhere, in some place, boxing fans and Tyson haters were celebrating.

Finally it looked as though Mike Tyson would end up a memory.

Finally it looked as though Mike Tyson and the circus he has brought with him for the last six years had made its final stop.

The fight was declared 'a go' so quickly after being called off, it was like it never happened. Tyson met with his financial advisors and realized that he needs the money, and not only that, but had Tyson missed this fight he could pretty much forget a rematch with Lennox Lewis in the summer - and another big pay day before exiting the sport that has made him so much money.

Somewhere I'm sure Lennox Lewis wet his pants. After all, do you think Lewis really would have wanted to fight someone who isn't declared shot? You know, those two big Ukrainian boys …

All of this isn't funny. What's funny is how Clifford Etienne handled the situation. Instead of being excited and relieved that the fight was called back barely twenty-four hours after being called off, Etienne went on a barrage with just about every journalist and web publisher around cyber space. He swore - not only with vulgar language, but also on his word that he wasn't backing down from Mike Tyson. This was The Black Rhino ladies and gents, a guy who had done ten years of prison time for going back on his word and he wasn't going to bow down to Mike Tyson the way all of the other "yes-men" in the sport have done for so long.

I'm not sure what happened, or what made him realize his charge against Mike Tyson was about as real as Michael Jackson's nose. Oh wait, could it be that Etienne is getting a chance of a lifetime to fight Mike Tyson, not to mention the biggest purse of his career? I'm not very big on Tyson the fighter nowadays, but he is Mike Tyson - love him or hate him, he sells tickets and only a moron would refuse a fight with him.

What I don't understand is why a guy who was pummeled by Fres Oquendo (and he's not David Tua puncher) and dropped by the White Buffalo would begin to act like a hardass when he finds out the fight is called off. I have no problem when a guy wants to stick to his guns, but for Etienne to openly criticize Tyson for fighting for money and making boxing a circus - when it's something he doesn't deny - and then go back on his "word" to fight a day later, what does that tell you?

It says that Etienne knows it was a stupid move to be a tough guy when he'll never see a payday like the one he's getting Saturday again. Not only that, but what does it say about his confidence? If Tyson is supposedly "ill" then why not jump on the opportunity to fight a guy who won't be a hundred percent? The confidence factor is definitely missing with Tyson, so it would like a great chance for Etienne to rebuild his career.

Controversy has surrounded this fight the last week or so, and I can guarentee that more people will tune in on Saturday (and it wont be to see Jay-Z) because of the last weeks events. Let's just hope Tyson is healthy and doesn't blow another gasket (how many more does he have left?), and let's hope the Rhino's charge is more convincing with his fists than he has been with his verbal bombs.

Mike Samuels can be reached at Tyson180@aol.com