15.04.04 – By Luke Dodemaide – At twenty two Mike Tyson had the world at his feet, he was the youngest world heavyweight champion in history, he was destructing challengers in such a way that he became the biggest thing in boxing since the ‘Greatest’ himself, Muhammad Ali, and he was making millions doing it.
Nobody could defeat ‘Iron’ Mike, nobody. But slowly but surely Tyson’s world became undone, when he starred into the mirror, he met the cruel person that would lead the destruction.
In 1990, Mike Tyson travelled to Tokyo looking the most devastating heavyweight champion the world had ever seen, but inside he was a time bomb waiting to explode.
And ten rounds into his meeting with lightly regarded challenger, James ‘Buster’ Douglas that time bomb exploded, Tyson was knocked down and knocked out.
The unthinkable was know reality, Tyson’s train of annihilation had come to a unbelievable and brutal stop.
Just over a year later Mike Tyson was in jail.
Twelve years on, many champions have come and gone through the boxing world. But the rising super star is undoubtedly the undefeated, two division champion Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
Floyd Mayweather is called the ‘Pretty Boy’ and rightfully so, he makes throwing destructive punches into the faces and bodies of the world best fighters look about as graceful as Ballet.
Diego Corrales felt the pain, Angel Manfredi did, Mayweather boxed circles around Jose Luis Castillo and boy did Phillip N’dou feel the power of arguably boxing’s best pound for pound fighter.
Through his own hard work and dedication, Floyd Mayweather is standing atop the brutal and merciless mountain that is the world of boxing.
However it looks as though, perhaps, Mayweather’s time at the summit may be about to come to a horrific close.
There is no fighter in the world that appears to have the skill to knock Mayweather off his pedestal, that is every fighter but himself.
Floyd’s damage is self inflicted, he is again on charges of assault, but this time if he is convicted he will find himself behind the vertical bars of jail, rather than inside the horizontal ropes of the ring. An adjustment ring legends like Pernell Whittaker, Riddick Bowe and, of course, Mike Tyson knows about only too well.
Mayweather is not behind bars yet, but if he is to be sentenced to jail, he will be living out a story; boxing sadly, has become all too familiar with.
Floyd’s father, Floyd Mayweather Snr was waking up in jail only eight years ago, when he was serving a sixty six month term on convicted drug trafficking charges.
Floyd Mayweather Snr has now been out for six years.
Looking at Mayweather snr now, he looks a man reinvented from his drug selling days, he has found himself a fantastic new job as the head trainer of boxing’s Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather Snr has shaken off his demons ( with a little help from a jail term, it must be said ), and now it is time for his son to follow suit and change his faulty ways or follow the same path his father took years ago, which leads into the cold walls of prison.
Floyd Mayweather jnr has a scheduled WBC 140 pound eliminator against DeMarcus Corley on the 22nd of May and is eyeing a super fight with boxing’s favourite blood and guts warrior, WBC 140 pound world champion, Arturo Gatti later in the year.
If Mayweather can stay out of trouble and out of jail, he will stand atop the boxing world and into the hall of fame.
Mayweather has so much talent, it would be a crime if wasted.