By Frank Lotierzo
Mike Tyson (50-6) quit on his stool last night in his fight against Kevin McBride (33-4-1). Tyson's surrender against the unranked McBride marks the fourth loss in a row that he has said "No Mas." Funny, last week when asked about what he thought of McBride, Tyson said "He doesn't look like he punches hard," after previously referring to him as a "Tomato can." What's that say about Mike Tyson throwing in the towel and sitting on his stool to end his fight against him. It says exactly what Tyson has always been, a front running bully who backed down every time he was challenged and met with resistance.
This will change nothing among those who will continue to ignore the truth and accepting excuses as to why he lost. In reality Tyson adds another piece of evidence showing why it was a pipe-dream to ever mention him as one of the all-time great heavyweight champs. But most who have grown up and began following boxing with Tyson, will continue to try and build his case for greatness around his victory against Michael Spinks. Today Tyson is more known for his loses than his wins. Name one other great that can be said about.
Mike Tyson had two things working for him that blurred who he really was as a fighter. Starting with the fact that he was the most brilliantly managed fighter in boxing history. On his way up he was promoted and hyped to be such a devastating puncher that no fighter could withstand his punch. Yet he lost in his prime by knockout to a fighter who never beat a top heavyweight before or after he knocked Tyson out. The promotion of Tyson was so overwhelming that when Buster Douglas' mother passed away three weeks before their fight, it was viewed as a positve for Buster and helped him defeat Tyson. After the fight of course. Prior to the fight it wasn't thought of as being a positive until Tyson was crawling around on the canvas looking for his mouthpiece.
This was due to the fact that novice fight observers needed an excuse to fathom Tyson not just losing, but getting counted out. Tyson made the job easier for the marketing brain trust who crafted the Tyson-myth, because he could punch hard with both hands and acted fearless coming into the ring. However, knockouts against second tier journeymen conned a lot of boxing fans, writers, historians and Television executives. This is mainly due to the fact that those who watching boxing from a far are scared and fearful of hard punchers.
To those who don't know, a big puncher is very intimidating and most can't see beyond that, missing the puncher obvious flaw. They also miss that more times than not, big punchers don't always have the best chin nor the biggest hearts. They just can't get past the power. Tyson coming off a spectacular early round knockout was perceived as unbeatable.
As hard as this may be for some to accept, Tyson's lack of toughness, a by product of a great fighter, is what identifies him most as a fighter. Yes, more than his power and hand speed. History lesson, no fighter knocks out every opponent. If you're a fighter dependent on your punch, you better have something to fallback on when confronted by that opponent you can't knockout. Tyson didn't last night just like he never had it on any other night he needed it.
I'll bet if I asked the first 100 guys leaving the MCI Center tonight, "Who would you rather have to take the title from, Mike Tyson at the top of his game or Evander Holyfield at the top of his?" I would bet anything that over 90% would rather have to fight Holyfield. With their reason and logic being, Tyson hits too hard, Holyfield isn't a great puncher justifying their decision to choose Holyfield. However, the object is to win. It takes more to beat Holyfield than it does Tyson.
I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather fight Tyson in a second. Sure, he's capable of beating his opponent worse than Holyfield, but I want to win. That's why Holyfield is scarier to me. A fighter who has dynamite in both hands, but has the heart of the heart cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz is more beat able. How often has it been said that if a fighter gets past the first couple rounds with Tyson, he's beat able.
When has that ever been said about Holyfield. How about never. To beat Holyfield when he was on top of his game, a fighter had to just about beat him to death. See round 10 of his first fight with Bowe. Can any objective boxing observer with a morsel of a clue imagine Tyson surviving a fight like that? Hell No, he would've quit long before the fight got to that point. He always has.
How about Tyson having the type toughness that Ali and Frazier showed in Manila. The pounding Foreman took from Holyfield at age 42. Or Willard from Dempsey, Marciano from Walcott in their first fight. Here's one, Joe Frazier got up six times against George Foreman before the fight was stopped. How many times does Tyson get up, that's if he shows up for the fight. Remember, he backed out of fighting the same Foreman who Holyfield defended his title against.
Tyson quit against Holyfield, a blown up crusierweight. He quit against Danny Williams, a fighter known for having panic attacks before a fight, which is what made him the perfect Tyson opponent. And he quit last night against Kevin McBride when he realized he couldn't win by intimidation and showing up. McBride was knocked out by a fighter who lost 17 of his last 18 fights. Luckily for him he fought McBride or it would've been 0-18. Yet he could make Tyson quit. Can't wait to hear how great McBride becomes off of beating Tyson.
After knocking Tyson out, like Buster Douglas, Williams was all of the sudden a title contender. In his next fight against Vitali Klitschko we saw how good he contended, losing all eight rounds of the bout. In the next few days every excuse will be made for Tyson. His age, inactivity, no Kevin Rooney, doing time in prison, getting divorced, lack of motivation and maybe we'll even hear that his boxing shoes were to tight, keeping him from throwing combinations. Wrong.
Mike Tyson showed the toughness of the Church lady his entire career. That is why he never was for one day during his career, an all-time heavyweight great. His hand speed and two handed power couldn't compensate for his lack of character. He never once won or pulled out a tough fight. Hats off to Freddie Roach who was fired by Tyson for suggesting that he thought Tyson could have got up against Danny Williams, instead of sitting there being counted out.
Let the excuses begin!
