By David P. Greisman
The train wreck of a circus show that is Mike Tyson hit an all new low on Saturday night at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., as the former two-time heavyweight champion quit after the sixth round of his bout against Kevin McBride.
With a majority of the 15,472 in attendance rooting for him to triumph over a handpicked opponent, Tyson, no longer "the baddest man on the planet," took a seat against the ropes as the bell ended round six, and before the seventh could begin, trainer Jeff Fenech asked referee Joe Cortez to call a halt.
McBride, 33-4-1 (28), a plodding 6'6" Irishman whose previous claim to infamy had been his loss to Michael Murray in the middle of a five-year period in which Murray went 1-17, beat Tyson by staying upright, leaning his 271 pounds onto his smaller opponent and throwing forth enough of an offense to frustrate Iron Mike.
The first round commenced with McBride missing with a left hook, and Tyson took advantage of a well-sized target by attacking McBride's body and following with left hooks upstairs.
In the second, the stanza in which some writers predicted that Tyson would dispatch of "The Clones Colossus," McBride began to bully the 5'11" Tyson, holding and hitting, inflicting enough damage to win the round.
Not content to be pushed around by a less-accomplished pugilist, Tyson began the third by forcing McBride to the ropes and landing a left uppercut, followed by a left to the body. Although his artillery carried the round, Tyson was no longer moving laterally, plugging forward and inviting incoming shots.
Tyson's punches continued to land in the fourth round, but it appeared that as the fight progressed he was searching for the opportunity to knock McBride out. Yet that chance never came, as McBride continued to stick around, winded from punches to the midsection but fortunate to have received a reprieve, with Tyson concentrating more on headhunting.
Ten seconds into the fifth round, Tyson landed a forearm, and the match became bogged down with clinching and fouls. McBride got Tyson against the ropes, and his wide looping hooks, raining from up high, often landed behind the head. Only with a low blow towards the end of the three minutes was Tyson able to get back to the center of the ring.
As the second half of the scheduled ten rounder began, McBride again forced Tyson to the ropes, but the Brownsville native responded with an intentional head butt that opened a cut over the Irishman's left eye. Cortez docked Tyson two points, and it appeared that a meltdown was on its way.
Desperate, Tyson tried in vain to send McBride to the canvass, but failed to do so. As the bell sounded, Tyson sat down, similar to the manner in which he rested on the ropes while being counted out against Danny Williams, and Cortez motioned for Iron Mike to get up.
The crowd expressed its confusion and outrage loudly as Fenech stopped the fight, and disbelief was rampant in the aftermath of what had just been seen.
“I just don't have this in my gut anymore,” said Tyson at the post-fight press conference. “It's just not in my heart anymore. I'm not trying to take anything from Kevin McBride. We know his record, we know his credentials, and if I can't beat him, I can't beat [former 122-pound titlist] Junior Jones.”
With the loss, Tyson drops to 50-6 with 2 no contests and 44 knockouts, and his career is effectively over. What the bankrupt icon will now do to pay back his sizable debt is uncertain, but the third stoppage loss in his past four outings should deny the ability for another multimillion-dollar payday.
At the time of the corner retirement, the judges' cards read 57-55 twice for Tyson, and 57-55 for McBride.