Tyson in England (also, Eubank and Collins asked to fight Tarver!?)
CAN'T TY HIM DOWN
Boxing’s ultimate ‘bad boy’ Mike Tyson landed in the UK to talk about his career, Frank Bruno and pigeons
Noticeably uncomfortable with the platform that he had been given to address the 400-strong audience that came to hang on his every word, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson didn’t disappoint on the London leg of his four-stop whistle tour of Britain last week.
As he took his centre stage seat, Tyson, 39, mumbled into the mic that he felt like a “schmuck”. It was obvious that the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was not at home in front of a jovial crowd of admirers, some of whom had consumed just a little bit too much Pinot Noir, but he had come to deliver, and deliver he did.
Promoters had promised that the ‘baddest man on the planet’ would not be ducking any questions from the audience, but a clever vetting process meant the more intrusive questions that could have been asked were weaned out before they were presented to Sun columnist Steve Bunce to ask Tyson.
Nevertheless, Tyson did give an incredible insight into his love and knowledge of pigeons (of which he owns 1,000); being stalked by Antonio Tarver to get back into the ring; and his most poignant memory of meeting Frank Bruno.
MEMORIES
It was when he was 16 or 17 that Tyson holds his most endearing memory of meeting Bruno and it might not have seemed like much of an answer to the audience at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel when Tyson explained what it meant to him.
But many a black man in America would have known exactly what he was saying when Tyson explained: “It was at a gym in New York in 1983 where my earliest memory of Frank comes from.
“It was a legendary gym where all of the best fighters trained and I remember wanting to go somewhere and I was a bit frustrated. Frank turned around to me and said: ‘Mike, if you can be kind enough to wait here patiently I’ll get someone to get us a key’.
“I’ll never forget how he pronounced his words, I was like wow, this guy speaks so well”.
Many a blank face looked at Tyson when he recalled this story with a bit of a chuckle. With the majority of the audience being white, there was an element of ‘what the hell is Mike going on about?’ written on their faces.
But what many failed to understand was what this encounter meant for a then young Tyson who now vividly recalled when he was plucked from the ghetto.
Seeing another black man speak so well and who wasn’t on TV gave Tyson more jokes than any ‘ya no what I mean Harry’ could have given an Englishman who loved Bruno.
Chris Eubank was at the Hilton, and he spoke of his first impressions of ‘Iron’ Mike: “I was maybe 17 and it was my first day at Gleason’s Gym. The guy who got me started, Maximo Pierret, knew Bruce Silverglade and Mike’s coach. For a heavyweight, Mike was very, very silky and pound-for-pound, for a heavyweight, he was the silkiest there and had the fastest punches for his size. Seeing him hit the bag and pads was a sight to behold. He was head and shoulders above anybody else.
“People have a misconception about Mike Tyson, he's maybe seen to the general public as, how can I put it? Maybe a pub bully if you get me, all steak and chips. A neandertal street brawler, that’s so wrong. I always remember how Mike struck me as just being very intelligent as soon as I spoke with him all those years ago. I was suprised that he spoke so softly for a boy so aggressive when it came to boxing, he was a real polite, mild-mannered gentleman. He was a lovely chap, a very intelligent chap. He still is.” explained Chris.
One of the most interesting responses of the evening came when Tyson was asked if there was any truth in the rumour that he would fight light heavyweight Antonio Tarver.
Head cocked to the side and seemingly lost for words for a split second, Tyson said: “Tarver is crazy, he has my cell phone number and keeps stalking me.
LOONY
“In fact I had two cell phone numbers and I got rid of one and he called the other one, abusing me and calling me names. He’s a loony tune. I’m surprised that he hasn’t got a hold of the European phone number that I am using.”
Chris Eubank and Steve Collins were both asked by members of the audience if they would consider coming out of retirement to fight Tarver! “Never say never,” was Collins’ response.
At one point Tyson confessed that the fight that he most would have liked to see would have taken place between Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, both in their prime.
Prompted by another question, Tyson said he regarded Max Schmeling as one of the few heavyweight fighters that he would most like to chill with, saying: “I was always a fan of his. He did good work and he was a wonderful man.”
Rather surprisingly for the audience was Tyson’s revelation that the fight that meant the most to him was the loss to James ‘Buster’ Douglas, “because that is the way a fighter is supposed to lose his title, being beaten,” he said. He rated the victory against Tyrell Biggs as his finest win.
The event closed with an auction of sporting memorabilia which was held to raise money for the Willow Foundation.
The auction saw a pair of infamous Tyson black trunks fetch £4,000, a replica WBC belt went for £5,250 and a picture of the man everybody came to see raised a further £3,400.
The night will go down as a resounding success for Tyson who was surrounded by former boxing greats Frank Bruno (who was celebrating his 44th birthday), Chris Eubank, Michael Watson, John Conteh and Steve Collins.
Generally, boxing fans left the event well fed and reasonably happy with the night’s proceedings, although many felt that Tyson himself could have stayed on stage a little longer to answer more questions, but most agreed that opportunities like this come along only once in a lifetime.
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