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Throughout his 12 year professional fighting career, Jeff 'The Marrickville Mauler' Fenech (28-3-1; 21 KO's) has always meant business inside the ring. A gutsy, hard nosed, tough as nails boxer from Sydney, Australia, Fenech is arguably the greatest fighter his homeland has ever produced. He represented his country in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (succumbing in the quarter finals) and went on to become a three-division champion (IBF Bantam weight-1985; WBC Super Bantam weight-1987; WBC Feather weight-1988) before retiring in 1996. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002, Fenech now faces what may be one of his toughest challenges to date... training 'Iron' Mike Tyson.
Last month, Fenech began working with Tyson in Phoenix Arizona in preparation for his fight against Kevin McBride (32-4-1; 27 KO's) on June 11th in Washington, DC. This will be Tyson's first bout in 11 months, since his shocking 4th round knockout defeat to journeyman Danny Williams. After that fight, it was discovered that Tyson (50-5; 44 KO's) injured his knee in the first round and sustained four tears to the meniscus in his left knee which ultimately required surgery.
Interestingly, McBride is by far the tallest fighter that Tyson (at 5'11") has ever faced (Lennox Lewis and Mitch Green both stood at 6'5"). Standing at 6'6", the 31 year old McBride (of Brockton, MA by way of Clones Ireland) will also have an 11 inch reach advantage over the soon to be 39 year old Tyson, who measures at 71 inches. Coincidently, the obscure McBride was originally pegged to face Tyson before Williams was officially selected.
********* spoke to Fenech:
Many consider Kevin McBride to be a slow and plodding fighter and don't expect him to last one round against Mike. Is McBride a wise choice for an opponent?
It's my job to get Mike ready... for whoever they dole out as an opponent. So, whether it's Kevin McBride or a world champion, it's important to me that when Mike gets in the ring, he knows he can fight for 10 rounds if he has to. Obviously, I've watched McBride's fight tapes (with Mike) and I'm confident that we can get the job done. Whether it goes one round, or six or eight, Mike will be physically ready to do what he has to do.
Besides the physical aspect, Cus D'Amato and Kevin Rooney worked on the 'mental' side of Tyson - ultimately giving him tremendous confidence against his opponents. Is that also a focal point of yours?
Absolutely. I'm working very hard on getting Mike to believe in himself and what he's been doing in training. At the start of our preparation for this fight, Mike wasn't confident. But he's beginning to believe in himself more and more and we're starting to reap the benefits from that.
Tyson has stated publicly that he went into a deep depression while recuperating from knee surgery. After such and injury, many athletes become gun shy and overly cautious about giving 100% - for fear of re-injuring themselves. Is this a concern for you?
Yeah. It is. Even though his knee has healed completely, I'm trying to get Mike fit enough and confident enough to know that he can do whatever he has to do in the ring. His confidence is a key.
The D'Amato style of bobbing and weaving fit perfectly for Tyson. Has he been sharpening those skills or do you have him working on something else?
Obviously, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Mike was at his best, when he was doing what Cus taught him. So, when Mike has his fitness level and confidence back, all of those skills will come naturally to him. Other than that, we've been working on slowing down Mike's pace. I want him to calm down and realize 'we're not 19 years old anymore... we're 39 and we have to conserve energy.' I want Mike to believe that he doesn't have to go out there and look for a quick knockout... that he doesn't have to rush anymore and that he can wait for the opening rather than try to create the opening. If Mike just takes his time, a knockout will happen.
What is Tyson's training regimen like?
Of course, he does his road work and we do a lot of walking. In the morning, Mike has a conditioning coach who also does rehabilitation on his knee. He has a weight lifting routine that he does for a couple of hours, then in the afternoon he comes to the gym and we do all of our boxing work... which is pretty intense. I'm a real believer in 'quality' not 'quantity.' I'd rather Mike give me one good hour of hard gym work than two average hours. Like I said, Mike isn't 19 anymore and the things we're working on are for a reason.
Who is Tyson sparring with and how is he looking in those sessions?
Mike is sparring with Corey Sanders ('T-Rex' from Washington DC) and a couple of local guys that he's used in the past. Corey is 6'6" and his style is similar to McBride's. But, Mike is looking great and he's right where I'd like him to be. For instance, Mike has not sparred for six rounds... in years! They say they couldn't get him past three or four rounds. And at the moment, we're sparring six rounds everyday. Come next week, we'll spar eight and ten rounds with no problem. Also, next week... I'd like to get rid of those cell phones of his so I can get Mike to relax and concentrate more as the fight approaches.
Last month, Fenech began working with Tyson in Phoenix Arizona in preparation for his fight against Kevin McBride (32-4-1; 27 KO's) on June 11th in Washington, DC. This will be Tyson's first bout in 11 months, since his shocking 4th round knockout defeat to journeyman Danny Williams. After that fight, it was discovered that Tyson (50-5; 44 KO's) injured his knee in the first round and sustained four tears to the meniscus in his left knee which ultimately required surgery.
Interestingly, McBride is by far the tallest fighter that Tyson (at 5'11") has ever faced (Lennox Lewis and Mitch Green both stood at 6'5"). Standing at 6'6", the 31 year old McBride (of Brockton, MA by way of Clones Ireland) will also have an 11 inch reach advantage over the soon to be 39 year old Tyson, who measures at 71 inches. Coincidently, the obscure McBride was originally pegged to face Tyson before Williams was officially selected.
********* spoke to Fenech:
Many consider Kevin McBride to be a slow and plodding fighter and don't expect him to last one round against Mike. Is McBride a wise choice for an opponent?
It's my job to get Mike ready... for whoever they dole out as an opponent. So, whether it's Kevin McBride or a world champion, it's important to me that when Mike gets in the ring, he knows he can fight for 10 rounds if he has to. Obviously, I've watched McBride's fight tapes (with Mike) and I'm confident that we can get the job done. Whether it goes one round, or six or eight, Mike will be physically ready to do what he has to do.
Besides the physical aspect, Cus D'Amato and Kevin Rooney worked on the 'mental' side of Tyson - ultimately giving him tremendous confidence against his opponents. Is that also a focal point of yours?
Absolutely. I'm working very hard on getting Mike to believe in himself and what he's been doing in training. At the start of our preparation for this fight, Mike wasn't confident. But he's beginning to believe in himself more and more and we're starting to reap the benefits from that.
Tyson has stated publicly that he went into a deep depression while recuperating from knee surgery. After such and injury, many athletes become gun shy and overly cautious about giving 100% - for fear of re-injuring themselves. Is this a concern for you?
Yeah. It is. Even though his knee has healed completely, I'm trying to get Mike fit enough and confident enough to know that he can do whatever he has to do in the ring. His confidence is a key.
The D'Amato style of bobbing and weaving fit perfectly for Tyson. Has he been sharpening those skills or do you have him working on something else?
Obviously, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Mike was at his best, when he was doing what Cus taught him. So, when Mike has his fitness level and confidence back, all of those skills will come naturally to him. Other than that, we've been working on slowing down Mike's pace. I want him to calm down and realize 'we're not 19 years old anymore... we're 39 and we have to conserve energy.' I want Mike to believe that he doesn't have to go out there and look for a quick knockout... that he doesn't have to rush anymore and that he can wait for the opening rather than try to create the opening. If Mike just takes his time, a knockout will happen.
What is Tyson's training regimen like?
Of course, he does his road work and we do a lot of walking. In the morning, Mike has a conditioning coach who also does rehabilitation on his knee. He has a weight lifting routine that he does for a couple of hours, then in the afternoon he comes to the gym and we do all of our boxing work... which is pretty intense. I'm a real believer in 'quality' not 'quantity.' I'd rather Mike give me one good hour of hard gym work than two average hours. Like I said, Mike isn't 19 anymore and the things we're working on are for a reason.
Who is Tyson sparring with and how is he looking in those sessions?
Mike is sparring with Corey Sanders ('T-Rex' from Washington DC) and a couple of local guys that he's used in the past. Corey is 6'6" and his style is similar to McBride's. But, Mike is looking great and he's right where I'd like him to be. For instance, Mike has not sparred for six rounds... in years! They say they couldn't get him past three or four rounds. And at the moment, we're sparring six rounds everyday. Come next week, we'll spar eight and ten rounds with no problem. Also, next week... I'd like to get rid of those cell phones of his so I can get Mike to relax and concentrate more as the fight approaches.
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