A video game, a documentary, a reunion with promoter Don King, an apology to Evander Holyfield, and now a rumored comeback to boxing…the return of 2-Time World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson. When Tyson crumbled at the hands of the mediocrity by the name of Kevin McBride in 2005, it was fair to say that the career of “The Baddest Man on the Planet” was over. Drug problems and personal problems and a lack of focus in boxing had sealed his fate, but things in 2009 have changed.
TYSON a documentary gave the public a window into the mind of a man that they thought they knew. He wasn’t the vicious criminal that so many pegged him to be and the public had a different perspective. Although the documentary wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever seen, it surely showed that Tyson was beginning to get his life together. The pressures of pugilism a distant memory and the drug problems that plagued his life now gone, he looked ahead to a brighter life.
Another big deal for Tyson was the launch of a video game EA’s FIGHT NIGHTS, Round 4, where he was pitted against Muhammad Ali in a dream match. Tyson, underrated as an all time great, was introduced to the video game fans and given equal billing with “The Greatest.” Mike Tyson, in his prime, is near the top of the list of all time great heavyweights and matches Ali equally in fame, if not surpasses him. It’s that popularity that keeps him in the public’s eye.
A large surprise is the reunion with infamous promoter Don King and Tyson. In the late 1980s throughout the 1990s, King and Tyson were synonymous. King, despite questionable character and business practices, did a wonderful job of marketing Tyson, matching him well, and making a boatload of money in the process. Like most of King’s heavyweights of that time, Tyson eventually left and claimed thievery, but that aside, Tyson-King was a winning combination from the outside looking in.
“Anything’s possible.”
Mike Tyson stated that he was not ruling out a comeback to boxing and King began to salivate. The recent flood of positive press, apparent calmness and positive attitude, and possibly an inner need to not leave the sport on the floor with McBride looking down, may equal to Tyson gloving up again.
Don King has been spinning his wheels in recent years…sort of going through the motions. He needed something to get excited about and Tyson is it. The lackluster division, the vast amount of mediocre heavyweights, and the punch of Tyson could rewind the clock, but it’s all up to Mike.
Tyson needs to remain drug free and if he stays that way, and has the proper training, Don King will do the rest. He has a lot of heavyweights in his stable and can certainly recruit more to bring Mike along slowly and return him back to the top 10. Apollo Creed once told Rocky Balboa that he “lost that fight for all the wrong reasons” after Clubber Lang stopped him inside of two rounds. Apollo would say the same to Tyson after his loss to McBride.
It may be fair to say that Tyson will return to the ring. He took a step away to clear his head after a 20 year professional career. He was burnt out and was not mentally right to be in the ring at all and with a lot of debt, he was fighting to pay off the people he owed…tough to be inspired under those circumstances. He didn’t train and was stopped by men that he would have dropped in 90 seconds or less in his prime. Should he return, King will match him very soft in the beginning and he has to, but guys like Tye Fields, Mike Mollo, and a rematch with McBride would be a good second or third fight to get back on the map.
The standard has been set and the blueprint is there for success at a later age. George Foreman returned to the ring, fought once a month against journeymen fighters, and got sharp again, and then gave a prime Evander Holyfield hell for 12 rounds before later going on to win the title, being the oldest man ever to capture the heavyweight title. Tyson has the punch and if he can stay in the gym, fight often, and keep his enthusiasm, we may just see the second chapter in his boxing life a successful one.
If we are going to bring Tyson/King back to boxing, why not bring Kevin Rooney back into the mix too? Nobody understands the Cus D’Amato style that made Iron Mike so successful more than Rooney, and if he could bury the hatchet with his former student and the promoter, the pieces for success would be in place.
On Showtime’s recent card, Don King and Mike Tyson stood side by side, both jovial and standing inside of the boxing ring…a familiar sight for anyone that has followed boxing from the 1980s on. It is difficult for any Tyson fan not to get excited at the prospect of him returning to the ring mentally right and with King handling the promotional side. As much as King can be questioned, nobody has been able to promote Tyson as well and you have to think that nobody would be better suited to handle this comeback, should it happen and I think that it will.
Iron Mike Tyson, 50-6, 44 KO’s, at 43 years of age, has hit another high in popularity due to his movie and the consistent positive publicity, and a return to the boxing might just be the right thing for him to settle his mind even more and erase the image of him crumbling to the giant Irish journeyman, McBride. I cannot wait to see Tyson with the gloves on again.
