Berto-Mosley confirmed; Tyson, Harrison, More

By Eric Thomas: 43-year-old retired fighter Mike Tyson made boxing news earlier today when he was reportedly arrested yesterday while at Los Angeles Airport for allegedly striking a 50-year-old photographer in the face and knocking him down. Tyson, 43, was traveling with his wife and 10-month old child. It’s unknown what caused the incident at this time. Tyson was later released. The photographer was cut on the forehead from the punch.

Tyson effectively ended his boxing career in June 2005, losing a 6th round TKO to Kevin McBride in a failed comeback attempt. Tyson had been stopped in the 4th round a year earlier by British heavyweight Danny Williams in July 2004. And in June 2002, Lennox Lewis stopped Tyson in the 8th round.

At one time, Tyson was the best heavyweight on the planet, and beat notable stars such as Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and Frank Bruno. However, by 2000, Tyson’s skills were beginning to show signs of eroding as his defense wasn’t as good and his stamina had also deteriorated visibly.

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Harrison motivated by David Haye

38-year-old Audley Harrison was motivated by fellow British heavyweight David Haye’s 12 round decision win over WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev last Saturday night in Nuremberg, Germany. Harrison, who recently won the Prizefighter tournament in the UK, said “I was motivated to achieve my goals already, but David’s (Haye) win and publicity has given me more fuel to get back to the top.”

Harrison is trying to jumpstart his sagging pro career and is hoping that the Prizefighter tourney victory will help him get started. Harrison, not a big puncher, knocked out two of his three opponents in the tourney. Granted, most of them were B level fighters, but Harrison still did what he had to do and got them out of there in style.

Harrison has a long ways to go before he gets back into the thick of things in the heavyweight division, though, because he needs to get some wins over credible opponents before that happens. Harrison has been beaten twice in the past two years losing to Martin Rogan and Michael Sprott. But with his 6’6” height and long 86” reach, he’d be a lot of problems for any fighter in the division if he comes into the fight motivated and looking for a knockout.

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Mosley vs. Berto fight confirmed

The January 10 2010 unification bout between World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) and undefeated World Boxing Association welterweight title holder Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KO’s) has been confirmed. The fight will take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mosley, 38, hasn’t fought in a year since defeating then champion Antonio Margarito by a 9th round stoppage in January 2009. Mosley was hoping to get as big money fight against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, neither fighter has shown much of any interest in fighting Mosley. This may be because of how good Mosley looked against Margarito. Mosley dominated Margarito in all nine rounds of the bout, and didn’t show any signs of having lost any of his skills.

Berto, 26, has been something of a disappointment since winning the vacant WBC welterweight crown in June 2008. Berto has looked dull in fights against Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo and Juan Urango. Berto’s once exciting style of fighting has evolved into a punch and clinch technique that many boxing fans find hard to watch. Berto barely beat Collazo in January, winning a close 12 round decision. And in Berto’s last fight in May, he won a boring 12 round decision over Juan Urango, in a fight in which Berto clinched constantly.

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