By Eric Thomas: Last night between bouts at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Showtime announcer Jim Gray interviewed Mike Tyson and promoter Don King. Tyson, 43, and overweight, was asked by Gray if he would consider making a boxing comeback. Tyson had this to say: “If this guy (Don King) is going to pay for my training — my training team costs a lot of money — anything is possible. I don’t see it happening but anything is possible.’’
Although Tyson didn’t sound motivated or confident about making a comeback, he did sound as if he had been thinking about it and might be able to be persuaded. Don King sounded as if he is willing to help Tyson with his comeback, saying “I think Mike’s one of the greatest fighters that ever lived. I think he can still be a fighter if he wants to be a fighter. Listen, whatever it is between Mike, it ain’t about the bankroll. We gonna do what has to be done…So whatever we have to do, we’ll do.”
There it is. It appears that King might be in the process of helping the 43-year-old Tyson stage yet another comeback. Obviously, Tyson, who hasn’t boxed for four long years, will have to be matched carefully because they’ve made mistakes in the past by putting him in with Danny Williams and the huge hulking 271 pound Kevin McBride in Tyson’s last two bouts. Those were the wrong opponents for Tyson on a comeback and it’s shocking that Tyson was put in with them. McBride was certainly a beatable fighter, but he used his size to rough Tyson up in their fight.
Tyson might be better off forgetting a tune-up bout altogether because there’s too much risk involved. Unless he’s conditioned well and gets in the best shape possible and shows good form in his sparring, he needs to be steered clear of any tune-up bouts. What Don King needs to do is match him up with Evander Holyfield for a third match between them. That’s a fight that the boxing public would likely be interested in seeing if they believe that Tyson is serious about the comeback and in good condition.
That’s the real question. People won’t want to watch the bout if Tyson is unable to lose weight and get himself in good shape. Tyson looks to be in the 260 range, possible 270 right now. He’ll need to lose at least 40 pounds for him to have a chance at beating the 46-year-old Holyfield. I think Tyson can do it because Holyfield looked terrible in his last fight against Nikolay Valuev last year. All Tyson has to do is stay upright and remember to throw at least 15-20 hard punches per round and he’ll win the fight.
Tyson doesn’t have to try and knock Holyfield out, although that would be great if he could do that. But the main thing is for Tyson to fight for 10 rounds without tiring out again and being stopped. His conditioning is what failed him in his last two fights of his career against Williams and McBride. This is something that Tyson will have to work on because Holyfield will be in good shape as he always is and will be ready to fight however many rounds he needs to.
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