nice mike tyson interview dude is far from broke

[STILLDRE IS THE GODFATHER]

Tyson a great U.S. hope?
August 14, 2006


LAS VEGAS -- The little boy looked up, wide-eyed, at his father. "Where is Rahman right now, you think?"

"Probably went to the hospital," his father told him. "This is a hurt business, son."

The boy looked crestfallen. "I'm sure he's all right," another man told him. "I spoke to him in the ring after the fight and he seemed fine."

The boy's name is Amir Tyson, and he is 9. His father's name is Mike and he used to be heavyweight champion of the world. They had just watched Hasim Rahman get bullied and pounded out of his one-quarter share of the title Tyson once owned by a Russian named Oleg Maskaev in as brutal a fight as this depleted division has seen since Evander Holyfield left the same ring with one ear ring nine years earlier.

But that was a long time ago, and now, Tyson seems as relevant to contemporary boxing as Max Schmeling. He has not fought since he quit, midfight, to a ham-and-egger named Kevin McBride a year ago June, and shows no eagerness to return. "Boxing's great," Tyson said. "As long as you're watching it from out here."

Six weeks ago, Mike Tyson accomplished something most who knew him at his vicious peak figured would be impossible. He turned 40. He looks older, especially around his scarred and knotty eyebrows, and when he tells you again that he is retired, you believe him, because if this fight didn't bring him back, nothing will.

The promoters of the Rahman-Maskaev fight had dubbed the bout "The Last Line of Defense," a Cold War era reference to the fact that Rahman was the final American heavyweight champion, trying to hold the fort against an influx of Russians.

Before Saturday night, Rahman, who held the WBC title, was surrounded by Russian invaders: Vladimir Klitschko (IBF), Nikolai Valuev (WBA) and Sergei Liakhovich (WBO). Finally, you think, they have achieved the world domination Joseph McCarthy feared they would all along.

In truth, however, Maskaev, from Kazakhstan, lives in Staten Island. Klitschko, a Ukrainian, lives in Germany. Liakhovich, of Belarus, is based in Chicago. And it was Tyson who was boxing's last hope for a resurgence of the division that drives its engine. After the bout, Tyson was asked if the thought of Maskaev -- a crude, powerful brawler built for smashing concrete with a sledgehammer -- holding a title tempted him to consider a comeback.

"Hell, yeah," he admitted, grinning that golden gap-toothed smile. "But forget it," he quickly added. "Ain't no amount of money in the world can bring me back to this."

Coming from Tyson, that is quite a statement. In 2002, he declared bankruptcy, having blown his third fabulous fortune. The IRS still wants its $8 million in back taxes, and the days of $30-million purses for a night's work are over. But he is not broke the way you or I think of broke.

Now, his income consists mostly of handouts from well-heeled hucksters seeking to cash in on his lingering appeal, which is his notoriety. He ticked off a half-dozen exotic locations he had visited over the past year, including Beijing, Moscow and Monte Carlo, and will soon buy a home in Vegas to go with the $2.1-million house he bought outside Phoenix last year.

And there are people out there, financially savvy people, who believe Tyson can still reap millions on an exhibition tour through China and Japan, plans for which are currently in the works. "As long as he does his part," said Harlan Werner, a Los Angeles-based agent who has signed Tyson to a promotional deal. "We believe there's still a lot out there for him."

No heavyweight in the Thomas & Mack Center got the ovation Tyson received from the crowd of 8,000, not Maskaev, who fought a courageous, even gallant fight, nor Rahman, who tried like hell to keep his title until he finally crumbled with a minute left in the 12-rounder, nor Lennox Lewis, who spanked Tyson like a little boy four years ago in Memphis.

It was a roar of thanks for electrifyingly brutal nights long past, and perhaps also a plea for a return to glory for a division that seems irretrievably lost.

But Tyson is done, and so is Holyfield, even as he persists in his dangerous quest this weekend against some nobody in Dallas. The division is in the hands of the Russians now, and a callow kid named Calvin Brock, who is at best mildly talented, is being offered up as the next challenger for Maskaev, who will gobble him like caviar.

Heavyweight boxing is not America's game anymore, its most talented fighters, it seems, being absorbed by the NFL, the NBA and probably Wall Street. It is not a game for the soft, or the lazy, or the privileged sons of rich fathers. "You ain't never gonna have to get hurt like that,'' Mike Tyson whispered to his young son. "Ain't it great you don't have to do this?"

Boxing's truly last hope is that somewhere in this country, a kid Amir Tyson's age is thinking, "Oh, yes I do."



tyson son has the same first name as me

[ABN]

i just checked out the old Larry King interview with Mike after he was released from prison and another one on youtube. i´ve always thought that Mike´s stupid but those 2 interveiws showed that he´s pretty intelligent(believe it or not). it´s good to see that Mike´s spending time with his kids and doing allright coz he used to be a great fighter and he deserves to live a decent life.
here´s that youtube.com interview i was talking about, check it out and you might be surprised
part 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOHZTWXoTrU
part 2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gOw0R5aoswE

[STILLDRE IS THE GODFATHER]

i just checked out the old Larry King interview with Mike after he was released from prison and another one on youtube. i´ve always thought that Mike´s stupid but those 2 interveiws showed that he´s pretty intelligent(believe it or not). it´s good to see that Mike´s spending time with his kids and doing allright coz he used to be a great fighter and he deserves to live a decent life.
here´s that youtube.com interview i was talking about, check it out and you might be surprised
part 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOHZTWXoTrU
part 2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gOw0R5aoswE

yeah dude is not dumb he just street he grew up rough but he is a smart people assume hes dumb cos of his past

[Sikotic™]

Nice interview.

Tyson is far from dumb, he's an intellegent man.

People forget, since he was a teenager, people have been training him and making him into a monster. And that's what they created: a monster. SOmetimes, that monster comes out in him when you don't want it to. He's an articulate, smart guy when he's under control though.

[M Dogg™]

Tyson is a very smart guy, mainly because he learned the hard knocks way. It's that same upbringing that also makes him dangerous, and as he said, you pay him to hurt people. His paid to knock people out, and as long as his doing that, we are happy. He knew his roll in society, and he also knows that his days are done. After losing to McBride, he said if he can't beat this guy, then he ain't ready for Klitschko.

[jeromechickenbone]

i just checked out the old Larry King interview with Mike after he was released from prison and another one on youtube. i´ve always thought that Mike´s stupid but those 2 interveiws showed that he´s pretty intelligent(believe it or not). it´s good to see that Mike´s spending time with his kids and doing allright coz he used to be a great fighter and he deserves to live a decent life.
here´s that youtube.com interview i was talking about, check it out and you might be surprised
part 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOHZTWXoTrU
part 2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gOw0R5aoswE

Those were some dope interviews.  Tyson is definitely one of the most fascinating people out there.  People can knock him for numerous things, but they can't call him ignorant.  He's very introspective, and i'm sure the wheels are constantly spinning in his head - probably WAY too much.  I liked his comment about not being a tragic figure.  Being tragic would be a fall from grace, so that doesn't seem like an unfair assumption.  But he stated that where he is now is exponentially better than where he was growing up.  Props for the vids.

[ABN]

here´s a site filled with great Mike Tyson clips if y´all wanna download some of them. if you haven´t seen his interview with Larry King then download it coz that shit´s nice.
http://geocities.com/mike_tyson_ko/videos.html

[acgrundy]

Tyson is far from dumb, he's an intellegent man.

People forget, since he was a teenager, people have been training him and making him into a monster. And that's what they created: a monster. SOmetimes, that monster comes out in him when you don't want it to. He's an articulate, smart guy when he's under control though.

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