Mike Tyson (vs) Clifford Etienne "Back on"

[Hatesrats™]

This weekend's heavyweight showdown between Iron Mike Tyson & Clifford Etienne has been cancelled.

No scheduled date has been set....This totally fuck's up my whole weekend.

[Woodrow]

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mike Tyson suddenly changed his mind Tuesday, saying his bout with Clifford Etienne is back on.

The unpredictable former heavyweight champion chartered a private jet to fly to Memphis, Tenn., and planned to fight Etienne as scheduled Saturday, manager Shelly Finkel said.

"He woke up today and called and said, 'I want to do it,'" Finkel said. "He's leaving today."

The decision came less than 24 hours after Tyson's camp called off the fight.

The about-face was the latest in a series of twists bizarre even by Tyson's standards.

It got even stranger when Etienne said later he was so disgusted that he would not fight. Cooler heads prevailed, though, probably because Etienne will earn close to $1 million for the fight, his biggest payday ever.

"Everything is going to be fine," Etienne's promoter, Les Bonano, said. "The fight is on."

Tyson's representative said they were prepared to replace Etienne if he balked.

"He's going to fight, and if he doesn't, we'll replace him," Finkel said.

Tyson's handlers waited days for him to give them some sort of signal on his willingness to fight. They decided to pull the plug on the bout, scheduled for Saturday, after the boxer missed a flight to Memphis for the second day in a row Monday.

The official word was that Tyson was too sick to fight. But even before he became ill Friday, Tyson left trainer Freddie Roach waiting for him at the gym for three straight days.

Even Monday's press release announcing that the fight was off had hedged on why, saying Tyson "reportedly came down with a severe case of the flu."

Tyson's change of heart not only stunned fight promoters, but it came as a real shock to Roach. Tyson called the trainer Tuesday morning to say he was going to fight.

"I told him, 'Mike, as your friend, I don't think you're ready for the fight,'" Roach said. "He said, 'I'm going to knock him out, are you going to be with me?'"

Roach said he told Tyson he would be there if the fighter was going to Memphis to win. Tyson hasn't trained in a week.

"We'll get a couple days in, the best we can, to get him back" in fight shape, Roach said.

Etienne hadn't been expected to present much of a problem for a fit Tyson. Tyson was a 7-1 favorite over a fighter who was handpicked by promoters for his willingness to stand in front of Tyson and trade punches.

Once the most fearsome heavyweight around, Tyson has shown little inclination to fight in recent years and has lost three of his last nine fights, two by knockout.

Tyson has fought an average of only five rounds a year in the last 51/2 years -- and eight of those came while he was taking a beating in his fight in June against champion Lennox Lewis.

"Everybody should just throw up their hands and let this guy live whatever life he has. Forget about putting him in the ring," rival promoter Bob Arum said. "It's almost cruel now."

But Finkel said Tyson remains a big attraction.

"In the crazy world of Mike Tyson, one thing you have to know is Mike Tyson will always be in demand," Finkel said. "He's still a star -- he's the star. He won't be hurting for places to fight."

The bout with Etienne has been planned both as a comeback fight and a tuneup fight for a possible rematch with Lewis.

Brian Young, one of the local promoters, said 10,700 tickets had been sold for the fight, but that ticket sales dried up over the weekend as speculation mounted that Tyson would not fight.

The Showtime cable network is using the fight and a concert by rapper Jay-Z as part of a big promotional night.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/boxing/news/2003/02/18/tyson_etienne_ap/

[Hatesrats™]

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mike Tyson suddenly changed his mind Tuesday, saying his bout with Clifford Etienne is back on.

The unpredictable former heavyweight champion chartered a private jet to fly to Memphis, Tenn., and planned to fight Etienne as scheduled Saturday, manager Shelly Finkel said.

"He woke up today and called and said, 'I want to do it,'" Finkel said. "He's leaving today."

The decision came less than 24 hours after Tyson's camp called off the fight.

The about-face was the latest in a series of twists bizarre even by Tyson's standards.

It got even stranger when Etienne said later he was so disgusted that he would not fight. Cooler heads prevailed, though, probably because Etienne will earn close to $1 million for the fight, his biggest payday ever.

"Everything is going to be fine," Etienne's promoter, Les Bonano, said. "The fight is on."

Tyson's representative said they were prepared to replace Etienne if he balked.

"He's going to fight, and if he doesn't, we'll replace him," Finkel said.

Tyson's handlers waited days for him to give them some sort of signal on his willingness to fight. They decided to pull the plug on the bout, scheduled for Saturday, after the boxer missed a flight to Memphis for the second day in a row Monday.

The official word was that Tyson was too sick to fight. But even before he became ill Friday, Tyson left trainer Freddie Roach waiting for him at the gym for three straight days.

Even Monday's press release announcing that the fight was off had hedged on why, saying Tyson "reportedly came down with a severe case of the flu."

Tyson's change of heart not only stunned fight promoters, but it came as a real shock to Roach. Tyson called the trainer Tuesday morning to say he was going to fight.

"I told him, 'Mike, as your friend, I don't think you're ready for the fight,'" Roach said. "He said, 'I'm going to knock him out, are you going to be with me?'"

Roach said he told Tyson he would be there if the fighter was going to Memphis to win. Tyson hasn't trained in a week.

"We'll get a couple days in, the best we can, to get him back" in fight shape, Roach said.

Etienne hadn't been expected to present much of a problem for a fit Tyson. Tyson was a 7-1 favorite over a fighter who was handpicked by promoters for his willingness to stand in front of Tyson and trade punches.

Once the most fearsome heavyweight around, Tyson has shown little inclination to fight in recent years and has lost three of his last nine fights, two by knockout.

Tyson has fought an average of only five rounds a year in the last 51/2 years -- and eight of those came while he was taking a beating in his fight in June against champion Lennox Lewis.

"Everybody should just throw up their hands and let this guy live whatever life he has. Forget about putting him in the ring," rival promoter Bob Arum said. "It's almost cruel now."

But Finkel said Tyson remains a big attraction.

"In the crazy world of Mike Tyson, one thing you have to know is Mike Tyson will always be in demand," Finkel said. "He's still a star -- he's the star. He won't be hurting for places to fight."

The bout with Etienne has been planned both as a comeback fight and a tuneup fight for a possible rematch with Lewis.

Brian Young, one of the local promoters, said 10,700 tickets had been sold for the fight, but that ticket sales dried up over the weekend as speculation mounted that Tyson would not fight.

The Showtime cable network is using the fight and a concert by rapper Jay-Z as part of a big promotional night.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/boxing/news/2003/02/18/tyson_etienne_ap/

Thanx for the update my homie...
Hell yeah!!!

[Woodrow]

No problem!

I hope it still goes down, I cant wait to see this fucking tattoo on the side of his face!!!

I can't wait to see it!

[Javier]

lmao at Tyson getting a tatto on the side of his face

[LyRiCaL_G]

i hope tyson fuckin busts him up for joke n then fucks up lewis to...........starts dreamin

[Sikotic™]

DAMN IT! I was waiting for this too.

[Woodrow]

What a nut!!!

[Trauma-san]

I caught him on espn or something yesterday.  It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen.  Mike was saying point blank how he felt about things, and he was really open and down to earth about it.  They asked him about the ear biting incident, and (this is amazing) he said that for a man to step in the ring and be a boxer, he's doing for a living what the interviewer runs from every day, Physical Confrontation.  The interviewer agreed, then Mike said that to be a boxer, and especially a great boxer, you have to be someone that's not normal; the interview asked Mike if he was normal, and he said "no, no i'm not".  I agree, LOL to be a boxer like mike, you're just not a normal person, so people can't hold you up to normal standards.  

The guy asked him why he does so many strange things, and mike said "Because I'm stupid" and then went on to say that he just made tons of stupid mistakes in his life, and he couldn't help it.  

It was really mind opening, it showed me (like the lennox fight) that Mike Tyson is a regular guy.  

[Mr.Pac-Man]

I hope Iron Mike will start making his comeback to fight like the old IRON MIKE!!
but that tattoo looks stupid............

[S.G.V.]

LMAO on the Best Damn Sports Show Period they were clownin...they were like "heres a picture of Mikes tatoo" and they put up a pic of Michael Jacksons face on Tysons body...LMAO...and on ESPN today they were showin different tats on his face...lmao...like Yao Ming..lol...Tyson is gettin nuttier every time...his career is over....the Heavyweight division is pretty lame right now...