"Iron" Mike Tyson Returning To The Ring!

Discussion in 'Boxing' started by Korpy, Aug 3, 2006.

  1. Korpy

    Korpy Whatever Works

    Yes, the former HW Boxing champion, "Iron" Mike Tyson is returning to the ring, But not for a big comeback match or a title match. He will be fighting in both China and Japan in a series of exhibition bouts.

    http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=4970

    I know he's just doing it to pay his bills, and I hope he gets them payed up, so he can be out of debt. I really hope he does good in the bouts, and I soon hope to see him commentating.
     
  2. Serpent

    Serpent New Member

    Just curious can you give me his history? I wonder how he went from being one of the best boxers to a guy in debt?
     
  3. Korpy

    Korpy Whatever Works

    Bad money management, prison, and a man named Don King.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2006
  4. Apotheosis

    Apotheosis Valued Member

    Not to mention being a bit of a dim bulb who was taken advantage of by his managers, Don King....

    Really the guy was a tremendous boxer however mentally he was a bit short, and he never got help. Instead his managers/trainers etc.. simply took advantage of him and allowed him to spin out of control

    Not to say it wasn't his fault, but the people around him let him down as well.


    I cannot imagine listening to Mike Tyson as a commentator, really doesn't seem like a good choice.
     
  5. heim

    heim Valued Member

    it might be comforting to hear a feminine voice during a vicious fight ;)
     
  6. Apotheosis

    Apotheosis Valued Member

    I suppose, except for the fact he would be talking about completely random things.

    "Wow, look at that hook. That reminds me, I am hooked on crack. Can I eat your baby?

    I sure do love pigeons.."

    Who in their right mind would think he would make a good commentator? He knows what he would be talking about, however he is not very focused lately.
     
  7. heim

    heim Valued Member

    he'd be more like "hey, a hook, that reminds me of the time i passed up that offer on hooked on phonics, boy do i regret ever doing that. I'm hungry"
     
  8. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    Brutal thread.
    I'd be on you lot for talking rubbish and being haters... but gotta admit the 'hooked on crack' 'hooked on phonics' bit was hilarious. :p
    In a decidedly postmodern slandering of pop culture icons such as it is. :D

    Seriously though.

    I've always liked Tyson. Watching him train is inspiring. He had some of the best head movement out there... and in his younger days his speed was brilliant. He seemed to come in under the radar and wallop people!

    Given his uprbringing and background it's not really any big surprise much of what's happened to Mike Tyson. I think much of that would be different if Cus D'Amato had not died when he did.

    For those of you who don't know - read up:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cus_D'Amato

    It's easy to sit back and critiscize Tyson from the comfort of your keyboard - just do so knowing that he's made more than any of you probably ever will, he's boxed better and longer and against harder opponents as well. Just his amatuer career would most likely smoke anyone that even posts on these forums. So give some credit where it's due.
     
  9. Apotheosis

    Apotheosis Valued Member

    Oh absolutely, I don't mean to critic his boxing ability as he was a great boxer.

    One of the best ever, no doubt he could whallop me with his eyes closed.

    However, I think i can safely say I have him beat as far as mental stability goes.
     
  10. prowla

    prowla Valued Member

    He was just plain awesome in his prime.
    Unfortunately he went off the rails and lost it all.
    Would people pay to see him now?
    Dunno.
     
  11. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    But then again it's a bit like trying compare apples to oranges. If you'd been what he's been through and you'd come out the better man in that sense... then it might make sense... but since you couldn't and haven't then it's just not very apt.

    At any rate - it'd be nice if he gets things back on track in his life. It'd be nice for the image of boxing. Lord knows we have enough flak without having the mass medias protrayal of Tyson as the representative image of boxing.
     
  12. Apotheosis

    Apotheosis Valued Member

    I don't know, I consider myself more stable than Michael Jackson as well.....

    Saying he is a better boxer than me is also comparing apples to oranges...I didn't live the same life he did, so maybe I would have been a better boxer.(I wouldn't have) All we can really do is compare the unusual to the usual, and try to rule accordingly. Tyson raped a woman, and while I may have done the same if I had lived his life, I can say that rape is wrong in any case.

    I don't mean to say I am better than him, I am just more mentally stable.
     
  13. canemaster

    canemaster New Member

    Mike Tyson=Waste Of Time

    Hi Everyone:

    Many great points on Tyson here. Personally, if I never saw him again, that would be too soon. YES, he absolutely was taken advantage of by many people-even Cus D'Amato. The old man overlooked many transgressions because he saw the youthful Tyson as another opportunity to train a champion. Cus knew that Mike was the the polar opposite of the kind, dignified Floyd Patterson. Robin Givens and monster-in-law Ruth Roper-gold diggers no doubt. Don King is a vampire. He bleeds money and blood when he flashes that phony smile. You can even give King some of the blame for ruining the career of his biggest cash cow. It was King who pushed Bill Cayton and trainer Kevin Rooney out the door, removing any restraint and discipline to Tyson's personal, and more importantly, professional life.
    I think if I had to pick one heavyweight for one fight-on their best day, I'd pick Tyson-that's easy. He destroys anyone-ON HIS BEST DAY. If you take away all the demons and distractions, Tyson is a wonderful athlete.
    At some point in everyone's life, we must take responsibility for our actions. Mike Tyson has never done this. Only his ability to make money kept his career going after he disgraced himself and boxing with the Evander Holyfield fiasco. Boxing further damaged its shaky credibility by reinstating him None of us here, regardless of our abilities as martial artists, would have been given another chance if we had gone cannibalistic in a competition-UNLESS we could make money for someone else along the way. That is a sad commentary on our world, not just Tyson and/or boxing. There's no real sense of right and wrong anymore-everything is relative. That's a dangerous world to live in.
    There comes a time in our lives where we have to say "What am I doing?" Where am I going in my life?" Isn't that why many of us are here, first learning an art or arts and now sharing on this site? I don't know if Tyson has ever done this. I thought after Lennox Lewis pounded on him that perhaps Mike was growing into adulthood, but who knows? At some point, either you wake up, or you keep drifting along.
    A muktiple rapist (not just what he was convicted for) self centered thug who would be in jail or dead now if not for his ability to be a gate attraction: Mike Tyson is the perfect example of how NOT to live one's live. "Kids, don't be like Mike." Only my occupation keeps me remotely interested in him-and THAT is a sadder reflection of the media!
    This guy has squandered talent, money and opportunities rarely afforded others. Has he made a difference? Is he happy? I wish him no harm, but Mike Tyson stopped earning the right to be a viable public figure a long time ago-in boxing, K-1, WWE, or another trip to the big house-which given his instability, could be before I'm done posting this.

    Canemaster
     
  14. Ecks

    Ecks New Member

    Tyson, before he fired Kevin Rooney, was a force to be reckoned with. Without him, his skills slowly deteriorated, and he became more of a one punch killer, rather than the amazing boxer he was.

    As a person, I can't say I liked him. As a boxer though, he was a freaking beast. He was already 200 pounds by age 13. He didn't demand respect, you gave it to him or you died. While I don't think he's that great right now, I really missed his days when he was in his prime. Greatest heavyweight boxer of all time when he was focused. Don King really screwed him over.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=3D7d6PgfcCw&search=mike tyson

    some KOs by Mike in his glory days.
     
  15. Korpy

    Korpy Whatever Works

    All you people making fun of ol Mike... go get a life. He's accomplished more in his life then most of you will in your whole life. It's wrong to make fun of him, and no matter what you say, he's a boxing legend.
     
  16. Ecks

    Ecks New Member

    Also, bear in mind that, to paraphrase Tyson, he's lived in places where most wouldn't dare defecate.

    Any person would become what Tyson is if we lived through the hell he went through. Now that I think of it, it's not really his fault he ended up like he did.
     
  17. callsignfuzzy

    callsignfuzzy Is not a number!

    Well... Mike's done an aweful lot that's worth making fun of. C'mon... "I want to eat his children. Praise Allah!"

    Possible soundbite of the century there.

    The fact is that the guy's not right in the head. I'm not talking about IQ here, I'm talking stability. I mean, I pity him more than laugh at him, but you gotta admit, "hooked on crack" and "hooked on phonics" was funny. His outrageous threats seem so out of place with his effeminate speach and lisp. Dude cracks me up when he goes off on someone.

    He's had more sports success and fame than I ever will, cool. But he's also a thug who is in desparate need of therapy, 'cause he's accomplished more BAD things than I ever will, too. I mean, at what point does he grow out of his bully mentallity? They said he was respectful to Cus, but it doesn't seem like he's found that attitude again since that time.

    OK, back on subject. Good on him for finding a legit way to earn some dough, but I think there's a huge "freak show" factor when it comes to Tyson now-days. And Asian countries, in my experience, go ga-ga over big black dudes for no apparent reason. I was in Japan for Sapp-mania. Dude was quite a personallity, but I think they went overboard. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that the old Tyson is long gone. The only match I've been interested in seeing since the second Holyfield fight was his possible K-1 match that never materialized, and that was mostly 'cause I wanted mainstream America to "discover" kickboxing and MMA.

    As far as his commentating goes, I've heard that he is, or at least was, quite a student of the game. Someone, I forget who, told me he wasn't that bad on commentary, but I don't know how dated the info was. Maybe from his prime back in the '80's? I'd give the guy a chance.
     
  18. Ecks

    Ecks New Member

    I have a question - did you live in inner-city Brooklyn, have your father leave you at the age of two, grow up on streets where you had to fight or be beaten, and unable to find a job because middle class america apparently forgot that there are people worse off than them? If so, then you're free to talk as much about Tyson as you want. But if not, then you have no idea what stuff like that does to you. Tyson became who he was because of his environment. It made him a devastating fighter, as are most people born out of hardship, but it also messed with his morals.

    While I do agree that this is never an excuse for what you do, and I've always disliked his personality, I at least would try to understand why he does this. In some respects, I feel most of us are guilty for what he is. He got trapped by the street because he basically couldn't get any other way out.
     
  19. Mike71

    Mike71 Valued Member

    I haven't no, but it doesn't mean you have to come out a rapist psycho. Take a look at Peter Westbrook. African American father and Japanese born mother, parents divorced at a young age, lived in the projects of New Jersey. He went on to become probably the greatest US fencer of all time, graduated from college, and now works with kids to help keep them out of trouble.

    "Of the kids I grew up with, about 5 percent are on drugs right now, and 5 percent are in prison, and 90 percent are dead." [interview with Peter Westbrook for Smithsonian, June 1996]

    --Michael
     
  20. Korpy

    Korpy Whatever Works

    Very true. I don't think I could have lived through all the stuff he has.
     

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