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Arizona Arrest the Latest in Tyson's Sad Decline
By Calvin Watkins (Dec 30, 2006)
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Mike Tyson, the prize fighter, hasn't been around for some time. Maybe we lost The Baddest Man on the Planet in Tokyo when Buster Douglass beat him up to take the heavyweight title. Or maybe, Tyson was lost that day he was sent to prison on a rape conviction.
Mike Tyson hasn't been the same for a long, long time. There are even rumors that he doesn't have a home.
Yeah, homeless.
He's not totally broke, but he's no closer to paying off the IRS and his other creditors than you or I are to winning the nomination to become the next U.S. President.
Now comes word that Tyson is in serious trouble.
Yet again.
Tyson was arrested early Friday after he almost smashed a police SUV in Scottsdale, Ariz. Tyson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of two bags of cocaine when police stopped him. Tyson was ordered released without bond on Friday afternoon, surprisingly, on the drug possession charge.
Here's another surprise, he had no lawyer present when he attended his hearing. Maybe Tyson doesn't have the money.
During his arrest, Tyson told police he has a serious drug problem. But who knows if this is a cry for help. We've seen and heard this before.
The major problem for Tyson's arrest is that this is what puts boxing on the front pages of America. Not Manny Pacquiao. Not Oscar De La Hoya. Not Jermain Taylor. There are great, great stories going on in the world of boxing. Sure it has its problems; what sport doesn't?
But the bottom line is Tyson was the last fighter to take the sport mainstream. Sure, you can talk about Oscar De La Hoya, but I don't believe he commands the same attention as Tyson did.
Tyson fighting in the heavyweight division, which drives the sport, dominated for a period of time. When he was on top, fight fans, all sorts of fans, watched the sport.
Heavyweights don't dominate now. Ask a friend who doesn't watch boxing to name any of the heavyweight champs.
He or she couldn't.
De La Hoya fought at middleweight, junior middleweight, welterweight among a few other divisions, but for the mainstream sports fan, he or she wouldn't know a 147 pounder from a 160 pound fighter.
De La Hoya has done an excellent job of marketing himself to advertisers. He fights once a year, yet he's still in the public's eye. That is what's good about him. Yet, he's not big enough, like Tyson was.
But Tyson's troubles, and they're many, puts boxing into another bad light.
People say all the time: Is Tyson still fighting?
Didn't Tyson bite the ears off Evander Holyfield?
When will Tyson fight Holyfield again?
It's a shame. Boxing doesn't need this.
Nobody asks about De La Hoya. This fight of his with Floyd Mayweather next May is great for boxing. But is it the lead story on SportsCenter and do most of the top newspapers send reporters to the fight? If Tyson is fighting, it becomes big news.
Tyson, however, is no longer a part of boxing to the pure and true fight fan.
But boxing is trying to overcome mixed martial arts and the decline of interest. It doesn't need Tyson to mess things up with his arrest.
In some ways, we want Tyson to walk away, drug and financial problems and all. Come back as that retired fighter who does the color on fights, like the classy Lennox Lewis. But that would be too easy for Tyson.
So he's running the streets of Scottsdale awaiting a court date to fix his legal problems.
It seems he's always having legal problems, and his problems sometimes get in the way of what's great about boxing.
Too bad not a lot of people can see it... I was a huge fan back in the mid 80's, then went the other way with his chemically imbalanced behaviour(coupled with roid rage). Now I have pity for him.....
By Calvin Watkins (Dec 30, 2006)
Send this page to friend Give us your feedback
Mike Tyson, the prize fighter, hasn't been around for some time. Maybe we lost The Baddest Man on the Planet in Tokyo when Buster Douglass beat him up to take the heavyweight title. Or maybe, Tyson was lost that day he was sent to prison on a rape conviction.
Mike Tyson hasn't been the same for a long, long time. There are even rumors that he doesn't have a home.
Yeah, homeless.
He's not totally broke, but he's no closer to paying off the IRS and his other creditors than you or I are to winning the nomination to become the next U.S. President.
Now comes word that Tyson is in serious trouble.
Yet again.
Tyson was arrested early Friday after he almost smashed a police SUV in Scottsdale, Ariz. Tyson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of two bags of cocaine when police stopped him. Tyson was ordered released without bond on Friday afternoon, surprisingly, on the drug possession charge.
Here's another surprise, he had no lawyer present when he attended his hearing. Maybe Tyson doesn't have the money.
During his arrest, Tyson told police he has a serious drug problem. But who knows if this is a cry for help. We've seen and heard this before.
The major problem for Tyson's arrest is that this is what puts boxing on the front pages of America. Not Manny Pacquiao. Not Oscar De La Hoya. Not Jermain Taylor. There are great, great stories going on in the world of boxing. Sure it has its problems; what sport doesn't?
But the bottom line is Tyson was the last fighter to take the sport mainstream. Sure, you can talk about Oscar De La Hoya, but I don't believe he commands the same attention as Tyson did.
Tyson fighting in the heavyweight division, which drives the sport, dominated for a period of time. When he was on top, fight fans, all sorts of fans, watched the sport.
Heavyweights don't dominate now. Ask a friend who doesn't watch boxing to name any of the heavyweight champs.
He or she couldn't.
De La Hoya fought at middleweight, junior middleweight, welterweight among a few other divisions, but for the mainstream sports fan, he or she wouldn't know a 147 pounder from a 160 pound fighter.
De La Hoya has done an excellent job of marketing himself to advertisers. He fights once a year, yet he's still in the public's eye. That is what's good about him. Yet, he's not big enough, like Tyson was.
But Tyson's troubles, and they're many, puts boxing into another bad light.
People say all the time: Is Tyson still fighting?
Didn't Tyson bite the ears off Evander Holyfield?
When will Tyson fight Holyfield again?
It's a shame. Boxing doesn't need this.
Nobody asks about De La Hoya. This fight of his with Floyd Mayweather next May is great for boxing. But is it the lead story on SportsCenter and do most of the top newspapers send reporters to the fight? If Tyson is fighting, it becomes big news.
Tyson, however, is no longer a part of boxing to the pure and true fight fan.
But boxing is trying to overcome mixed martial arts and the decline of interest. It doesn't need Tyson to mess things up with his arrest.
In some ways, we want Tyson to walk away, drug and financial problems and all. Come back as that retired fighter who does the color on fights, like the classy Lennox Lewis. But that would be too easy for Tyson.
So he's running the streets of Scottsdale awaiting a court date to fix his legal problems.
It seems he's always having legal problems, and his problems sometimes get in the way of what's great about boxing.
Too bad not a lot of people can see it... I was a huge fan back in the mid 80's, then went the other way with his chemically imbalanced behaviour(coupled with roid rage). Now I have pity for him.....
