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Holyfield must be bully
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The bell sounded to end the first round, and Mike Tyson threw a right hand to Evander Holyfield's head. Before the referee could break them apart, Holyfield answered with a late left hand of his own.The fight was only minutes old, but Holyfield had set the tone. He would not be intimidated by the fearsome Tyson, before or after the bell.
"Your's the bully in there," trainer Don Turner told Holyfield in the corner after the round ended. "He ain't the bully."
Saturday night, Holyfield must be the bully again if he is to do for a second time what most thought would be impossible when he stopped Tyson in the 11th round last November to win the WBA heavyweight title.
"I have to force my will upon him. I have to make him fight my fight," Holyfield said. "He knows he can't fight going backwards. So the main thing is to press forward."
In a fight that offers staggering riches to both boxers, Holyfield might be right in that it comes down to one surprisingly simply equation: The fighter who can impose his will on the other man in the ring will walk out with the victory and the title.
Holyfield is guaranteed $35 million and Tyson expected to make some $30 million in a fight that could take in $130 million in ticket and pay-per-view sales. It will be televised on pay-per-view, beginning about 11:30 p.m. EDT from the MGM Grand Garden.
For Holyfield, though, this one's not so much about money as about pride.
"I want to show everyone that first win wasn't a fluke," he said. "I'll put my heart and soul in this fight. There will be no excuses."
The oddsmakers still aren't convinced, making Holyfield a 2-1 underdog, though the odds were narrowing as bettors flocked to put money on the champion.
Neither is Tyson, whose career and place in boxing history could ride on whether he can figure out a way to get inside the counter-punching Holyfield and land enough big punches to win.
"I'm going to do pretty good Saturday night," Tyson said. "He's not going to have the championship Saturday night."
Tyson's prefight mental state could be questioned, however, after his camp lost a bid to have Mitch Halpern ousted as referee because Tyson was not "psychologically prepared" to have the same man in the ring as during the first fight.
Halpern, however, withdrew today, saying he didn't want to become the focal point of the fight. He was replaced by Mills Lane, a veteran referee who has worked dozens of big title fights.
Both fighters weighed in Thursday at 218. Tyson was four pounds less than their first fight, while Holyfield was three pounds more.
For Tyson, who has amassed over $100 million in just a little more than two years of fighting after his release from prison on a rape conviction, the fight is his first opportunity to settle a score with a fighter who beat him.
James "Buster" Douglas was the only other one to turn the trick, in an upset just as shocking, when he stopped Tyson in the 10th round of their Feb. 11, 1990 fight in Tokyo. Douglas later lost the title on a one-punch knockout to Holyfield and retired before beginning a comeback recently.
"Buster Douglas was more like a shock to me," Tyson said. "This last fight was just a bad night. I didn't prepare properly for Evander."
Tyson sacked trainer Jay Bright and brought in Richie Giachetti, hoping to get back some of the head movement and motion that helped him get inside taller fighters with devastating regularity in winning 45 of his first 46 fights, 39 by knockout.
Whether he can change enough to offset the tactics and apparent strength advantage of Holyfield will only be known Saturday night.
"I've watched the fight a few times and I saw certain things that I should have done differently," Tyson said.
While Tyson trained behind closed doors, working on technique for the fight, Holyfield's training sessions were open and his tactics no secret.
Like the first fight, Holyfield figures to lean on Tyson, counter him at every chance and force him to go backwards instead of being on the attack. It worked well once, and Holyfield believes it will work again.
In the first fight, Holyfield (33-3, 24 knockouts) was able to do just that, pushing the shorter Tyson across the ring and showing that he was the stronger fighter. With five months to train for this fight, he claims to be in far better shape than he was for the first fight.
"This is a new fight and I'm going to bring more to the table," Holyfield said. "He (Tyson) has figured out a way to beat the fighter who beat him Nov. 9. I'll be a different fighter for June 28."
Veteran trainer Angelo Dundee, who handled Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, among others, says Holyfield's great counter-punching ability is perfect to fight someone like Tyson, who rushes in and relies on big punches.
"I just think Tyson is made to order for him," Dundee said.
Tyson, of course, still has amazingly quick hands and devastating power. He hurt Holyfield in the fifth round of the first fight and even in the 10th round was landing some big shots before Holyfield caught him with a late barrage that send him reeling across the ring into the ropes as the bell sounded to end the round.
"I've got to fight harder," Tyson said. "I could have done better in the first fight."
Tyson, whose 45-2 record includes 39 knockouts, not only has to adjust his style to beat Holyfield, he must worry about getting cut, as he did by a head butt in the sixth round of the first fight.
The cut along his left eye didn't figure in the outcome of the fight, but Tyson suffered another cut in training in nearly the same spot that led to the fight's original May 3 date being postponed.
"My eye seems healed," Tyson said. "As long as it holds up until I get into the ring I'll be fine."
A Tyson win, of course, could set up a rubber match between the fighters, much like Holyfield's trio of fights with Riddick Bowe. f Tyson loses, his future is less clear. Though still marketable, Tyson would probably not be able to make the huge purses he has become accustomed to since being released from prison.
"Mike Tyson would be a changed product, but still a very marketable opponent," Showtime executive Jay Larkin said. "He would be a dfferent Mike Tyson. There's nothing like losing two fights in a row to give a fighter a new outlook."