Tyson hat aber durchaus an Respekt verloren. Holyfield, Botha ließen sich nicht einschüchtern. Aber es liegt an Tyson sich diesen Respekt zurück zu holen.
Ganz guter Artikel.
Lewis may attack Tyson early, often
COMMENTARY
By Michael Katz
Special to The Commercial Appeal
May 13, 2002
The world half-expects Mike Tyson to do something crazy June 8, if indeed he shows up in The Pyramid.
In Britain's legal bookmaking shops, the odds are only 4-1 that Tyson gets himself disqualified, maybe for biting Lennox Lewis's ears, maybe for trying to break an arm, maybe hitting after the bell or on a break. He's done these things in the past.
But if Lewis's hall of fame trainer, Emanuel Steward, has his X's and O's in the right order, the champion's foot may be the one outside the law.
"Frankly, I'm worried about Lennox being disqualified," said Steward, speaking from the Lewis training camp at a Poconos honeymoon resort. "He wants to really hurt this guy."
Tyson may be screaming about tearing Lewis's heart out, eating his children, "taking his pompous brains and smearing them across the ring." Lewis calmly shrugs off the "imbecile" as a "cartoon character."
But if anyone thinks Lewis is preparing a passive performance like the ones he produced against Tyson nemesis Evander Holyfield, at least one boxing brain in paradise knows better.
Ronnie Shields, the latest in a succession of trainers or wannabe trainers who have followed another Cus D'Amato protege, Kevin Rooney, in the Tyson corner, is well aware that there are two Lennox Lewises.
He's been in the opposite corner for both. He was there when Lewis, facing a volatile, unstable heavyweight named Andrew Golota, went right out and took care of matters in the first round. He was there when Lewis, boxing a short, squat powerhouse named David Tua, kept the challenger at jab's length, landing enough big right hands to ward off any thoughts of reckless aggression. That's the fight many think Lewis will reproduce against the short, squat Tyson powerhouse.
"There's really no comparison between Mike and David," said Shields, who was dismissed by Tua for not having a "Plan B" against Lewis. "Mike is much faster."
"Tua was a plodder," agreed Steward. "It's easy to stay one step ahead of Tua. He's slower on his feet than Tyson is."
Shields, calling from Tyson's camp in Maui, said, "We're working both ways" for the two Lewises. He has some of the sparring partners, he said, just holding and clinching every time Tyson gets close enough to grab, to get him used to "frustration." He has others going out to attack Tyson.
That's the key. It is a question of who's in charge. Tyson talks the talk, but Steward listens closely and hears Tyson's fear. "Mike has lost one of his greatest advantages, intimidation," said the man who turned the Kronk Gym into Detroit's most efficient assembly line, producing great champions from Memphis-born Thomas Hearns in 1980 to the present.
It's the other way round with the 6-5 Lewis, who towers over Tyson (listed at 5-11, but shorter). Twice, Tyson has acknowledged in rants from his Maui training camp, he "punked out" of confrontations with Lewis, once in Los Angeles, once in the men's room of a Las Vegas casino.
Lewis kept this fight together so it could land in Memphis. Tyson's increasingly bizarre behavior, starting with the infamous Jan. 22 New York press conference where he bit Lewis in the thigh and failed to get licensed in Las Vegas, has given the champion ample opportunity to take his title and move on to perhaps smaller - but certainly surer - paydays. In his quiet, almost regal manner, the champion seethes when Tyson's name is brought up. This is the fight he's always wanted. You can never be certain with him - even Steward has said he never knows which Lewis will show up - but the feeling is he's going to attack Tyson early .
"Mike doesn't like to be challenged," said Steward. "It's that simple. He cannot do anything backing up. Buster Douglas, Holyfield, they beat him because they were assertive. Tony Tucker might have done it, too, but he had bad hands.
"Yes, Lennox fought a tentative fight against Evander. You can't intimidate Evander and Lennox was always aware of Evander's ability to counter. That's not Mike. You throw punches at Mike, you don't have to worry about any coming back."
Shields says Tyson is in great shape, that the blubbery whale who surfaced in Cuba during the Christmas holidays has been replaced by a firm, fit, still-quick menace. The trainer, who was in Vernon Forrest's corner for the great upset of the previously undefeated Sugar Shane Mosley in January, said former three-division champion Mike McCallum - a one-time Kronk fighter - has been giving Tyson lessons in body-punching. McCallum, dubbed the "Body Snatcher" by Hearns from when they sparred in Detroit, has Tyson "really unloading those body shots," said Shields.
"It's hard to teach a dog new tricks," said Steward. "Tyson's not a Mike McCallum. His style is so different. A lot of this is going to have Tyson confused."
Tyson, Steward pointed out, is a D'Amato disciple. "That means he has head movement, bobbing and weaving," said Steward. "D'Amato fighters don't pick off punches with their hands. Floyd Patterson, when I was a kid, I was shocked to see how easily he was handled by Sonny Liston (who twice scored first-round knockouts of D'Amato's first heavyweight champion). Liston timed the jab, timed where Patterson was going to be.
"Years ago, I had a 17-year-old kid named Bernard Mays (in a national amateur championship) against a 22-year-old D'Amato fighter, Kevin Rooney. The fight was over in the first round. In '83, I had Craig Payne of the Kronk against Tyson. He won, basically just took control."
Shields believes sooner or later, Tyson will "crack" Lewis and Humpty Dumpty will fall. The common belief is that Tyson, after the first few rounds, will be through. Shields said as long as his guy is in shape, he has the skills to keep pressure on Lewis - and if it ever gets to the late rounds, it is Lewis's stamina that will go first.
The danger for Lewis, a slightly better than 2-1 favorite out in Vegas, is one punch. He has been stopped twice, by sparring partners really, Oliver McCall (who worked for Tyson for years) and Hasim Rahman. Both are good punchers; neither is Tyson.
Said Steward, "I've told Lennox, 'You might have to get cracked sometimes.' That's what happens in fights. Youmay not get hit at all, like Tommy (Hearns) against Roberto Duran. Tommy totally messed him up (and knocked Duran out in the second round). But if Lennox gets hit, his chin is better than people think. The problem is that people think about Tyson and they see the old Tyson, they don't want to let that image go. This is not the same guy."
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