Oscar De La Hoya's love of boxing makes him despise Mike Tyson.
"He's a circus act and he's killing boxing," De La Hoya said Wednesday night. "He's disgusting. It's sad and depressing. There are so many good boxers and he ruins it for everyone."
Sitting in an elegant restaurant in his neat pinstripe shirt, tie, silver cufflinks and dark blue suit, De La Hoya seemed the anti-Tyson: a bright, well-spoken, gentlemanly fighter.
As he spoke of his upcoming super welterweight title bout against Fernando Vargas, De La Hoya digressed to talk about the effect Tyson is having on the whole sport.
"I love this sport, but I hate what's happening," De La Hoya said. "A lot of young fighters try to imitate the guys at the top, and he's the worst role model in the world. I don't think he's acting anymore. I think he's seriously sick."
Bob Arum, who has been promoting boxing for more than three decades, said Tyson's antics are hurting the purses of fighters at all levels.
"He's the biggest disgrace in the history of boxing," Arum said. "There's never been an insane fighter at the top of boxing. He should be locked up in an asylum instead of having people pay to see him. That's what's so horrible about the sport: Everybody is catering to an insane man. Everyone is paying money to see a mentally defective fighter.
"The young kids act like idiots trying to emulate him. It's everything that's wrong about the sport and society. He's had a catastrophic effect on boxing."
Tyson, who has been jailed for rape and suspended from boxing for chewing off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear, added to his ugly history in his recent comments about his bout next month in Memphis against Lennox Lewis.
"On June 8, flesh will not be enough," said Tyson, who took a bite out of Lewis' leg during a news conference. "I will take Lennox's title, his soul, and smear his pompous brains all over the ring when I hit him."
"My hope," Arum said, "is that Tyson gets blown away by Lennox and he just fades out of boxing."
Referee
It appears that veteran New Jersey boxing referee Eddie Cotton will be in the ring for the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight June 8 at The Pyramid.
Zuerst hieß es die Veranstalter drängen auf einen rel. unerfahrenen Ref mit dem Namen Bill Clancy.
Lewis und Tyson in einem Ring ist eine großartige Vorstellung. Freue mich schon echt auf den Fight. Da prallen 2 Welten in jeglicher Hinsicht aufeinander. Lewis soll 250 lbs beim Fight wiegen. Nach dem Fight wird man auch wissen ob ODLH und Arum recht haben oder ob sie übertreiben.
Tale of the Tape Lewis (Tyson)
Weight: 250 (225)
Height: 6 ft 5 ins (5 ft 11.5 ins)
Reach: 84 ins (71 ins)
Chest (Normal): 44 (43)
Chest (Expanded): 46 (45)
Biceps: 17 (16)
Forearm: 15 (14)
Waist: 34 (34)
Thigh: 26 (27)
Calf: 18 (18)
Neck: 18 1/2 (19 3/4)
Wrist: 8 (8)
Fist: 12 (13)
vom 10. Mai