THE world of heavyweight boxing is in turmoil this morning following another meltdown moment in the life of Mike Tyson.
Iron Mike erupted in a flurry of punches in an ugly fracas with promoter Don King in Florida - and is believed to have also struck King's driver and a photographer.
Blame has yet to be established but if justice is to be sought by either party, Tyson will not be the only one affected.
Britain's WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will be watching the outcome of Tyson-King II closely, intimately linked as he is to the £40million pot that his rematch with Tyson is expected to generate.
Lewis marks time in Los Angeles next month in a mundane non-title fight against Canada's Kirk Johnson, a bout he was forced to take when a scheduled rematch with Tyson failed to materialise.He is then scheduled to defend his WBC belt against No.1 challenger Vitali Klitschko, but even that is only a provisional date, conditional on negotiations with Tyson. If only Tyson could keep his fists in his pocket when out of the ring.
Five years ago when King first tried to douse Tyson's flame in a California car park he tasted the leather of Iron Mike's boot.
The legal redress sought by Tyson was the cause of their first disagreement as well as this.
With Tyson's £60m law suit due in court in September, King is closer to the brink than he would like to be. His tactic when in trouble is to confuse the opposition. Clearly King has been wasting his time with boxing's dysfunctional fighter extraordinaire.
King inclined further towards Tyson following the brutal dispatch of Clifford Etienne in February, a victory which in theory at least created the possibility of a lucrative second bout with Lewis.
Lewis pulled out of an agreed date with Klitschko to accommodate a proposed rematch with Tyson on June 21 in Los Angeles, but hopes of that taking place receded with the reappearance of King.
Lewis settled on Johnson hoping that Tyson would at least appear on the same bill to keep interest high. But Tyson, assailed by King while tending pigeons in a Manhattan loft, failed to sign contracts. Tyson's temper was further frayed by King's refusal to relent. Even Lewis lost patience, filing a lawsuit of his own against King, alleging loss of earnings as a consequence of the promoter's interference with his contracted opponent.
Lewis's lawyer claimed King should "hang his head in shame" following alleged attempts to penetrate Tyson's inner circle by buying the favour of friends in an attempt to detain him in Manhattan.
King's tenacious pursuit of Tyson took him to Florida this week, where Iron Mike gave him the only kind of answer he knows.
The next few days could be critical in shaping the future for Tyson and Lewis. The pair need each other if boxing's golden goose is to lay for them again. Watch this space. Lewis will be.
Kann mir das mal einer übersetzen?