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The inevitability of Lewis vs. Tyson
Michael Grant was supposed to be a serious threat in the heavyweight division. He was supposed to be one of the sports rising stars. But just when we set our telescopes on his massive frame, he burned out.
When he nervously sauntered between the ropes on Saturday night, more than a few regulars at the pub were giving him a fair shot at beating Lennox Lewis. I listended to all the talk over bubbling brews as the old timers gnawed on chicken bones and made what turned out to be embarassing predictions.
Maybe it was the frightening physique or the K.O. win over Andrew Golota, but a lot of people, people that will be hard to find now, thought Grant had a chance. And the saddest part is, I was one of them. I was even tempted to write a column about Grant's chances. I thought he could at least stand in there.
But we were all fooled.
Better yet, we were the victims of our own wishful thinking, our own optimistic view that the heavyweight division had some fresh blood. That it wasn't going to be Tyson, Tyson, Tyson for the next 10 years. And lo and behold, Grant was exposed----timber----and Tyson's named was the first to start rolling off tongues.
Yes, Mike Tyson is, sadly, still in the tightly-cropped heavyweight picture. But more as a character than a fighter. His skill's have deteriorated to such a degree that's it's a little embarassing that he becomes the guy who the heavyweight champion must defeat if he is to earn the respect of the public.
Tyson is not interested in fighting anymore. He's doing it for the money. The reason that Tyson vs. Savarese has been postponed is because Mike Tyson's weight balloons to close to 300 pounds between fights. Not only has he lost his head-snapping, liver-bursting form, but he's lost his passion to train. And that's the beginning of the end for a fighter.
Tyson has had his day and a Lewis vs. Tyson fight has nothing to do with boxing. It has nothing to do with pitting the best against the best. It has everything to do with money, and the fact that the heavyweight division has so few real contenders, or in the public's eye, interesting ones, that watching Tyson act like an idiot and try to blast Lewis' head off his shoulders with wild wide hooks will at the very least be pretty interesting.
And maybe it has a little to do with the fact that deep down the people don't want Lennox Lewis to hold the prestigious title of heavyweight champion. He just doesn't seem to fit the mold. British, tea sipping, chess playing, soft-spoken. Give us a criminal, a cowboy, a street fighter. So we really want to see Tyson fight Lewis because, although Lewis is the superior fighter, we want Tyson to knock him out. And with Tyson there is always the exciting hope that he can still put anyone to sleep if the stars align properly and he lands a left hook to the point of a chin.
Deep down we want Tyson to restore the natural order. To ignite some passion and bad blood into the heavyweight division. Or at least to knock the British accent and the taste of yorkshire pudding out of Lewis' mild-mannered mouth.
Mike Tyson is a vicarious game of Russian Roullete. He may come up empty some of time but eventually he's gonna knock someone's head off. And that's the thrill. Tyson vs. Lewis is a fight for the imagination.
Besides, the lack of public interest for the Grant vs. Lewis fight reaffirmed that the flocking masses need something to keep them interested. Enter Mike Tyson.
The heavyweight division is depleted. With Grant's exhibition of incompetency, we are left with very little to choose from and that's another reason why a Tyson vs. Lewis fight becomes a realistic, if not inevitable option.
Who else is there? David Tua, Chris Byrd, Kirk Johnson, Oleg Maskaev. Good fighters, better than Tyson, but no one that can rile up boxing's most unsophisticated fans. The fans of the big-hype heavyweight clashes. It's all about drama these days. And the picture of Tyson standing victorious over a dazed and dreadlocked Lewis makes all other possible scenarios pale in comparison.
To put an exclamation point on the division's sorry state is the announcement that Frans Botha will be next in line for Lewis. Don't get me wrong, I love the White Buffalo, more than anyone I know. I think he's great and has a big heart and decent skills. And by the way, there's no doubt in my mind that he won his fight with the hapless Shannon Briggs. But he's not championship material and the fact that he'll be next just goes to show you that it's slim pickin's amongst the big boys.
There is, however, one man who I believe could have changed everything. One man who may have had the potential and the destructive personality to capture the collective imagination of a blood thirsty, A.D.D. riddled public.
His name is Ike Ibeabuchi.
But unfortaunately Ike has found himself in some legal, not to mention psychological trouble. He has a better chance of finding himself in a straight jacket than a prize fight. He has a better chance of being compared to Ike Turner than Joe louis.
So, it's inevitable. Lennox Lewis will fight Mike Tyson. If it's what the boneheads want, and the boneheads buy the tickets, then let's do it. But if Lennox Lewis blows out Tyson the way he did Grant, we better be prepared to bust ole Ike out of prison, because no one will be left.
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