Skupo Malinowski from Boxinginsider.com remembered the ups and downs of his fight with Mike Tyson and others important points your career.
You sparred with Tyson when you were both young, and then his trainer Cass D "Amato assumed that you would someday meet in a fight for the world title. Remember when you saw Mike Tyson the next time after that sparring session began 80s?
The next time I met him on Olympic Games 1984 year. He was in the ringside, watching the fights. When I fought Tyler Biggs, Tyson yelled at me from the ringside to hit him in the ribs. We have always treated each other with respect since our sparring days.
Do you remember how Tyson came to your open training session at Grand Central Station in New York before your fight with David Tua? He was there for about two minutes. Why do you think he did it?
Do you remember? It was amazing. I don't know why he came. I looked good in sparring that day. I remember someone said, "Tyson is here." I looked around, but could not find him - I saw only a crowd of people. I thought, "What is he doing here?"
Do you remember when the idea first flashed in your head that you could become the world champion?
It was a long road for me. I understood that there would be many turns, holes and climbs on the way - but I wanted to get to the top. In amateur boxing, there were East Germans, Russians and Cubans on my way to the top. I needed to find a way to defeat each of them, study their weaknesses and try to beat them. I was afraid to lose and always prepared for victories. Tyson hasn't had as long an amateur career as mine. Many do not understand how important this is. I will say this: if you have already spent 25 fights on amateur ring, you no longer have to constantly run to the toilet before a fight. But when you go through this stage, you still have goosebumps before the fight. Then you deal with this, and the "goose bumps" disappear. You are no longer afraid or nervous before fights. And when you have enough experience, you start thinking about what you need to do and how you can win before the fight.
Who was the most talented boxer you've ever boxed with?
(Pause) ... I don't know. Razor Ruddock was very talented when I got into boxing. He had a very good jab, just a great jab. He had it like a right kick. In fact, he was a hidden left-hander. But then he started swinging, working with iron, and his style changed.
How much has the public's attitude towards you changed after your fight with Tyson?
I wanted to leave boxing a year before the fight with Tyson, but I couldn't, because I never had a fight with him. If we hadn't met him in the ring, everyone would have told me: "You never fought Tyson." I just had to face him in the ring. It's amazing, but a lot of fans told me (after our fight) that I should give him another chance. They said that Tyson was out of shape, and that if he trained longer, he would have fought better. And this is how I see this situation: when I watched him knock out all his rivals on TV, I thought: "He's good!" But he didn't look so impressive live. It's like in amateurs - everyone is afraid of Russians and Cubans, but when you figure them out, you understand how to defeat them. It was the same with Tyson. As good as he was, he was a one-sided boxer. I was versatile.
As for your fight with Tyson, it was like a duel between good and evil, light with darkness. Tyson's behavior at that time symbolized evil, and you were a very good and positive person. Did you feel an additional burden of responsibility on yourself to prevent "evil" from triumphing? What impression would it make on society that Tyson would have made about $ 100 million if he beat you? (Stingy implies that next fights Mike could have earned him $ 100 million if he defeated Lennox - website).
Yes, it was. Tyson helped me with this. This made me train even harder. Before the fight with Tyson, I prepared harder than ever. At a press conference in New York, he bit my leg - I was furious. I went out in a two thousand dollar suit, and he bit my leg. And I couldn’t say anything, because if I said something, it would look like I don’t want to fight him. But then I realized that he just wants to play a dirty game. He surrounded himself with people like Panama Lewis, but they could not enter the ring with him. They couldn't box for him. He needed them to motivate him, and that was his weak point.
Your duel of glances in the ring with Tyson was quite long. What did you see in his eyes?
He had to come to the line with people (dividing boxers - site) to look at me. My body was strong, and I hit myself on it, as if telling Tyson: "Try hitting!" I felt very confident. I just watched his fight with Buster Douglas, and it was the only fight I needed to watch - he didn't become Superman after that fight, he only got worse.
What was your last meal before this fight?
Spaghetti with red sauce.
During the fight, Tyson did something that you did not expect?
I'm glad he fought cleanly. I was ready for anything. After the fight, I even began to respect him - after all, I beat him with such blows! This was the first fight after which my hands were a little swollen. I think it was because of the size of his neck. It looked like a shock absorber - it took the blows and kept going forward.
I remember when Cory Spinks fought Ricardo Mayorga in December 2003, Tyson was sitting right in front of you. I've always wondered: did you talk at all then?
Yes. I don’t know, I have never treated a person badly if he didn’t do anything bad to me. When we sat there, everyone looked at us with tension. I said, "What's going on, Mike?" He looked at me and asked the same thing. That's the whole conversation (laughs).
What were the best fights of your career? In what fights did you feel better, sharper than in the others?
Precisely in the fight with Tyson, as well as in the fights with Rahman (second), Tucker and in the first fight with Holyfield. I think the shock of the first fight influenced me in the second. I thought I won, and what, now I have to do it again?
In your opinion, when was Tyson in his prime?
I would say even before I became a professional. He was like a tornado, knocking out all his rivals. It was then that he flourished. I think his environment influenced him. He had nothing, and suddenly he became a millionaire, everyone began to worship him. You know, I'm an analyst, I analyze everything. Even his relationship with Robin Givens helped me. They have helped many athletes, showing that you need to be very careful with such women, because they play their games. As for the fight with Tyson, Emanuel Steward said that this would be my easiest fight. I am really?" I never even allowed myself such a thought until the end of the battle.
Exactly twelve years ago, on June 8, 2002 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis in the US state of Tennessee, he fought in his last fight for the title of world champion.
Rival "Iron Mike" was, who regained the world title a few months ago, after an unexpected knockout defeat in the first fight against Hasim Rahman, but in the second fight knocked him out and took revenge from him.
At stake in this fight were three belts, which were in the hands of Lewis - WBC and IBF, and a minor belt of the IBO federation.
On that moment Tyson vs Lewis fight, brought a record income of almost $ 107 million. Nevertheless, in the history of boxing fights at the top of all of them, the fight remains Tyson - Lewis, it is by far the most profitable event in history. Both contestants received $ 17.5 million in pay, not including a percentage of that PPV.
Despite astronomical ticket prices, more than 19,000 spectators were in a completely filled hall. And of course, millions have watched the fight on television all over the world.
At a press conference a few months before the fight, the participants in the fight experienced a real brawl, during which they severely battered Lewis's powerful bodyguard and even got WBC President Jose Suleiman, and Lewis was the second after Evander Holyfield who felt the power of Mike Tyson's teeth. For all this, Tyson had to pay compensation of more than 300 thousand. dollars.
As a result, until the very beginning of the fight, he did not have a traditional ceremony, and the participants were separated by a police cordon. Everyone went their separate ways when Michael Buffer uttered his famous line "Let's get ready for a fight!", everyone is ready and a rumble is heard, and indeed in a minute, everything began to rumble!
Tyson threw himself wildly at his opponent and won the first round, but it turned out that that was all he could show that day. The subsequent rounds are already dominated by Lewis, his advantage increased from round to round, and Tyson missed more and more punches from him.
The denouement came in the eighth round, after Mike missed a hellish left uppercut, but he barely got up and continued the fight, and then received a monstrous right cross and the fight was over. Lewis won by classic knockout, 35 seconds before the end of the eighth round. The knockout performed by the Briton became the best 2002 Knockout.
So it ended about the great Mike Tyson, who, after losing to Lewis, never recovered. And although eight months later, having won in less than a minute, two shameful defeats of Williams and McBride will come later, but finally, he will finish his
Probably, now the Queen of England will finally knight Lennox Lewis. He did what he and the rest of Britain had dreamed of for many years - defeated Mike Tyson, and even by knockout. But it was a sad triumph, because on Saturday, in the ring in Las Vegas, it was not Iron Mike himself who fought with Lewis with his last strength, but his shadow, which even outwardly did not look very much like the former Tyson.OWN AND ALIEN
The tension in the hall reaches a boiling point long before the start of the fight. Thousands of people are standing, simply unable to sit. Many are screaming. In response to Tyson's appearance, there is a wild roar, in comparison with which the noise that stood here before seems like a nightingale trill. It immediately becomes clear who the stands will root for. Good or bad, but Tyson is his own, and Briton Lewis is a stranger. Mike is absolutely calm and as if sad. Compared to himself, the old one looks slightly swollen: like the muscles are the same, but clearly touched by fat.
Soon Lewis is heading for the ring. He is greeted with a disapproving hum, to which Lennox does not react in any way. He is extremely focused and slightly nervous. Who wasn't nervous before the fight with Tyson? It's the same as climbing a tank with one grenade. Meanwhile, something strange is happening in the ring. He was blocked diagonally by huge men in yellow shirts, which are designed to prevent a possible fight between boxers who hate each other before the fight. This, of course, is part of the show, as is their hatred, but on the other hand, in January, Tyson really bit the Briton, because of which the fight almost fell through. So, as has always been the case with Mike, you can never say with certainty where the show ends and the menagerie begins.
The hosts of the HBO and Showtime TV channels, broadcasting this fight, Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon, introduce the participants in the fight, arranging a fragment of an unwritten opera from this procedure. Most of all, it resembles the duet of Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. Their voices vibrate subtly, giving out roulades that have never been heard before. It looks like these two of America's tiniest and most golden throats today have their own fight. I would give Buffer a big lead on points.
One way or another, but with their task - to bring the hall to death - they cope successfully, and nothing else is required of them. Tyson is declared "one of a kind", which is true, and Lewis - "universally recognized undisputed world champion", which is also true. Officially, he owns only two-thirds of the title, according to the WBC and IBF versions, and the third, according to the WBA, was taken from him through the court by Don King, and now it belongs to John Ruiz, who only his family members hold for the champion, and even then, probably , Not all.
APPERCOT AGAINST HOOK
Finally, it is the turn of Lewis and Tyson to have their say, in order to hear which tens of thousands of people gathered in the hall and tens of millions more - in front of televisions. Referee Eddie Cotton pulls out a few extra seconds, as long as flying over an abyss, before giving the signal to start the fight. His palm harshly chops through the air at the same time the gong hits.
Tyson does not immediately rush to the opponent, as he always did, he is only slightly more active than Lewis, who is clearly nervous. Mike shoves a couple of jabs through Lewis's defense. As soon as he manages to break the distance, the Briton clinches. Upon exiting the clinch, Lewis gets him a few nervous and, apparently, not too strong blows... And after a while Lennox throws out his main homework - a powerful right uppercut that hits Tyson right in the head. Lewis fully mastered this blow surprisingly late - for the second fight with Holyfield, in which he won the title of undisputed world champion, but now he inflicts this uppercut as if he was cutting his way out of his mother's womb.
Tyson is trying to strike a left hook on the race, with which he knocked out so many of his opponents. There is no head in the world that can withstand this blow, but it goes by.
Lewis clinches a lot and each time, taking advantage of a huge advantage in growth, he pounds on Tyson, squeezing the strength out of him drop by drop.
The round is coming to an end, and Mike has not yet played a single serious blow. He gets bogged down in Lewis's defense like a swamp. His left hook casually passes, but Lennox does not lead. Gong. Round for Lewis. Although the Briton had just begun to cope with his nerves, he nevertheless delivered several sensitive blows, which cannot be said about his opponent.
In general, the first round of the fight with Tyson resembles his own first round of the fight with another puncher - David Tua. The same, perhaps, excessive caution. And the same gradual mastery of oneself. Lennox is aware of fear, but he knows how to control it, and Cas D "Amato, Mike's adoptive father and first mentor, believed that such fear was only useful.
Round two. Tyson starts with a raid, but again gets bogged down in Lennox's defense. The referee reprimands the Briton for holding the opponent. Tyson twice tries to make the left hook on the jump and twice it does not work. But how much effort wasted. Lewis delivers a right uppercut to the head and knits his hands.
Finally, Lewis remembers his jab as he sets a comfortable distance for himself. Tyson again tries to reach him with the left hook on the jump and again misses. Lewis again holds a right uppercut. Sometimes it seems that this blow will simply rip the head off the opponent's shoulders. If Mike doesn't find some kind of antidote for this awful uppercut, it could all be over very soon.
Lewis delivers another blow from below, this time to the body. In the pauses, he clinches all the time, and the referee again makes him a remark. But Lewis's uppercut achieves its goal. Jeb, another jab - also for sure. Tyson tries to get Lennox with a right cross. One such blow a little less than two years ago was enough to make Andrzej Golota first collapse to the floor, and then run from the ring with his tail between his legs. But today Mike has a different rival, and the blow goes wide.
Lewis began to stick closer to Tyson. He lands another right uppercut followed by a left hook. A pause - and another uppercut. Of course, the round is for Lewis. Moreover, it becomes clear that if Tyson by some miracle does not knock Lewis down in the next couple of rounds, he will squeeze him.
HELPE INVERTED PENDULUM
Sitting in the corner, Tyson looks very depressed. This is not a monster. This is a tired middle-aged fighter, and nothing more. True, with traces of its former greatness. Lewis is not fighting with Iron Mike as well with its shadow.
The third round again begins with a Tyson throw and a clinch. Lewis is almost for the first time trying to use his old crown - the right cross. Not in vain. The fight continues in the same vein: as soon as Mike breaks the distance, Lennox clinches. Tyson makes a timid attempt to become the same. He begins to move forward, swinging his body slightly to the right and left, like an inverted pendulum. Is this really the same Tyson? He can't do anything. He misses a not too strong but accurate Lewis right cross.
The Briton goes the distance and delivers one jab after another. In the clinch, Tyson, almost under the arm of Lewis, hits the kidneys on the right. The hall does not approve of him, and the judge is silent. Lennox throws in a few more jabs, and in the clinch he pounds the American with his whole body.
Tyson manages to strike one casual blow, the audience welcomes him, but in vain. Lewis soon succeeds in another good right hand. Lennox finally relaxed. It starts to sink left hand leaving himself open to Tyson's attacks. He is no longer afraid of him. Round for Lewis. It seems that Tyson will not be saved by a miracle. He's already worn out.
Round four. Tyson starts very briskly again, but his blows do not reach the target, and he quickly gets tired. Lewis responded with a very powerful right cross. Then the round goes completely under his dictation. Lennox is constantly hitting both left and right. Lennox now mainly relies on the cross, but he also strikes both through and from the side. Tyson does not succeed in anything. This beating becomes monotonous.
At the very end of the round, Lewis carries out a right cross, Tyson bends under the blow, and Lewis presses him down with all the weight of his many kilograms. Tyson falls! In essence, this is a knockdown, but Lennox outwitted himself: the referee interprets the situation in favor of Tyson, he believes that he fell from the pressure of the body, and not from the blow, and gives Lewis a warning, to which he reacts with the same disdain as Little Johnny from the anecdote on the demand of the teacher Maryvanna to leave the classroom. So what if now the won round will be considered equal? He wins anyway. The gong sounded, and Little Johnny-Lennox goes "out of class", or rather, into his corner with the air of a winner. Tyson gets up with great difficulty.
Rounds five through seven go along the same lines. Mike occasionally tries a left hook on a jump, just a left hook and a right cross, but he misses. All he manages is to put a small bruise on Lewis under his left eye, while his own blood gushes from several incisions and his nose, his whole face is swollen.
Lennox beats to choose from. Sometimes it seems that he is just working out different blows... After making sure that the right uppercut was over, he started hitting the right cross, occasionally using the left hook. Very well, by the way, since Tyson clearly does not expect this blow from him. When there is a desire to stay at a distance, he fights off Mike with a biting jab. It is not clear how Tyson keeps his feet under this bombardment. It's just a pity to look at him. Sometimes there is a feeling that Lewis is burrowing, but there is no one to punish him here. The end is near.
FINAL OF THE AGE OF IRON MIKE
It comes in the eighth round. Tyson recalls that the enemy has not only a head, but also a body and, even to some surprise of Lewis, annoys him several times with blows on the lower floor, but nothing more.
Towards the end of the round, Lewis unexpectedly delivers a very strong left uppercut. Tyson crouches from him, he does not touch the floor with his hand or knee, and in principle Lewis has the right to finish him off, which he tries to do, but the referee blocks his way, who opens the account for Mike and thereby saves him from being knocked out. However, not for long.
Tyson gets up, and almost immediately Lewis launches a right uppercut on him, then a right sidecut, another right uppercut, another right uppercut. Tyson tries to strike a desperate right cross, but desperate punches mostly miss the target, and this one was no exception. It turns out Lewis was on the lookout.
Tyson shifts slightly to the left, and Lewis, perhaps seeing this movement, almost from all over strikes a terrible right side to meet his movement. Mike seems to be hanging in the air. Lewis is already out of habit, lightly crushes his body. I might not have tried. Tyson would have fallen anyway. The referee counts. This is a knockout.
After the battle, as always, it was said a lot and beautifully. Lewis and Tyson approached each other. There was no need for the yellowshirts to intervene. They seemed to have nothing but great respect for each other. A little later, when Lennox was doing a post-match interview, Mike approached him again. I think with his words to Lewis, he shed more than one tear around the world.
Tyson said that all of his pre-match statements meant nothing, he was just "selling tickets." Mike apologized to Lewis, said that he treats with great respect and love both to himself and to his mother, who was standing next to him. The old lady kissed him with feeling, and Mike kept saying something with great feeling and some kind of orphan sincerity. He thanked Lewis for giving him a chance, when everyone else refused him this chance, said how well he treated him, asked again and again for a rematch ...
May God give us all, if you have to suffer defeat, accept it the way Mike Tyson did on this difficult day on June 8, 2002.
I've always been rooting for Lewis since the day he became Olympic champion and I'm very glad that he won. But Tyson also became a part of my life. And now he seems to be leaving the stage. Sad. We all know that nothing lasts forever, but it is unpleasant when we are so rudely reminded of it.
After retiring from boxing, Lennox Lewis retrained to film actors
In 2001, I realized that my way to professional boxing comes to the end. I achieved everything I wanted, took revenge for the only two defeats in my career. I was a real champion in heavyweight... But no matter what heights I reached, no matter how many battles I won, people would say: "Yes, Lennox was good, but he would never beat Tyson."
I watched Tyson's fights with Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. I saw that Mike fought them because he had to fight, not because he wanted to. But I thought he wanted to fight me. And I, preparing for this fight, trained harder than ever in my life. The managers went to great lengths to organize this fight.
And so on January 22, 2002, a press conference was held. I showed up in a $ 2,000 suit to advertise the upcoming fight. And Mike appeared surrounded by a pack of hangers-on, attacked me and bit me in the leg. I couldn't say anything - if I complained, it would look like I was looking for a way to avoid a fight. But on the other hand, I understood something. I realized that it was Mike who was looking for a way to dodge the fight. He has surrounded himself with sycophants, and they help him cheat himself. This means that he cannot live without his retinue. This means that he is weak.
Shortly before the fight, I met rapper Puff Daddy and asked who he was betting on. He replied: "I know that your level is higher, but I am from New York and I bet on Mike - he is also from New York."... I also saw Spike Lee running across the hall at the Cannes Film Festival to shake hands with Mike, who was presenting a documentary about himself there. Then I thought: "This is my future role in the movie."
On June 8, 2002, we entered the ring of the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. Before the start of the fight, he approached the wall of people separating us and gave me a hard look. On that day, I ate a plate of spaghetti with red sauce and watched the 1990 match where Tyson lost to Buster Douglas. I was confident in myself.
I am glad that he fought honestly - because I was ready for anything. It was the first fight, after which my hands ached: his neck takes a blow, like a shock absorber - after the blow he just shakes himself and rushes on. Like the Rhinoceros Man from the comics.
But Tyson didn't have an international amateur career like me. Not everyone understands how useful this is. After 25 fights, you no longer go to the toilet because of the jitters before each fight, but you still have butterflies in your stomach. Another couple of dozen fights - and you don't worry at all before the fight, but instead you analyze your opponent. All the boxers were afraid of the Russians and Cubans, and I analyzed them, and I was able to knock them out. I also figured out with Tyson.
Based on materials from www.boxinginsider.com