AUBURN HILLS – For a fighter who said earlier in the week that Saturday night would be his last fight, Iron Mike Tyson certainly looked like a man who has a lot of punches left to throw.
Tyson stood in his corner of the ring in The Palace Saturday night, his eyes bugging out of his head as he watched Andrew Golota pace towards the neutral corner. At first it seemed as if Tyson was enraged that Golota would dare come out of his corner before the bell sounded to start the third round.
But when it became apparent that Golota wasn’t looking to fight, rather to flee, Tyson had to be restrained by his co-manager Tommy Brooks from going after the Polish coward. If this was to be Tyson’s last fight, he didn’t want it to be a joke.
“He was very disappointed,” Shelly Finkel, Tyson’s manager said after the fight. “It was not a fulfilling performance.”
Certainly not for the 16,228 fans who paid to see this farce or the thousands more who paid $49.95 on Pay Per View to watch a 6-foot-4, 240-pound man quit. Tyson was not the only one who was unfulfilled, which leaves us to wonder if he will make good on his vow earlier this week to retire.
Finkel said he was certain Tyson would take a couple of weeks and the two would reach out to each other. There are many signs that we have not seen the last of Tyson in the ring.
“Anyone who has a knowledge of Mike knows that what Mike may feel today, or what he may feel tomorrow, he may not feel a week or two from now,” said Jay Larkin of Showtime. “It’s not in Mike’s character to go out like this. I don’t think he wants to go out with a debacle like this.”
Tyson looked much like the pre-Buster Douglas Tyson. He landed a devastating overhand right cross that floored Golota in the first round. It was a monstrous punch, one that bent Golota’s left leg behind and under him as he collapsed to the canvas.
The bell saved Golota from taking another punch and he retreated to his corner where he told his trainer, Al Certo, that he wanted to quit. Certo got Golota to go out for one more round but it would be his last.
The combination of Tyson’s big punch, his attacking pressure, which included an unintentional head butt that opened a cut on the side of Golota’s left eye, and whatever demons are in Golota’s head, factored into his disgraceful, ‘No Mas’.
Although it was only two rounds, Tyson did not seem like the frustrated madman who bit Evander Holyfield’s ear twice. Or the raving lunatic who continued to pummel Lou Savarese after their fight was halted in England.
Larkin said he spoke to Flip Homansky, a member of the Nevada State Boxing Commission, and was told that Tyson was welcome to reapply for a license to fight in Nevada. Larkin said Homansky described Tyson’s ring behavior as gentlemanly.
“Mike showed tonight that he can control himself,” said Finkel. “He broke clean every time the ref told him to break. Golota was holding him over and over again and Mike never lost control. That was very satisfying to see.”
Finkel said that Tyson, who earned about $10 million for the two-round fight, is financially solvent once again. Larkin would not comment on Tyson’s financial status.
If it’s a question of money, Tyson will surely fight again. He’s too big of a draw, too great an attraction not to command another huge purse against a David Tua or Lennox Lewis.
If it’s a question of wanting to recapture the title, only Tyson knows what the voices in his head are saying. The voices change from day to day. This past week he said he wanted to spend more time with his family and then contradicted that by saying he wanted to live the la vida loca.
The smart money, if there is such a thing in boxing, is that Tyson will step into the ring again. If he can control his temper, he’s an intimidating sight to see.
“He is clearly back from what we saw in the ring,” said Larkin. “He is clearly one of the two or three best heavyweights out there. I think there is at least one more major fight with Mike Tyson.”