Volume 2, Number 7 -- July, 1997
You Want Fries With That?
By Dean Shutt
So Mike Tyson bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's
ear. I suppose this means we are due for yet another round of
"boxing should be banned" tirades from the working press.
I heard a guy just the other night saying that he doesn't think
Tyson will be a draw anymore. I have to ask myself what this man
was smoking when he came up with that thought. We live in a country
that created The Ultimate Fighting Championship because
watching two superbly conditioned athletes beating each other
senseless wasn't violent enough for us. Does anyone out there
honestly believe that we won't drop fifty bucks for the pay per
view of Tyson's next fight?
Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist and all-around thug.
He has been on the borderline for quite a few years now. Were
we honestly surprised when his capacity for blind rage finally
spilled into his professional life? Throughout his career, Tyson
has demolished opponents early. For the most part he has had the
fight won before he ever stepped into the ring. It has long been
a speculation as to what would happen if Tyson ever got himself
into a fight that he knew he couldn't win. His first two losses
don't really count because by the time he realized he was losing
those fights they were already finished. This was the first time
that Mike Tyson has ever stepped into the ring feeling threatened.
When he preceded to lose the first two rounds convincingly to
an obviously superior fighter we all saw his reaction. I have
to think that no one foresaw this reaction… or did they?
Mike Tyson's handlers work with him every day, nearly
live with him as a matter of fact. I find it doubtful that none
of them had any clue as to Tyson's mental state entering Saturday
night. With his history, his background and his criminal record,
you have to think that his handlers knew exactly how he would
react if things went South for him early. Of course you can't
expect that the parasites that Tyson has surrounded himself with
would let a little thing like the possibility of a total psychotic
freak-out keep them from their payday. When that bell sounded
Saturday night, Mike Tyson was a ticking bomb and his management
had set the detonator and sent him merrily on his way.
I am not the sort to make excuses for people. I firmly
believe that you buy the ticket , you take the ride and what happens
is your responsibility. In this case though it isn't Mike Tyson's
fault alone. When you take a young man who has never been taught
to deal with life on an adult level and turn him into a violence
machine, how precisely do you expect him to react? I think Tyson's
post fight comments are intriguing, "He was head butting
me and I had to do something." It is sad that a thirty year
old father's idea of "something" was biting off a hunk
of his opponent's ear. Not surprising considering his training,
but sad nonetheless.
After his suspension was handed down recently, there
was a hue and cry for banning Mike Tyson from the sport of boxing
altogether. I wouldn't hold my breath, friends. Mike Tyson is
still a money machine. You don't shut down the money machine just
because it runs a little rough sometimes. Tyson will fight again,
he may very well become champion of the world again. Tyson will
keep fighting because it is all that he knows. He will keep fighting
because he makes his handlers a lot of money. He will keep fighting
because people will continue to pay to watch him fight. He will
keep fighting because deep down, we all want to see him keep fighting,
because we care no more about Tyson the man than his handlers
do.
If we were nearly the society we think ourselves
to be, Mike Tyson would never box again. Don King would be up
on charges for unleashing a potentially lethal weapon on Evander
Holyfield. The sport of boxing would be not run by felons and
con men but by sportsman. We are not that society though, instead
we revel in the twisted machinations of the boxing world. Cheer
on the thugs and the brutes as they use up athletes and toss them
aside when they're usefulness is at an end. We all get a sick
pleasure when Mike Tyson bites off part of Evander Holyfield's
ear live on pay per view.
That is why Mike Tyson will box again. That is why
Don King will continue to promote fights. That is why the sport
will continue to be run by thugs and con men. In order to provide
a product that we are willing to pay for, you need the people
with the proper expertise. Until we as fans finally say enough,
and stop buying the tickets and ordering the pay per views, boxing
will continue on as it is now. A ghoulish sideshow to the world
of sports.