madjack
03-05-2002, 12:46 AM
Tyson: I want to kill him
From our wire services
02may02
News Interactive
WAILEA, Hawaii: Mike Tyson has said Lennox Lewis "should have died" when they scuffled in New York last January and that he cannot wait until their June 8 heavyweight title fight "because I sure want to kill him".
Tyson's tough talk came during an invitation-only hour with reporters here Tuesday night at a 1,500-dollar a night villa near Tyson's Maui training camp.
The former champion is preparing for his showdown against the British star next month in Memphis, Tennessee. He will stay here until May 28, then relocate to Fitzgerald's Casino Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi, for pre-fight workouts.
Lewis and Tyson were to have fought last month in Las Vegas, but a brawl broke out at a news conference to announce the fight and Lewis was bitten on the leg by Tyson in a melee that began when Tyson walked across a stage and a Lewis bodyguard touched Tyson.
"He should have died that night, those guys putting their hands on me," Tyson said. "But I wasn't with the right crew. That's the whole thing. I was with guys that probably just wanted to be seen. If I was with the right crew, all of them guys would have been finished, right there. They're punks."
Asked what would happen if he lost to Lewis, Tyson responded, "I can't foresee losing. I can't conceive the fact of losing" and said that while he respects Lewis, he plans to destroy him.
"My main objective is to be professional, but to kill him," Tyson said. "That's just really what it comes to. We're two men, we're going to be in great shape, and he should want to kill me because I sure want to kill him."
Given Tyson's history of violence in and out of the ring, that should be no surprise. Tyson spent three years in prison for **** and served a three-month stay on assault charges that temporarily derailed his second comeback.
In the ring, his most infamous offense was bitting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear. But he also tried to break the arm of South Africa's Francois Botha and has been called for late hits and low blows in recent bouts.
Add the latest scuffle with Lewis to the list and it's easy to believe his harsh self-evaluation – "I'm just a dark guy from the den of inequity and I've been there all my life."
Tyson trainer Stacy McKinley said Tyson trains three times a day, at least six days a week, for a total of six to eight hours every day. His opponents have included taller foes, the better to adapt to a major height disadvantage against Lewis.
Tyson said he thinks Lewis believes Tyson is afraid to fight him because of past chances to make the fight that fell through, leaving Tyson the only for of his era Lewis has not beaten.
"As a matter of fact, I think he thinks I'm afraid of him," Tyson said. "But I'm going to show him differently, I can't wait. His lack of respect for me, the way he talks about me, saying, He's not a fighter, he's just an actor.' If you're a true fighter, you don't accept nobody calling you nothing else but a fighter.
"He's a very confident athlete. But it's my time now."
From our wire services
02may02
News Interactive
WAILEA, Hawaii: Mike Tyson has said Lennox Lewis "should have died" when they scuffled in New York last January and that he cannot wait until their June 8 heavyweight title fight "because I sure want to kill him".
Tyson's tough talk came during an invitation-only hour with reporters here Tuesday night at a 1,500-dollar a night villa near Tyson's Maui training camp.
The former champion is preparing for his showdown against the British star next month in Memphis, Tennessee. He will stay here until May 28, then relocate to Fitzgerald's Casino Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi, for pre-fight workouts.
Lewis and Tyson were to have fought last month in Las Vegas, but a brawl broke out at a news conference to announce the fight and Lewis was bitten on the leg by Tyson in a melee that began when Tyson walked across a stage and a Lewis bodyguard touched Tyson.
"He should have died that night, those guys putting their hands on me," Tyson said. "But I wasn't with the right crew. That's the whole thing. I was with guys that probably just wanted to be seen. If I was with the right crew, all of them guys would have been finished, right there. They're punks."
Asked what would happen if he lost to Lewis, Tyson responded, "I can't foresee losing. I can't conceive the fact of losing" and said that while he respects Lewis, he plans to destroy him.
"My main objective is to be professional, but to kill him," Tyson said. "That's just really what it comes to. We're two men, we're going to be in great shape, and he should want to kill me because I sure want to kill him."
Given Tyson's history of violence in and out of the ring, that should be no surprise. Tyson spent three years in prison for **** and served a three-month stay on assault charges that temporarily derailed his second comeback.
In the ring, his most infamous offense was bitting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear. But he also tried to break the arm of South Africa's Francois Botha and has been called for late hits and low blows in recent bouts.
Add the latest scuffle with Lewis to the list and it's easy to believe his harsh self-evaluation – "I'm just a dark guy from the den of inequity and I've been there all my life."
Tyson trainer Stacy McKinley said Tyson trains three times a day, at least six days a week, for a total of six to eight hours every day. His opponents have included taller foes, the better to adapt to a major height disadvantage against Lewis.
Tyson said he thinks Lewis believes Tyson is afraid to fight him because of past chances to make the fight that fell through, leaving Tyson the only for of his era Lewis has not beaten.
"As a matter of fact, I think he thinks I'm afraid of him," Tyson said. "But I'm going to show him differently, I can't wait. His lack of respect for me, the way he talks about me, saying, He's not a fighter, he's just an actor.' If you're a true fighter, you don't accept nobody calling you nothing else but a fighter.
"He's a very confident athlete. But it's my time now."