By Myles Palmer
I woke up at 7.45 a.m. and remembered that this was a Sunday morning like no other.
I got up quietly and tiptoed downstairs.
Wondered where Michael had left the videotape.
Last night Michael, 19, and his pals said they were gonna go clubbing and then come back to Tobias’s to watch the fight on Sky Box Office. Five of them paid £3 each.
So I asked them to tape it for me.
I’ve never stayed up to watch a fight, not since Ali-Foreman in Zaire, which I saw at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park with some music business pals.
There was no tape in the hall or in the kitchen. I put the kettle on.
In the lounge there was a tape on the TV set and it was labelled in my own handwriting : LENNOX LEWIS v MIKE TYSON.
The fighters were due in the ring at 4.10 a.m. in Memphis and I had asked them to start recording from 3 a.m.
Last night Caroline, almost 17, came home at 11.30 p.m. and watched the half of a Tyson documentary with me after Jan had gone to bed.
We watched Tyson being hailed as a hero on a walkabout in Brixton.
Caroline was disgusted that young women should turn out to cheer a convicted rapist and said that showed huge disrespect to women all over the world.
The story was the usual : discovered and tutored by Cus D’Amato, working with trainer Kevin Rooney (who is so fat now I didn’t recognise him), good management by Jimmy Jacobs and Bill Cayton (two independently wealthy businessmen who loved the sport of boxing) and then, you guessed it, Don King.
It was all downhill after King took over. The terrifying Robin Givens and her even more appalling mother Ruth, divorce, street brawls, two jail terms – an exciting young champion turns into a psychotic, criminal monster.
All the familiar stuff. I’ve read two biographies of Tyson. I used to love boxing as a kid and had Boxing News delivered to the house before I had Soccer Star and World Soccer.
But after Michael Watson was brain-damaged by that last round uppercut from Kwith Eubank, I lost interest. I liked Watson a lot, as a boxer, as a guy.
Very few boxers can box these days. It’s mostly hype and bullshit these days. It’s rubbish. I don’t know how the sport survives. I haven’t seen a great fight since Sugar Ray Leonard v Marvin Hagler.
Dickie Davis is in Memphis chatting to celebs L.L.Cool J. and Cuba Gooding Jr and Ian Wright.
Gooding says,”It will be a battle for the first three rounds. If Tyson is tired after that he will be knocked out.”
Ian Wright says,”Lennox Lewis means the whole world to me. I would never miss this fight.”
Myself, I respect Lennox and expect him to win. If I thought Tyson could win, I would not want to see this.
But I’m a bit worried because British fighters have been robbed and cheated for years in USA. It’s very hard to win a world title there and even harder to retain one
Barry McGuigan is in the studio with presenter Paul Dempsey and Nigel Benn and a third man I don’t recognise, a white guy about 40 with glasses who is obviously NOT an ex-boxer.
Barry says, “Lewis fights better when he’s scared. He will have to be so much on guard in that first round.”
We are reminded that Iron Mike has 23 first round wins.
I remember Barry winning the world featherweight title at QPR against a Mexican. A terrific fight over 15 rounds or 12 maybe. A long time ago :Jan was pregnant with Caroline and we watched it here on BBC with her brother David.
The local rules in Memphis : three knockdowns and it’s over.
My dad said a good boxer will always beat a good slugger.
Tyson is burned out and Lewis is a good boxer and a bigger man. He should win, but I’m apprehensive.
I could fast-forward the video but I don’t. I’ve never done this before, watched a tape of a fight not knowing the result, and I’m sure I will never do it again.
Nigel Benn, a good slugger himself says,”If Lennox survives six rounds, he’ll win. But I think he has problems with smaller men. Tyson throughout his career has fought bigger men and dealt with them.”
I WISH BENN HAD NOT SAID THAT !
At that point Jan comes in with a cup of tea.
Barry says,”It’s seventeen years ago to the night from when I won the world title.”
Jan says, “It is, Myles. It’s three days before I had Caroline.”
In Memphis we see Samuel L. Jackson arriving for the fight, Isaac Hayes, Donald Trump, Wesley Snipes and Kevin Bacon.
From Glasgow, Jim Watt says,”This is not a Rocky film- this is real life.”
Jim says it’s not in Lennox’s nature to be reckless.
That is the key point.Lennox Lewis is a thoughtful, scientific boxer who always has a game-plan.
Absurdly, a line of yellow-shirted security men divide the ring diagonally to prevent scuffles and intimidation between the corner men. The boxers will not even touch gloves before the fight begins.This adds a new dimension to the hype.
Lennox Lewis is 249 lb and Mike Tyson is 234 lb and as the challenger the American enters the ring first.
The pictures are good.Very good.
The bionic eye of the electronic camera shows us the faces of the gladiators in deeply revealing close-up.
As Tyson walks down the corridor towards the arena he looks relaxed and serious, in total control of himself.
I’M VERY,VERY NERVOUS NOW.
As Tyson walks through the auditorium he looks a bit tense, as anybody would. As he steps into the ring he looks grim.
Then after a delay, we see Lennox Lewis and he is not wearing a robe or a sleeveless undershirt like Tyson.
Lennox is a giant with huge wide shoulders, walking very, very slowly and keeping the exact same expression on his face the whole time. It’s weird and hard to describe. I’m struggling to put it into words. Lennox does not wink or blink or smile or talk or look to the side.
His mask shows, I think, total concentration.
This is his 17th world title fight and, many believe, the defining moment of his career.
I fast-forward the MC’s announcements because I’m too nervous to wait any longer and don’t wanna hear all those plugs for Budweiser.
Round 1, Lewis stands his ground and brawls and wrestles,using his left arm to prevent a clubbing right from Tyson.
I’m thinking : Box him! Box Him! Use your reach, use your legs, jab him!
Round 2, the ref tells Lewis to stop holding, which is fair enough.I’m thinking : Use your jab! Use your reach!
Lewis gets a second warning for holding, connects with some uppercuts, wins the round.
After this round Lennox looks more relaxed.If Tyson was a monster before he is just a boxer now.
Round 3, Lennox is hanging his chin out and keeping his left hand down, like Ali.
But he is on top, jabbing now.Tyson hits Lewis after the bell, so Lewis hits him back after the bell. Tyson’s right eyebrow is cut.
Round 4, I don’t think Tyson can take more than two more rounds of this.
Tyson is a few days short of his 36th birthday and should not be in there.
When Lewis pushes Tyson down after a clinch he gets a point deducted, which is harsh, as Tyson was stooping. It does not count as a knockdown.
Round 6, the ref is warning Lewis at length, to give Tyson a breather.
Commentator Ian Darke says,”You’re watching a shell.”
Round 7, it’s one-sided but Lewis cannot knock him down.
Both Tyson’s eyes are cut and his nose is bleeding and he knows the end is near now.
Round 8, Lewis ends it with a a colossal piledriving right to the chin, then pushes the collapsing Tyson to the deck.
Tyson is counted out and Lennox has sealed his legacy, his place in boxing histoy, silenced his critics for all time.
Lennox Lewis has knocked out Mike Tyson in 2 minutes and 25 seconds of Round 8.
Amazingly, Mike Tyson does a wonderfully human interview.
Battered,bleeding and humbled, Mike says he loves Lennox and his Mum, he’s known them for years, he only said those things to sell tickets, he thanks him twice for giving him a shot at the title, and asks for a re-match.
Incredibly, in defeat, Mike Tyson has graced boxing with a huge display of courage and decency.
He has taken punches that would have poleaxed any other man on earth, put them on Planet Zargon, and stayed on his feet. He has given value for money.
And he has accepted defeat with dignity.
Lennox Lewis should retire as champion.But he won’t.
June 9th 2002