Mike Tyson ponders his future

By Timothy W. Smith

MANCHESTER: A few minutes after he had dispatched Julius Francis with a technical knockout in the second round, Mike Tyson returned to the centre of the same ring here at the MEN Arena for a press conference. It was the perfect setting, because he looks very much at ease there.

There was no snarling, no gloating. There was no overwhelming appearance of joy, either. It seemed like just another day at the office for Tyson, who knocked Francis down five times before referee Roy Francis stopped the bout at 1 minute 3 seconds of the second round.

Dressed all in black, Tyson mopped sweat from his brow occasionally as he dissected his victory over the hapless British heavyweight champion. He thanked the British fans for their hospitality and held out the possibility that he will fight here again.

Tyson shed little light on his future other than to say that he would like to fight within six weeks, and possibly in Europe. But before anybody pronounces him the Tyson of old, Tyson himself knows the difference. ``I've got a ways to go,'' he said. ``I'm trying to get better and cultivate my skills.''

Although Francis (21-8) was completely overwhelmed by Tyson (47- 3), the former undisputed heavyweight champion got hit a lot. He was moving his head and making himself a difficult target to track, but at one point Francis nailed Tyson with a stiff jab that seem to keep him at bay momentarily.

``He hit me, but I'm still here,'' Tyson said. ``We're in the hurt business. If you're not prepared to get hit, you shouldn't step in the ring. I really didn't know what to expect from him. I was in a real determined mood.''

Francis lacked the skills and the means to keep Tyson off him and eventually Tyson's work to the body (Francis was dropped by two body shots) did Francis in. ``I tried, man,'' Francis said. ``He's a good puncher. Everybody knows he's a great boxer.''

No one expected Francis, 35, to do any better than he did. And he did come to fight. He did not run away from Tyson and make it a horrible match. But he was not even in the same class with Tyson who is struggling to get his confidence back.

When asked whether he needed to step up to a higher level of opponent or fight more consistently to get his confidence back Tyson said, ``Yeah, all of those things.''

Tyson has a March 25 date to return to the ring. The opponent will either be Shannon Briggs or Lou Savarese, who retired after getting battered by Michael Grant in June. The sites being discussed are the Meadowlands, Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Tyson's advisers let go a huge sigh of relief that this fight did not dissolve into something bizarre. It was Tyson's cleanest fight in his last three bouts.

``His mood and spirits are better than they have been in a very long time,'' said Jay Larkin, senior vice president of sports and event programming at Showtime, which broadcasts Tyson's bouts. ``I will tell you that getting his head in the right place is as important as the amount of time he spends in the gym preparing for a fight.''

Tyson and his advisors are at a crossroads. If his skills have diminished to the level that he cannot handle top level competition then they would risk his financial future by matching him against someone who could beat him. But they must be careful to find opponents the buying public will accept.

They have some options: There are Zeljko Mavrovic and Vitali Klitskcho, the World Boxing Organisation heavyweight champion. They can continue to have him fight in Europe and other foreign countries where people will come out to see him simply because he is Mike Tyson, the celebrity boxer, regardless of who he fights.

Or they can gradually step up the competition over the next two fights and try to prepare Tyson for an eventual heavyweight championship bout against Lennox Lewis.

However, there are no guarantees that Lewis will have the undisputed heavyweight championship by the time Tyson is ready to fight him. Lewis will meet Michael Grant in April at Madison Square Garden and no one is sure how that bout will end.

As things stand now, Tyson and Lewis are not on a collision course, because each man has an exclusive contract with rival cable networks. Tyson is signed with Showtime and Lewis is signed with Home Box Office.

Larkin said it is ridiculous for anyone to be talking about Tyson and Lewis fighting. He mentioned the fact that HBO would never allow Lewis to fight on a rival network, although Showtime fighters (Evander Holyfield and Felix Trinidad) have fought on HBO.

``If they would allow Lennox to fight on Showtime, I'd love to do the fight,'' Larkin said. ``But look at the history. Have you ever seen that door open the other way? And it never will. The only way it will happen is if Lennox goes to them and says make the fight. Mike Tyson doesn't need Lennox Lewis. Lennox Lewis needs Mike Tyson.''

- New York Times News Service

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