Rusty Tyson batters Nielsen

COPENHAGEN, OCT. 14. A rusty Mike Tyson returned to the ring with a bang here pummeling Denmark's Brian Nielsen to register victory in a one-sided contest.

Tyson, fighting for the first time in a year, dominated his blubbery opponent through six brutal rounds on Saturday but was unable to deliver one of his trademark knockout finishes.

Nielsen's corner stopped their man from coming out for the seventh round saying he was unable to see out of a horribly swollen left eye and Tyson improved his ring record to 49-3 with two no contests.

``I gave it my best shot,'' said a shattered Nielsen, who had confounded expectations by lasting into the second half of the 10-round non-title bout.

I'm sorry I couldn't do better for the fans but I hope I earned some respect. I think people will respect now,'' the flabby 36- year-old added.

Nielsen said he had been unable to see out of one eye from the fifth round onwards. ``I just couldn't see him out of my left eye. It was crazy, I think it was the right decision for me to stop,'' he explained.

Tyson said he had been hoping for a knockout. ``I wanted to finish in style but what can I say - he fought a brave fight and just wouldn't go over. I hit him with some great shots but he just kept coming back, respect to the man,'' said Tyson.

Tyson, who had been hoping to use the fight as a spring board into a world title fight against either Lennox Lewis or Hasim Rahman next year, admitted he might now have to have a rethink.

`I came here for an easy fight. He really surprised me how tough he was. I felt kinda rusty in there,'' Tyson said, adding that he would seek at least two more fights before attempting a world title bout.

``I need another two fights. If the world title shot happens somewhere down the road then fine, but for now I'm just thinking of getting two more fights under my belt,'' he added.

Earlier Tyson had begun the fight ferociously, shrugging off the boos and catcalls of a fiercely partisan 25,000 crowd at the Parken stadium.

Nielsen had entered the ring to the tune of Monty Python's `always look on the bright side of life' from the film `Life of Brian.' That anthem to optimism was to prove entirely misplaced however.

Tyson, entering to booming rap music, was to give his opponent no quarter. From the outset he pounded away at Nielsen's body with a series of hooks, ripping through his opponents guard with vicious uppercuts. Several hooks whistled close to Nielsen's jaw and missed.

The 259-pound Nielsen, who had never been floored in 62 previous bouts, sought to use his superior bulk where possible to push down on Tyson, tying him up in clinches and roughing up the American whenever he came under pressure.

The subsequent rounds followed an identical pattern, Tyson relentlessly hammering Nielsen with a selection of ripping two- handed flurries. Yet Nielsen somehow managed to avoid taking a clean shot, smothering Tyson time and again.

In round three Tyson finally got through his opponent' defence, flooring the Dane with a crisp left hook. But an accidental low blow towards the end of the round saw Nielsen given time to recover and he came out refreshed for the fourth. It was only a stay of execution however as Tyson picked up the tempo again, going to work on Nielsen's body with some impressive combinations.

In round five Tyson turned the screw, snapping back Nielsen's had repeatedly with some juddering uppercuts. In the sixth Tyson again went on the offensive, catching his opponent with a thunderous hook to the head.

With Nielsen's left eye swollen badly, his corner decided he had taken enough punishment, deciding to throw in the towel one second in to the seventh round.

- AFP

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