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Ready to rumble

Tyson-Lewis news conference disrupted by brawl
Posted: Tuesday January 22, 2002 1:16 PM


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A news conference to announce a world heavyweight title between world champion Lennox Lewis and former champion Mike Tyson was disrupted by a mass brawl involving the two fighters on Tuesday.

The two fighters were standing on podiums on the stage at the front of the conference when Tyson suddenly walked across towards Lewis and seemed to throw a punch at another man standing near to the Briton.

A fight then broke out involving the two fighters and around 20 other people on the stage.

Lewis is the holder of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts while former champion Tyson is the No. 1 WBC contender.

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Tyson media circus takes center stage

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SportsTicker


NEW YORK -- Mike Tyson must have thought the bell rang.

Boxing's most controversial figure, Tyson was again out of control and incited a melee at a news conference that was scheduled to announce that Tyson and undisputed champion Lennox Lewis will have their long-awaited showdown on April 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Determined to turn this conference into a World Wrestling Federation spectacle, Tyson took a swing at Lewis and one of his handlers, pointed to his crotch while yelling at Lewis and screamed profanities at some of the boxing writers in attendance.

After Tyson proceeded to again embarrass himself, the rest of the news conference was canceled and now the April 6 fight may never come off.

Tyson's adviser was in the process of getting the paperwork necessary to have the former champion licensed to fight in Nevada. That may turn into a waste of time after Tyson's display on Tuesday.

The Nevada Athletic Commission has every reason to believe Tyson may not be mentally fit to fight. The commission had scheduled a meeting for Jan. 29 to vote on whether to issue Tyson a license.

Of course, the last time Tyson fought for a title at the MGM Grand on June 28, 1997, he was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ears.

Tyson, who is 49-3 with two no contests and 43 knockouts, had his eye on Lewis when he canceled his January 19 fight with Ray Mercer.

The No. 1 contender to Lewis' WBC and IBF belts, Tyson last fought on October 13, recording a seventh-round technical knockout of Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen.

Lewis is 39-2-1 with 30 knockouts and regained the WBC and IBF titles with a fourth-round knockout of Hasim Rahman on November 17. He had lost the titles when Rahman knocked him out on April 21.

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among other lisped words, a white fuck, more or less....that racist monkey

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