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Tyson hits heaviest weight to spark fitness fears

James Lawton
Friday 12 October 2001 00:00 BST
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Despite Mike Tyson's claims that he is fitter than at any time since he left prison six years ago, last night's weigh-in before his fight with Brian Nielsen here tomorrow told a sharply different story.

At 17st 1lb, Tyson is 15 pounds above his previous heaviest fighting weight and 16 pounds greater than for his fight against Andrew Golota a year ago.

Both fighters claimed the scales were weighing too heavily, Nielsen saying that he had weighed six pounds lighter 20 minutes earlier. Tyson's trainer Tommy Brooks had been indicating for some days that his man would come in heavier than usual but that it was part of the fight plan against the 6ft 2in, 18st 7lb Nielsen.

However, some will inevitably see Tyson's weight gain as evidence that he has taken Nielsen too lightly and put at risk plans for a fight with the winner of Hasim Rahman's defence of his World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles against Lennox Lewis. A defeat for Tyson would effectively end his hopes of earning the huge pay night which might just get him out of the debts which bind him to the American television company Showtime.

Showtime is believed to have paid off Tyson's tax bills and some other debts and one executive said this week that the fighter was tied to the company "until the end of time". Tyson has repeatedly wavered over his desire to fight Lewis and this week was cool on the possibility of meeting for a third time his nemesis Evander Holyfield.

"Evander has looked bad recently," said Tyson, "and to be honest I'm just focusing on this fight in Copenhagen. I might hang out in Europe for a month or so and maybe go to China. I'll wait to see what happens."

Nielsen's camp was boosted by the weigh-in despite their belief that there was a problem with the scales. "For the first time," Nielsen's trainer, Paul Duvill said, "I have seen a bit of flab around Tyson's waist and that tells me that he hasn't prepared properly."

Nielsen said: "I know the scales are heavier than they should be but not that much heavier. If Tyson hasn't worked hard enough for this fight, as looks likely, he has got a very big problem. It will be easier to stay away from his punches in the earlier rounds, and then he will be running out of stamina."

Tyson's new conditioning coach, Gunnar Peterson, who also works with leading National Basketball Association players in Los Angeles, swears that Tyson is in excellent shape. "He's worked hard and while I don't know whether he would be able to run and up down the basketball court for 48 minutes, I know he will not have any problems moving around the ring."

Certainly Tyson looked sharp enough in the gym this week, showing good definition in his upper body and punching with great speed. It may be that he has decided that he can go the quick route without any Plan B. At this critical time in his affairs out of the ring – his lawyers are currently dealing with fresh allegations of rape – it could be a perilous strategy.

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