Tyson to fight American

BOXING

Mike Tyson will return to the ring with a fight against a 26-year-old fellow American, Peter McNeeley, on 19 August.

The former world heavyweight champion's much-anticipated first bout since being released from prison in March takes place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and will be his first bout in more than four years.

McNeeley, from Medfield, Massachussets, boasts a record of 36 victories and just one defeat, but his career has so far been loaded with lightly regarded opponents. He is ranked at No 10 by the World Boxing Council, who rate Tyson at No 1 despite his lay-off following a rape conviction.

Tyson, 28, last fought in June, 1991, when he scored a 12-round decision over Donovan "Razor" Ruddock. He was supposed to fight Evander Holyfield later that year for the undisputed title, but the bout was called off when he was injured in training.

Tyson, who terrorised the heavyweight division in the late 1980s, served three years at the Indiana Youth Center. He was able to work out while in prison, but there were no boxing facilities.

Tyson's lay-off has historical precedence. Muhammad Ali was in his prime when he did not fight for a little more than three and a half years while successfully challenging efforts in the courts to be drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War.