Kevin McBride was particularly effective leaning on Mike Tyson when they were in clinches. AP
	Rise and Fall of Mike Tyson SI Writers • DR. Z: McBride used strategy to beat Tyson Photo Galleries • The long, strange journey of Mike Tyson • McBride stops Tyson after six rounds in D.C. Tyson Facts • Fight-by-fight results | Year-by-year chronology SI Flashback • NACK: Tyson aims to be youngest champ ever • HOFFER: Tyson shocked by Douglas in Japan • HOFFER: Tyson hits new low against Holyfield SI Flashbacks 1986: Ready to Soar to the Very Top 1986: Getting a Belt Out of Life 1987: Only One No. 1 1988: The End of the Trail SI EXTRA 1988: Who Owns the King? 1988: "I'm Gonna Hurt This Guy" 1990: KO'd! 1991: Firefight 1991: Where There's Fire? 1992: A Crushing Verdict 1995: Second Chance 1995: Con Job 1996: One Down ... 1996: Zero Tolerance 1996: Real Deal 1997: Feeding Frenzy 1999: Sudden Impact 2000: Quitting Time 2002: All The Rage

They're not giving Kevin McBride enough credit. Sure, we know, Mike Tyson is a shell of his former self, and his heart wasn't in it and so forth. But either McBride thought it up himself, or someone in his corner gave him some really astute advice, because the way he handled the six rounds against Tyson gave him the best, and probably the only, chance of winning.

The big squash. The lean. Using superior weight and bulk to tire out an opponent, to put a consistent load on his neck and shoulder muscles (my ex-wife used this very effectively during the course of our marriage). McBride did it from the very beginning. He did it almost every time they got into a clinch. If he could survive the barrage he expected from Tyson in the early rounds, he'd have a worn-out opponent in the late going.

Muhammad Ali used this technique, in slightly altered form, when he was facing a smaller opponent ... notably Joe Frazier. Do you remember what Ali was like in the clinches? He'd get a glove in back of Frazier's neck and pull Joe's head down. It would bother Frazier. He'd try to slap the glove away. I talked to him once about it and he said it was the thing that annoyed him most about fighting Ali. The constant pressure in his neck, which would work its way down through his shoulders, would affect his stamina.

Other people have tried this approach with Tyson, with varying degrees of success. But to make it work you have to be a big guy, and Tyson had most of his trouble with the biggies. When Tyson was in his prime, when he was positively electrocuting people, Bonecrusher Smith, a fighter almost as big as McBride, went the distance against him. Smith was particularly effective in close, slobbing around, leaning on Tyson, frustrating him. McBride could take it one level higher, basically because he weighed 271.

The old Tyson would have had no trouble with any of this, but the difference now is that he can't punch in combinations anymore. He doesn't have the zip. Remember the way it used to be -- wham, wham, wham! If the first one didn't get you, the second or third would. Lightning punches, with real flash to them. Now they come one at a time, considerably slower.

Once I had a talk with the great manager and trainer, Cus D'Amato, who said he felt, physically, a man could fight well into his 40s and still be effective. But what happens is that as fighters age, they lose the ability to train with the same intensity. Actually, they have to train even harder, but there are too many other things going on in their lives; the routine gets too boring.

Tyson wasn't in very good shape on Saturday night. Even if he were, maybe nothing would have helped. But let's give McBride a little credit, too, for getting the most out of his limited ability.