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Two different training camps
Posted: Thursday January 27, 2000 08:10 PM
While the British tabloids help create constant waves of Tyson-mania, all is mostly quiet on the Julius Francis front. I spent time with Tyson's Saturday night opponent at his training headquarters at a British army base outside of London. Francis talked about a past which includes two stretches in prison, sixty stitches in the stomach from a knife wound and other situations growing up in a foster home in London that should make his foray against Tyson seem like just another night. Fact is though, Francis is talking and has the look of a fighter who knows he's in too deep. One of Francis' own people told me the fight won't go past three rounds. And while his trainer Mark Roe told me Tyson's skills have faded, it's clear they realize it will be easier for Julius Francis to catch lightening in a bottle than to topple Tyson.
The former champion had his final public workout in the basement of his posh London hotel Tuesday and the crowd of journalists was so massive it was difficult to breathe. Tyson did very little. He skipped rope and then pounded poor but well-padded assistant trainer Stacey McKinley for a couple of rounds. The British media, particularly the infamous tabloids have taken direct quotes from CNNSI.com's exclusive interview with Tyson and divvied up other notable ones. Most portraying the former champion as a man of menace. Tyson was actually close to tears when he told me how a visit to one of London's famous sites, Madame Toussard's wax museum, triggered the humiliation he felt when he visited a similar place last year in Hollywood with his wife and came upon a wax figure of himself in a cage like an animal. However, Tyson's bruised feelings have been somewhat soothed by the mostly adoring British fans who have mobbed him to such a degree that Wednesday's train ride to Manchester was changed to a private ride in promoter Frank Warren's Bentley. Nick Charles is the senior correspondent for CNN/SI, the 24-hour sports news network from CNN and Sports Illustrated. "Page One with Nick Charles," a show investigating the most current and compelling topics in sports, can be seen at 7:30 a.m. ET Sundays on CNN and at 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday on CNN/SI.
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