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Report: Tyson threatened to skip fight
Posted: Saturday January 29, 2000 10:30 AM
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -- Mike Tyson threatened to walk out on his heavyweight fight with Julius Francis before Friday's weigh-in, newspapers reported on Saturday. The former world champion, who meets Britain's Francis in what should be a one-sided bout later on Saturday, was quoted as telling a driver "I've had enough of this -- I'm going back to the States" just before the weigh-in. Tyson, who was convicted for rape in 1992 and whose mood swings are well-documented, caused Friday's weigh-in to be delayed an hour after suddenly departing for Manchester airport shortly before he was due on the scales. He later returned to his hotel to dismiss his opponent as looking "kind of fat." Promoter Frank Warren said at the time that he believed Tyson had gone to meet a family member, an assertion backed up by Tyson's manager Shelly Finkel at the weigh-in. However Saturday's tabloid Sun quoted one of Warren's assistants as saying that while he was genuinely unaware of any row, they had been told Tyson never went to the arrivals area. "It has been suggested that he was threatening to get on a plane and go home," he said. Finkel was quoted as saying that Tyson "got upset over one or two things. These things happen with Mike." Both the Sun and Mirror, which proclaimed in its headline "Tyson tries to do a runner," carried photographs of Tyson with his bodyguards at the airport. He is likely to leave for good on Sunday, probably another step closer to his dream of a title fight against Britain's undisputed champion Lennox Lewis. Frank Maloney, manager to both Francis and Lewis, said a Tyson-Lewis title fight could take place early next year. But he told BBC radio that Francis could end all that conjecture and "break Michael's heart" during the 10 round fight at the 21,000 seat MEN arena. "The first few rounds are going to be the most dangerous, when Tyson is fresh and like a bull," Maloney said, predicting an outcome that view others envisage. "After that I think Julius will come more into the fight and dictate the fight and probably break Michael's heart. "The real test is when the knock on the dressing room door comes and it's time to walk to the ring. That was when Frank Bruno froze. He told me has was brave right up to then." "That's something we can't prepare him for. He just has to do it on his own." Bruno, a huge crowd favorite in Britain despite his statuesque lack of movement in the ring, fought Tyson twice in Las Vegas in 1989 and 1996. The first time, Bruno was knocked out in round five and the second, as WBC champion, he was knocked out in three.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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