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In a flash Tyson took out Francis in very quick fashion
Posted: Monday January 31, 2000 08:54 PM
MANCHESTER, England (CNNSI.com) -- It took Mike Tyson longer to walk from his dressing room to the ring then it did for him to vanquish Julius Francis. Tyson launched his full arsenal, dropping Francis twice in the first round and smashing him to the canvas three more times in the second. The bludgeoning lasted 4:03. Then it was over. "I wish I could have put on a better performance which would have went a little longer," said Tyson afterwards wearing street clothes and dark glasses. "I guess we'll be better next time." Tyson showed fans in person and on pay-per-view his full arsenal, hooks, crosses, up and down. He knocked Francis down with those punches and body shots. Was he surprised when the English champ got up and came out for the second round? "I didn't think he would come out. I thought they should have stopped the fight. In America they would have stopped the fight." As for his own perfomance, Tyson was less than enthusiastic. "I'm all right," he says. "I've got a ways to go." Even though he didn't have time to show many of his skills, Tyson was able to display some elements of his game plan which included the use of body shots to weaken Francis. "I was just thinking of hitting around the body and hoping he would collapse," Tyson said of the brief time he spent in the ring. On the other side of the locker room, Francis' gave his take on the fight. "To be honest, I can't remember getting hit with a body shot," he said with a laugh. "I think I remember getting hit with a left upper cut, I think." Can he describe what it's like to take the full force of a Tyson shot in the ring? "Hmmm," Francis said as he paused to think about the question. "He's a lot stronger than he looks. I'll give him that much." And as if to drive home the point again like one of Tyson's punches, Francis reiterated, "He's a lot stronger than he looks." As for Tyson, his two-week trip England proved to be some much-needed tonic both in and out of the ring. "I just had a good time and I appreciate the whole elation that the people in England gave me. I'm humbled really." With the hype and the fight now behind him, Tyson was ready to head for home and family. "I wish they were here yesterday," he said of his wife and children. "I wish I could have seen them. I was going to go to the airport but they couldn't make it, they missed the flight. I just wish I could see them. I miss my children so bad." Tyson took a solid career-step with this bout and he said he wants to stay active with a fight in March, another in summer and one before the year is out. All are designed to pick up the necessary steam and confidence for an inevitable collision with Lennox Lewis.
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