By Rick FolstadBy Rick FolstadIt's too early to tell if the mellowing of Mike Tyson actually has set in,
but I wouldn't bet the house on it. Old dogs don't take well to learning new
tricks. Tyson? He's a mad dog. Just because he stopped snarling doesn't mean he
stopped biting.
Besides, nice guys aren't made, they're born, and when Tyson was slapped on the
bottom 35 years ago, you got to figure he took a pretty mean swing at the
doctor.
A tame Mike Tyson? Sure. It's called an oxymoron. You know, like jumbo shrimp,
holy war or a government expert.
If Tyson has mellowed, it will be good for everyone's kids. From now on when he
fights on TV, you can let them stay up and watch the mayhem. In the past, you
either had to cover their eyes or send them out of the room when he came on.
Can't have good kids watching a crazy man.
They say Tyson actually embraced Brian Nielsen after stopping him at the end of
six rounds in their fight in Copenhagen. Some referred to it as a
"mandatory" hug, though there's never been anything mandatory with
Tyson, especially a hug.
Even at the postfight press conference Tyson was a gentleman, giving Nielsen a
backhanded compliment by saying the Dane took some great shots.
``I felt pretty good, but a little unsure,'' Tyson said. ``I probably need to
train harder for the championship.''
He also admitted he was a little rusty after being away for a year.
``But I take my hat off to Brian,'' he said. ``I had no idea he was that
tough.''
Train harder? Take my hat off to Brian? Hey, who was that masked man?
If the old Tyson is really gone, I'm going to miss him. He was the epitome of
everything good and bad in the fight game. The best fighter in the world was
also the most menacing, the most disturbing, the most fascinating.
He was also the most entertaining, but that's just the nature of the beast. His
fights were events, something you planned parties around. When he fought, you
couldn't imagine missing it.
It hasn't been that way in awhile, at least not in the heavyweight
division.
It'll be interesting to see what happens from here on out, whether it was the
Danish food, middle age or just resolution that tamed Mike Tyson. If he really
is tamed.
In the meantime, his Redemption Tour continues. He wants one, maybe two more
fights before he takes on the winner of the Lennox Lewis - Hasim Rahman fight
set for Nov. 17.
Supposedly, Tyson is the mandatory challenger, though the fight game has a
tendency to change the rules depending on who's playing.
Mellowed or not, Tyson is the only guy out there who can bring the heavyweight
division back to where it belongs. Or at least get it close.
At 35, he's not the fighter he was at 25, but he's still the one heavyweight I'd
pay to see right now. I'm not sure what that says about the heavyweight
division, but I know what it says about Mike Tyson.
It would be nice to see a little ferocity at the top again.