LAS VEGAS, 7 February 2003 — Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson should consider life outside the ring if he can’t beat Clifford ‘the Black Rhino’ Etienne, his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach said on Wednesday.
“This is a crucial fight for Mike, if he doesn’t win this fight I believe his career might be over,” Roach said in a teleconference to promote the Feb. 22 bout with Etienne in Memphis. “If he can’t beat a guy at this level he’s never going to be champion again.
“He’s got to be a realist and realize that. But if he does well in this fight and does what he’s supposed to do and blow this guy away we’ll be back together.
“He’s giving 100 percent but if he goes in there against the Black Rhino and doesn’t perform well it might be time for Mike to think about something else.”
When Tyson (49-4, 2 no contests) steps into the ring against Etienne (24-1-1) it will be a last desperate attempt to breath fresh life into a career that appeared over following a humiliating loss to Britain’s Lennox Lewis in June last year.
That task has fallen on the highly respected Roach, the latest in a growing procession of trainers brought in to try and tap into and harness the brutal power that made Tyson the most feared fighter of his generation.
But now aged 36, much of Tyson’s menacing mystic and allure has faded in a string of sub-standard performances and disturbing displays both in and outside the ring.
Yet, despite his decline, a win on Feb. 22 will give Tyson another shot at the title, Lewis having set a June date for a rematch.
Even Roach, however, admits that Tyson will have to conjure a devastating performance from his past and demolish Etienne if a rematch with Lewis is to spark any interest.
The Briton mercilessly pummeled Tyson, the self-proclaimed “baddest man on the planet”, for seven rounds in Memphis before sending him crashing to the canvas with a thundering right in the eighth. “Mike wants to be champion again and he knows who has the belt,” said Roach, who took over training Tyson on December 26 after being approached by the fighter’s longtime manager-advisor Shelly Finkel.
“I think that’s why he’s training so hard because he has to look impressive in this fight.
“He needs to go out there and make a statement right away and I expect him to do that. That’s the only way people are going to buy a Lewis fight, if Mike looks sensational.
“It’s not enough to win this fight he’s got to be impressive and he knows that.”
Unlike many of his recent fights, things have been strangely quiet around the Tyson camp. No explosive rantings, no raving and according to Roach no entourage and no distractions.
Roach says, Tyson drives himself to the gym each day and has been committed to his workouts as much as any fighter he has trained.
Initially, Roach conceded that he had his concerns about taking on one of the most unpredictable fighters in boxing history but after talking to Tyson and receiving some assurances he accepted the challenge.
“Everyone told me the horror stories that Mike’s a bad guy and hard to work with but I’ve found the opposite to be true,” said Roach. “I always thought I could help Mike if he was trainable at all.
“I just wasn’t sure if he was trainable at this point in his career.
“There was some concern.
“Does he have it anymore?, that was my biggest question.
“In the gym he’s looking good but we won’t know if he has it until fight time.
“He’s 36 and not going to have the speed he once had but I still think he still has enough speed and power to beat a lot of the heavyweights out there.
“He told me that this is the first time in a long time that he’s really wanted to fight and his work ethic has showed me that’s true.” (R)
