NEW YORK, 27 August 2003 — Mike Tyson, whose boxing downfall began with a 1990 loss to Buster Douglas in Tokyo, might return to Japan in December for his next fight, a possible martial arts bout against Bob “The Beast” Sapp.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Tyson has signed a management contract with K-1, a Japan-based company that would handle promotional rights and a Japanese tour for the former world heavyweight champion. “It might be nice, but under Marquess of Queensberry rules,” Tyson told the Times. “I don’t really feel like getting kicked in the head.”
K-1 combines karate, kung fu, taekwondo and kickboxing and the deal would bring Tyson, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, four million dollars plus a $200,000 signing bonus. Sapp, a former American football player, is well known in Japan for his skill in the martial arts multidiscipline sport.
Tyson would follow Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Italian heavyweight Primo Carnera as boxing stars who climbed into the ring against wrestlers for odd matchups to make money.
Ali went to Japan in 1976 to fight a wrestler, only to have his opponent flop on to his back and kick Ali’s legs for 15 rounds, Ali unable to punch his already prone foe and forced to resort to kicking him back. Tyson has not boxed since a first-round knockout of Clifford Etienne last February. He was mentioned as a possible rematch rival for Lennox Lewis but backed out, getting into a hotel brawl the same night he could have fought for millions.
After Tyson lost to Douglas, his first ring defeat, his life spiraled into disgrace, including three years in prison for rape, another assault conviction and a one-year ban from boxing for biting Evander Holyfield’s ears in a fight. “I’ve got nothing against Japan,” Tyson said. “Japan has always been respectful and courteous to me and I’ve always been respectful and courteous to Japan.”
Tyson had been talking with promoters in Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, about a possible fight in December, with promoter Chris Webb saying, “We’re very deep into the deal” and Tyson lawyer Steve Espinoza adding that “Mike’s priority is in Louisville.”
But Tyson’s priority is money as well, and a Japan tour could allow him to cash in on his fame without risking his viability as a US pay-per-view star, largely because of his shock value and less because of his boxing skills.
Tyson also offered advice to embattled basketball star Kobe Bryant, who has been charged with sexual assault on a 19-year-old woman in a case that goes back to court in October.
“I know how easy it is for a young man to be a big shot, a big star in America’s eyes, and then get in another arena and he is nobody,” Tyson told the television show Access Hollywood. “I just hope the best for him.”
