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Tyson remains in Las Vegas; fight likely off
www.lvrj.com - February 17, 2003


Mike Tyson did not fly from Las Vegas to Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday and his adviser said he is fearful the fight will have to be postponed today.

Tyson is slated to fight Clifford Etienne on Saturday at The Pyramid, the scene of his loss last June to heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Tyson has been bothered by a bad back and flu-like symptoms. In addition, he had a tattoo put on the left side of his face that also might be causing him problems.

The official word of the fight's cancellation likely will come today.

“My gut feeling is it won't happen,” Finkel said. He said if the former heavyweight champion isn't significantly improved this morning, the fight will be called off.

If the fight is postponed or canceled, Tyson may need a new trainer. Trainer Freddie Roach said Sunday he likes Tyson and wants to help him, but said he can't afford to put his life on hold again like he did for this fight and wind up not getting paid.

Roach has worked with Tyson for two months, but won't get paid if the fight doesn't happen. Roach trains a number of fighters, including super bantamweight Manny Pacquiao, lightweight Juan Lazcano and cruiserweight James Toney, and has had his assistants work with them while he's been in Las Vegas with Tyson.

“That's part of the business and I knew that going in,” Roach said of not getting paid. “That's why I never spend money before I have it. Fights fall out all the time and the trainers don't get paid if the fighters don't get paid, and fighters don't get paid if they don't fight. I have no problem about that because that's one of the risks of this job, whether I was with Mike or any other fighter.

”I'm not sure what I'll do. I like Mike and I want to help him, but we'd have to have some things cleared up. Maybe I would bring my stable here. But I can't just throw my life aside for a couple of months at a time and then have this happen. That's not fair to me and it's sure not fair to my guys.“

Finkel advised Roach when he was interviewing him to replace Ronnie Shields as Tyson's trainer that the job would be the most unusual and difficult of his life, primarily because of Tyson's personality and the cult following he has.

Roach said it has been difficult to fathom the bizarre turn of events his life has taken. He said he spent almost the entire weekend on the telephone.

”It was better than I ever thought possible at first,“ he said of working with Tyson. ”But then it turned out to be more than I ever expected, no question. Mike has different personalities. His good side is great, but his bad side is bad. I don't like that bad side, but you know what? I still like Mike and think he's a good guy.

“I wouldn't want to be him, but if I could help him while not throwing my other guys aside, I really would like to do that. I could never have guessed what this would be like when I took this job, but if I don't work with Mike again, well, I can say that I like him and have nothing but good feelings about him.”


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