Friday, June 07, 2002
Keep 'em separated: Dual weigh-ins raise weighty questions
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Only one scale was used at Thursday's weigh-in for the heavyweight title bout between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson — and even then, the fighters' camps couldn't agree on what it said.
Lewis and Tyson weighed in for Saturday's fight three hours apart at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. It was the first time in even the most seasoned boxing observers' memories that two fighters in such a high-profile bout didn't take the stage together.
Team Tyson claimed its fighter is at least six pounds lighter than his announced 234 1/2 pounds. Three hours earlier, Lennox Lewis weighed in at 249 1/4.
“I know Mike is not that heavy,” Tyson head trainer Ronnie Shields said. “I don't think Lennox is that heavy, either. It's got to be something with the scales. Maybe the platform was crooked or something.”
Holding weigh-ins three hours apart was just another way to build the testy atmosphere around the fight — though safety also played a role, given the fighters' combustible history in public appearances.
The melee at their January press conference, during which Tyson bit Lewis' left thigh, nearly caused the fight to be cancelled. Contracts for the fight stipulated that there would be no joint appearances, from press conferences to weigh-ins, said Tyson's adviser, Shelly Finkel.
“The weigh-ins were the coward's idea,” Tyson trainer Stacey McKinley said of the two fighters going separately. “The coward was scared to look at Mike. This whole time, all they've said was, 'Where's Mike? Where's he going to be? When is he going to Blockbuster? What side of town is he going to live on?' (Lewis) doesn't want to see Mike.”
Emanuel Steward, Lewis' trainer, thought his fighter's weight was accurate.
“I really wanted them to weigh in together, but it's not just Tyson that you worry about in that situation,” Steward said. “Lennox could snap, too. He has a very calm character, but there's that rage inside him also.”
For a heavyweight bout, the fighters' weights are little more than a possible indication of fitness. Tyson's handlers have insisted their fighter is in the best shape of his life, even though he seems to have the slightest paunch.
Either way, it was the second-heaviest weight of Tyson's career.
“It won't make any difference when the fight starts,” McKinley said. “When the fight starts, you're going to see the same Mike as always.”
———
SCHULBERG ENTERTAINED: Among the hundreds of observers at the weigh-ins was 88-year-old Budd Schulberg, the novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter.
“It's crazy, having two weigh-ins for one fight,” Schulberg said with a shake of thick white hair. “I've never seen anything like that before.”
Schulberg is best known for his seminal Hollywood novel, “What Makes Sammy Run?” but he knows a bit about the fight game.
He wrote the story and screenplay for “On the Waterfront,” the classic 1954 film in which an ex-prizefighter played by Marlon Brando battled union bosses. Two years later, he wrote, “The Harder They Fall,” another classic boxing film starring Humphrey Bogart.
Schulberg is writing about the fight for Scotland's Sunday Herald newspaper.
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PANAMA SPAT: Steward has a theory on Tyson's decision to add disgraced trainer Carlos “Panama” Lewis and all-around character Steve “Crocodile” Fitch to his entourage in the final days before the fight.
Panama Lewis, banned from working a boxing corner in most states, was imprisoned for tampering with gloves in a 1984 fight. Finkel said Tyson never invited Panama Lewis into his camp, but simply allowed him to stay after another one of Tyson's friends arrived in Memphis with Panama in tow.
“I don't think there's anything Panama can do except talk a lot of street talk to him,” Steward said. “He's surrounded himself with a lot of people who will tell him what he wants to hear, and get him into that mood. That may be the reason that Mike is the way he is.”
Panama will be nowhere near Tyson's corner on fight night, Finkel said.
———
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I didn't see Mike bite nobody. For all I know, Lennox Lewis could have bit himself.” — Tyson's trainer Stacey McKinley, on the January news conference.
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Keep 'em separated: Dual weigh-ins raise weighty questions
