Lots of stories! Follow them through
THE FIGHT PAGE from Total Action
http://www.totalaction.com/fightpage/fightpage.htm

Friday, October 01, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Royce Feour

TRAINER BRIGHT OUT TO BRING OUT BEST IN TYSON

Mike Tyson's camp hopes the return of Jay Bright to his training team
will help Tyson approach his top form. Bright's association with Tyson
dates to Tyson's days as an amateur with legendary trainer Cus D'Amato
in Catskill, N.Y., but he was absent for Tyson's last fight with Frans
Botha. Bright has rejoined Team Tyson for the Oct. 23 fight against
Orlin Norris at the MGM Grand Garden. Tyson has to feel a comfort zone
with Bright as part of his team.

Tyson hasn't looked like the great fighter he was in his last three
fights --
two losses to Evander Holyfield and a victory over Botha. Tyson managed
to stop
Botha with a powerful right hand in the fifth round in a February bout,
but only after Tyson lost the first four rounds. Tyson made major
changes in his camp after the losses to Holyfield. He fired his
long-time promoter, Don King, and his co-managers, John Horne and Rory
Holloway. They were replaced by Denver-based America Presents as his
promoter and Shelly Finkel of New York as his adviser. Tommy Brooks, who
has long trained Main Events fighters, was brought in as lead trainer
for the Botha fight.

Just how much form Tyson can regain at age 33 is questionable. Still, he
should be able to improve on his showing against Botha. Bright and
Brooks said Tyson has been looking good in training. "He is doing very
well. Bit by bit he is getting the patience and determination to get
back to the style and condition that made him a great fighter, and will
hopefully inthe future make him a great fighter again," Bright said
Thursday. Bright said long layoffs are the reason Tyson hasn't been so
indestructible. "Any fighter who has been inactive is going to lose a
certain amount of his speed, his timing and his coordination," Bright
said. Tyson has fought only twice in almost three years since he was
stopped in the 11th round by Holyfield on Nov. 9, 1996, at the MGM.

And in one of those fights, the Holyfield rematch, he was disqualified
after the third round for biting Holyfield's ears. Throw in the five
rounds the Botha fight lasted (it ended at 2:59 of the fifth round), and
Tyson has fought only eight rounds in three years. How sharp can he be?
Before he put Botha down
with the booming right, Tyson showed the ring rust of being out of
action for 19 months. Tyson was unable to connect with the devastating
combinations against the unheralded Botha that made him undisputed
heavyweight champion. Tyson's attack against Botha consisted largely of
one punch at a time, jumping in and throwing right hands. Botha was
effective in tying Tyson up by coming inside.

But Tyson also knows he has a long way to go, and said the long layoffs
have
prevented him from being better. Bright said Tyson can get it back. "The
style
that Mike was taught was the style that Cus D'Amato formulated," Bright
said.
"But Mike's had quite a bit of time off. He's had some extensive periods
away
from the ring, and little by little, he's getting back to the things he
was
taught." Brooks said, "He's always possessed (the talent), it is just a
matter
of Jay and I bringing it out of him." Brooks said he hoped to take
advantage of
Bright's long association with Tyson. "The great thing about having Jay
here is
that I don't have the trial-and-error thing anymore," Brooks said. "Jay
knows
what he can do and what he can't do and we can capitalize on that. "Jay
and I
talk in the gym and out of the gym. We put our heads together and try to
achieve what we are trying to achieve with Mike. I just knew of Mike. I
didn't know what Mike's capabilities were and what his inabilities were.
In order for a trainer to be successful, you've got to know what (the
fighter) can do and what he can't do." Not that it was expected to go
the distance, but the Tyson-Norris fight has been changed from a
scheduled 12-rounder for a contrived title to a scheduled 10-round bout.
It will be televised on Showtime cable instead of pay-per-view.

info.vcf < 1K Fazer download

      Also, Christy Martin of Orlando, Fla., will meet Daniella Somers of
Belgium
in a women's scheduled 10-round junior welterweight bout.

e-mail officials tell them you want judges with accountability not bias
opinions where they can select which part of the round they want to score,"
I DO NOT COUNT THE END OF THE ROUND" roth , HOW IS THAT FAIR? Tell them you
want auditing and re-scoring of fights using statistical data not opinions.
If a judge makes a mistake he feels it will effect his ego if he admits it.
He plays the politics knowing his buddies won't ruin his reputation.
Accountabilty where wrong scoring of a round means punishment , fines for
judges who play ignorant to the fight and play bias to who really won. The
corruptness of boxing lies in the ego and ignorance of the judges and
officials who think they have a system that is fair. There have been many
high dollar fights , high gambling fights, where the decision has been
clearly unfair and this has occured.

Editor of the Boxing Wise website
http://members.tripod.com/~fivedogs/

AZ

Jr welter contender Reggie Green appeared to be on his way to a hard fought
decision win over Mickey Ward, but Ward dug deep down, unleashing bomb after
bomb in the tenth round to rock Green, prompting a halt to the proceedings
with :30 left in the fight. Green had Ward reeling in the third round but
Ward managed to withstand the storm. The fight was a total war from the outset.

Ivan Weiss   MAGNIFICENT, adj. Having a grandeur or splendor superior
Vashon WA    to that to which the spectator is accustomed, as the ears of
             an ass, to a rabbit, or the glory of a glowworm, to a maggot.
             -- Ambrose Bierce: "The Devil's Dictionary"