MIKE HAS NEW TRAIN-ER OF THOUGHT
NY Post - February 2, 2003
February 2, 2003 --
THE temptation came in the form of a telephone call just before Christmas. Shelly Finkel was on the other end asking Freddie Roach if he would be interested in becoming Mike Tyson's latest trainer.
A former boxer with a growing reputation as a cornerman, Roach was well aware Tyson has been through as many trainers as he has wives lately with the results equally volatile.
Roach had heard how Tyson would ignore his trainer's teachings; how he sometimes slacked off in the gym if he showed up at all; and how techniques taught during training camp were suddenly lost on fight night in a barrage of the bizarre.
Common sense should have told Roach to stay away. Instead, he yielded to compassion and the prospect of a lot of cash, joining Team Tyson for a Feb. 22 fight against Clifford Etienne in Memphis. He is Tyson's third trainer in as many fights, following Ronnie Shields and Tommy Brooks, two respected cornermen who failed to connect with the former champion.
"I told him I didn't want to waste my time," Roach said of his first conversation with Tyson. "But if he wanted me to help him I would. I guess I've always thought about working with Tyson and whether I could help him. The question was whether he was trainable."
There is much at stake for both men. If Tyson (49-4-2) can beat Etienne (24-1-1) and look impressive, it will lead to a lucrative rematch with champ Lennox Lewis this summer, a prospect that seemed unlikely last June when Lewis pounded Tyson before KOing him in the eighth round at The Pyramid.
Tyson's days as a contender seemed over since he looked so badly that night, absorbing Lewis' heavy punches until he finally collapsed from a thunderous right hand to the jaw.
"Halfway through the first round he gave up," said Roach, who was a ringside observer. "I don't think he made an effort to win the fight. He didn't look like the Mike Tyson I'd seen in the past. The only thing he proved after 30 seconds was he could take a good shot."
If boxing were fair, Vitali Klitschko deserves the next shot at Lewis, but the huge dollars generated from Lewis-Tyson I has Lewis greedy for an easy $20 million payday in Lewis-Tyson II. Roach, no dummy, knows he's in for a handsome check if he can get Mike past Etienne.
"This probably is a do-or-die situation for Mike," Roach said. "If he can't beat this caliber of fighter (Etienne), he might have to think about doing something else. He's going to have to look impressive and the way he's looking now, I think he will."
So far, Roach reports Tyson had been the model student: awake at his Las Vegas home at 5:30 a.m. ready for work., running 31/2 to 5 miles a day, sparring up to 10 rounds, and dropping his weight from 244 to 230.
"He's got to get back to the fundamentals," Roach said. "With his style, he needs good head movement. I've been pushing him pretty good, but he seems motivated. He says he wants to fight and so far his work shows me he really does."
Of course, we heard similar comments from Shields before Tyson was whipped by Lewis.
"I'm trying to make the next heavyweight champion of the world," Roach said. "If he responds the right way he might have a chance. But he still has to do it in the ring to make me happy."
It would make Lewis happy, too.
