Angry Talk Marks Tyson-Holyfield News Conference

For a while, Thursday’s Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield news conference in New York bore all the trappings of a typical Don King production, with the promoter invoking the names of Boris Yeltsin, Gen. George Patton and George Raft, among others.

Then, Tyson’s co-managers, John Horne and Rory Holloway, said the Holyfield fight, set for Nov. 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, is a personal matter for them and for the WBA champion.

Horne and Holloway claimed that when Tyson was being tried for rape in 1992, Holyfield, the undisputed heavyweight champion, said he could not fight a rapist.

“A lot was said about Tyson during his time of trial and tribulation, particularly by Holyfield,” Holloway said. “You just don’t do that. He’s got to pay the price. Mike is going to inflict pain. It’s going to be a little messy.”

Horne was even angrier.

“I heard a guy say things I never dreamed,” he said. “He said he would never fight a rapist. You don’t do that to your peers at a time when they’re down. It became emotional instead of just a fight.”

Tyson served three years for rape and returned to the ring last August. By then, Holyfield had lost the title to Riddick Bowe, regained it and then lost it again to Michael Moorer.

“While Mike was away, nobody benefited more than Holyfield,” Horne said. “Mike Tyson never raped anybody. The only rape is going to take place Nov. 9.”

Holyfield denied the claims.

While all this was going on, Tyson sat impassively. When it was his turn to speak, he said simply, “I ain’t going up there.”

Eddie Futch will no longer train Riddick Bowe.

“I’m withdrawing my services from Riddick Bowe because of irreconcilable differences,” the 85-year-old Futch told the Associated Press by telephone from his home at Las Vegas.