9 Years Later Can Tyson Fight Critics?

The two questions, bridged by almost nine years of glory and turmoil, brought the same bristling response from a glaring Mike Tyson. The questioners, in 1986 and 1995, had dared to challenge his boxing abilities.

“Who said that?” Tyson snapped in both instances.

The first time was at a news conference to announce his challenge to WBC champion Trevor Berbick in November 1986. Tyson’s testy answer came after he was asked what would happen if he lost.

“Anyway, that is a negative question, and I’m not a negative person,” Tyson had said. “I don’t see me losing.”

The most recent outburst came at a May 25 news conference to announce his comeback fight against Peter McNeeley next Saturday night. The journalist had suggested that his boxing skills had started to erode even before he went to prison to serve three years on a rape conviction.

“Who said that? Where are they?” Tyson said.

In both instances, Tyson displayed the same “Iron Mike” persona - the complicated, impulsive character that exploded onto the boxing scene with a series of out-of-your-seat knockouts that made him, at age 20 in 1986, the youngest man ever to become a heavyweight champion.

Yet, in a recent interview, Tyson admitted his celebrity lifestyle before he went to prison eventually began to interfere with his boxing.

“I knew I could beat those guys,” he said. “I wasn’t interested. I just wanted to have fun back then. I had been fighting for a long time. I never had time to myself.”

Tyson once said, “I’m going to be a boy and king of the world at the same time. I don’t consider myself a celebrity.”

But he was a celebrity and he acted as if he didn’t mind.

“The way I am is the way I am, high-spirited, energetic and wild,” he said while still king of the boxing world. “I’m going to live the way I want to live anyway. I have to live my life. Once I start to change that’s the first sign of failure.”

So were these:

In June 1989, his divorce from actress Robin Givens ended a stormy, gossip-column marriage.

On Feb. 11, 1990, Tyson was knocked out by James “Buster” Douglas in the 10th round at Tokyo.

On Feb. 10, 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room in the early morning hours of July 19, 1991.

How has he changed since then?

“I’m basically pretty stable at this stage of my life,” he said in an interview last month. “I’m just a simple guy. I’m happy. I wish I was 20 and felt the way I do now.”

Tyson, of course, is not a simple guy. He is locked into being a celebrity - to some, a negative one.

One columnist wrote recently he won’t watch the Tyson-McNeeley fight unless Tyson apologizes to Washington and speaks out about rape and violence against women. He also hoped the public won’t watch.

Tyson, who had a civil suit by Washington settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, maintains his innocence.

Through reading books while in prison, Tyson said, he learned, “If you’re going to do something to ruin your life, you should be the one to make the decision.”

How will Tyson fare this time outside the ring? Tyson watchers find this question as intriguing as the one about what kind of fighter he will be after a layoff of almost 50 months.

“This time I should be better,” he said in the interview. “But I’m no fool. I know I’m a hard act to follow.”

Inside the ring, he was exciting. Outside the ropes, however, was a boorish, tabloid-headline mixture of problems with women, the stormy marriage, and impulsive acts, such as the alleged slapping of a parking attendant who had asked him to move his car, or the 4 a.m. punching of heavyweight Mitch Green on a New York street.

While in prison, Tyson converted to Islam. “That’s what got me through,” he said.

He disclosed this week that he will take a Muslim name, but would not say when. “I’m a Muslim to the purest sense,” he said. “It’s so much of privilege to be representing Islam.”

Also while in prison, Tyson met Monica Turner, who was visiting someone else. She was there when he was released from prison and went with him to his country estate at Southington, Ohio. He went to her graduation from Georgetown University Medical School.

Asked during the interview if they’re considering marriage, Tyson smiled and said, “When I get some more brains, maybe I’ll get married. What kind of husband would I be, I’m always away?”

Soon after Tyson’s release, he was accompanied by Turner on a shopping spree in Las Vegas, where he purchased a $3.2 million house.

Same old Tyson?

One indication it might be, critics allege, is that Tyson has the same old promoter: Don King.

There was speculation upon his release from prison that Tyson would dump King. It took the former champion 76 seconds to set the record straight, at an appearance March 30 in Cleveland.

He announced King would again be his promoter and that he would resume fighting under contracts with the MGM Grand and Showtime. He also announced friends John Horne and Rory Holloway would be his managers.

After the death of co-manager Jimmy Jacobs in March 1988, the management of Tyson became a power struggle among King; Bill Cayton, Tyson’s other manager of record; and Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper.

Since Tyson’s release, King has kept a low profile. But the critics note Horne and Holloway work, or worked, for King.

“Mike lets us do our jobs and he does his job,” Horne said. “Rory, myself and Mike make the decisions, but we respect Don King.

Another friend, Jay Bright, once again is helping train Tyson, as he did for Tyson’s last seven fights before he was imprisoned. One of those bouts was the knockout loss to Douglas for which Bright and Aaron Snowell received harsh criticism for their corner work.

Helping Bright as Tyson prepares for his comeback have been Stacy McKinley and Dave Jacobs.

Many in boxing think Tyson needs a take-charge trainer, someone like Kevin Rooney, who was dismissed by the former champion before his defense against Frank Bruno Feb. 25, 1989. Tyson felt Rooney had talked out of turn about the fighter’s private life, and he has made it clear Rooney will not return.

“I’m a professional fighter,” Tyson said. “If I don’t know how to go in there and fight now. I’ve got a problem.”

The 10-round bout against McNeeley will be his first since he scored a 12-round decision over Donovan “Razor” Ruddock June 28, 1991. He was supposed to challenge Evander Holyfield for the undisputed championship in November of that year but he suffered a rib injury in training and the bout was canceled.

Horne said plans call for Tyson to fight once more this year and four times in 1996.

“I’m just taking my time,” Tyson said. “I’m in no hurry to fight for a title. I want to stay as active as possible.”