Word: tysons
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...explanation for boxing, at least an excuse, has never been harder to summon or easier to see than it is now, simmering in the eyes of Mike Tyson. Muhammad Ali's face, when his was the face of boxing, at least had a note of humor, a hint of remorse, even the possibility of compassion, though he gave no guarantees. Tyson does: brutal, bitter ones...
...fictional character, Tyson would be an offense to everyone, a stereotype wrung out past infinity to obscenity. He is the black Brooklyn street thug from reform school, adopted by the white benevolent old character from the country who could only imagine the terrible violence done to the boy from the terrible violence the boy can do to others. "I'll break Spinks," Tyson says. "None of them has a chance. I'll break them all." Other sports trade on mayhem, but boxing is condemned for just this: intent...
...sport to Tyson. "I don't like sports; they're social events," he says, though he holds individual athletes in casual esteem. The basketball star Michael Jordan, for one ("Anyone who can fly deserves respect"), or the baseball and football player Bo Jackson. Tyson says of Jackson, "I love that he's able to do both, but I heard him say that he doesn't like the pain of football. That makes me wonder about him. Football is a hurting business...
...tabs -- haven't the political constituency of a solitary suburban child who falls off a trampoline. Observers who draw near enough to fights and fighters to think that they see something of value, something pure and honest, are sure to mention the desperate background and paradoxical gentleness, which even Tyson has in some supply. "I guess it's pretty cool," he says, to be the natural heir to John L. Sullivan, to hold an office of such immense stature and myth, to be able to drum a knuckle on the countertop and lick any man in the house...
...Spinks beats the odds and triumphs tomorrow night, it will be quite a story. Unfortunately for the sport, Tuesday's papers won't trumpet the return of one of the all-time greats to the top of the boxing world. And it's highly unlikely they'll berate Tyson for poor preparation or a sub-par peformance...