After Kimbo Slice’s debut on network television, sports fans on the internet were chatting and posting about a potential Slice-Mike Tyson fight. It’s good for both sports that the casual fan is intrigued by the possibility of this match.
It could happen. Here’s why.
If Kimbo Slice continues to get the kind of exposure he’s gotten since fighting on CBS, and if he continues to win, the public will make it so that people will get very rich off this fight. So, when there is money to be made, things tend to get done.
Kimbo’s promoter is Gary Shaw, who got his start in boxing and still promotes some of the best fighters in the world. MMA and boxing generally don’t mix, but in this particular case, one man is firmly entrenched in both sports. Shaw has the wherewithal and connections to make the fight a reality. In fact, Kimbo was part of the ring walk for Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa when he fought on HBO recently. (Shaw co-promotes Gamboa in the U.S.)
And for the third reason, we return to the issue of money. According to some published accounts, Tyson’s fortune is long gone. Any time a fighter has ventured into the realm of Mixed Martial Arts, it is because they have viewed it as a quick and easy score. That’s a mistake for Tyson or any other fighter who crosses over. Nonetheless, if money is indeed a factor for Tyson, half the battle is already won.
While the comparisons between Slice and Tyson are rampant, they don’t really ring true. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a man who dominated the game for nearly a decade. My MMA sources tell me that Kimbo would be defeated by nearly every legitimate heavyweight fighting in the UFC. (Kimbo currently fights for UFC rival, EliteXC.)
As imposing as Kimbo is, the experts peg him as a neophyte in his own game.
Still, he has the aura of intimidation that you can’t ignore. Shaw gave this quote to TheSweetScience.com about Slice and Tyson: “Slice is the closest thing I know to Tyson. He has an on and off switch. When it is on, someone is in trouble for sure.”
Slice is indeed a phenomenon, but before Tyson’s rape conviction, Iron Mike was as big as it gets in the world of sports. He earned $20-million paydays and drew pay-per-view numbers that the UFC hasn’t even sniffed yet. Tyson was on the cover of Time magazine, Sports Illustrated and nearly every other major national publication you can imagine. He did national commercials for Pepsi and Kodak. Slice still has a long way to go to reach greatness within his own sport and to achieve the kind of celebrity that Tyson enjoyed. In fact, he still enjoys it. In terms of relevance to boxing, Tyson hasn’t been a factor since the Lennox Lewis fight in 2002, but people are still talking about him, still making documentaries about him.
The appeal of a Slice-Tyson fight has everything to do with the mystique that surrounds both fighters. Slice became an internet legend when his ferocious street fights were broadcast on YouTube. Tyson was forever boxing’s bad boy, saying things like, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” And that he tried to catch his opponent on the tip of his nose to “drive his nose into his brain.” He hit fighters when they were down, and after the bell, and, of course, he bit a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear off.
Was there ever a badder dude on the planet?
The people around Slice believe he is. If a fight of this magnitude were to happen, here’s why it would make sense right now for both men. When making a match, any astute boxing manager tries to get some kind of an advantage for his fighter. The advantage for Tyson would be, fight the guy now before he gets better. Catch him on the way up. The advantage for Slice would be the opposite, catching the guy on the way down. And in the case of Tyson the fighter, he’s about as down as he’ll ever be.
“Bad” Chad Dawson, the current WBC light heavyweight champion often watches MMA fights and tunes in especially to watch Slice. He doesn’t think Tyson should fight him. “I watched Kimbo Slice, he’s a big strong guy. I don’t think the fight would be a good idea for Mike. I wouldn’t want to see him do it. Once he got him on the ground, the fight would be over.”
That is most likely true. Even though MMA folks say that Slice has no ground game, he has more ground game than any boxer. A few years back, he beat a 46-year-old Ray Mercer by bringing him to the ground and squeezing his rib cage with those massive legs. No, Slice couldn’t drop Mercer with a punch, but he did force him to submit. All this certainly works against Tyson.
Remember, the last thing a fighter loses is his punch. And it’s always been my contention that one of the main differences between a boxer and mixed martial artist is their ability to take punches. Wouldn’t you like to see what would happen if Tyson nailed Kimbo with just one left hook?
I would.
Posted by Robert Cassidy
http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/boxing/blog/2008/06/kimbo_slice_vs_mike_tyson_coul.html