Columnist Dean Juipe: Tyson, fans may have liked the road not taken

Dean Juipe

Saturday, Sept. 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

THE MAN HAS made a minimum of $80 million in the last 18 months and has re-established himself as one of the most prominent athletes of the era. So there's really no need to second-guess the life and modern times of Mike Tyson.

Except that he's miserable. "I'm pissed off all the time," he recently told a group of reporters.

And the people who have been supporting him via ticket sales and pay per view are miserable as well. "What a disgrace," was the cleaned-up version of a commonly heard complaint as the fans filed out of the MGM Grand Garden following Tyson's most recent fight, a week ago with Fainting Bruce Seldon.

Of course, it didn't have to be this way. With just a few easy-to-grasp and easy-to-implement decisions, Tyson's comeback could have been just as prosperous and far more enjoyable for everyone involved, himself included.

This isn't a matter of hindsight. Since his March 1995 release from prison, when Tyson has had to make a crossroads decision regarding his professional boxing career, in almost every instance he has chosen an obviously questionable path.

So suspend reality for a moment and let's rechart what Tyson could have done to make himself not only rich, but rich, happy and endlessly popular on a cross-cultural basis.

Step 1: Upon exiting the Indiana Youth Correctional Facility, Tyson announces that despite the pressure he has been under to sign with any number of managers, he will, in essence, manage himself.

It's not a unique concept.

George Foreman manages himself and has done so successfully. His "entourage" is limited to an old sportswriter pal, Mort Sharnick, who makes himself available to the media as something of an informal publicist when Foreman himself is sidetracked or detained elsewhere.

Foreman knows his market value -- although some say he over-inflates it -- and negotiates his own contracts. By not having a manager, he also saves himself hundreds of thousands of dollars on fights, as boxers routinely pay their manager one-third of their purse.

Tyson didn't need John Horne and Rory Holloway as managers and he could be managing himself. His only real need in this area is a good tax lawyer and maybe a contract lawyer to give his deals a quick perusal.

Step 2: Coinciding with his announcement that he will manage himself, Tyson says he will stay free of any long-term agreements with specific promoters, specific casinos and specific television networks.

While boxers habitually align themselves with one promoter or another, a fighter of Tyson's stature doesn't need to be encumbered. It serves no purpose.

Without being tied to Don King (or Bob Arum or anyone else), Tyson would have the freedom to take the best deal on the table at any given time. He would also be able to move freely from one fight site to another and from one cable network to another (and it's the cable companies and their contracts with fighters that are blocking an endless number of interesting fights today).

Step 3: Realizing he needs the work after four years in prison, Tyson comes out and says he's going to fight regularly and he asks his fans for some leniency as he readily admits the opposition won't always be that tough.

"I want to fight every 90 days," he could have said. "And some of the guys I'm going to fight might not be that good. But I'll be fighting them for a reason, and it's to get some ring work in and get rid of this rust.

"I'll take on some good fighters and I'll take on some mediocre ones. But I won't tell you a mediocre fighter is a good one, and I'll make sure the prices you have to pay to see these fights correspond to the degree of difficulty I expect to face."

Step 4: Concurrent with Tyson fighting often and against varying levels of competition, tickets are priced accordingly as Tyson steadily works his way through an assortment of obstacles in the heavyweight division.

Opening with Peter McNeeley wasn't so bad, and following with Buster Mathis was acceptable, but had Tyson taken this route he could have added sellable matches with Butterbean Esch (whom he knocks out with one punch), Tony Tubbs (an aging ex-champ who might force him to go six or seven rounds), Shannon Briggs (an over-hyped New Yorker who wouldn't last three) and Alex Zolkin (the typical straight-up European who might last a few rounds) before going on to Frank Bruno (down in three) and Seldon (out in one).

A couple of other fighters could have worked their way into the mix, including Andrew Golota (get him while he's hot), as well as Foreman (get him while he's still in his 40s).

Some might have considered Tyson's march through the division a modern-day reprisal of Joe Louis' famous "Bum of the Month Club" approach of the 1940s. They said it was fun for Louis and the fans, and Tyson likely would have found it fun as well.

One last soliloquy: "Needless to say, I wish I had followed this four-step approach to peace and prosperity," Tyson might say. "I'd be more active than I am today. I'd have at least as much money. I'd probably attract the endorsements that are currently outside my grasp. Countless more people would have seen me fight. Almost everyone would have left happy. I'd be more accessible and agreeable. And I'd be rid of the arrogant and self-centered people who are surrounding me and using me, and turning off millions of potential fans.

"But because I have, instead, allowed my career decisions to be made by dictators interested only in money, there's only one thing left for me to say: Tickets for my upcoming fight with Evander Holyfield go on sale Monday at the MGM and it's $1,500 if you want to sit up close."