Tyson punch line: Expect a knockout

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 | 10:06 a.m.

Emphatic and succinct, Mike Tyson says he'll make quick work of Orlin Norris when they fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden.

Never much for extraneous commentary, Tyson is going along with his trainers -- who are predicting a "two- or three-round fight" -- and forecasting a short night of work for a fight that will bring him $10 million.

"I get paid to knock people out," he said. "It's why I make the money I do. This fight here shouldn't be any different.

"I can't see it going too many rounds."

A 12-to-1 favorite in the MGM sports book, Tyson is fighting for the first time in nine months and is making yet another comeback in a career that has already seen him twice win a heavyweight championship. Those around him all but expect him to do it a third time.

"Whoever has the belts when Mike's ready to fight for the championship again had better beware," said his promoter, Dan Goossen. "This isn't just a promoter's talk: Mike wants the championship back and he knows what he has to do to get there."

If he defeats Norris as expected, Tyson will fight again Dec. 11 at the MGM as Goossen looks "to keep him busy" and rebuild the New Yorker's credibility and credentials.

A crowd of around 12,000 is expected for the fight with Norris, which is scheduled for 10 rounds and will be televised by the Showtime cable network.

At their Thursday weigh-in, Tyson came in at 223 pounds and Norris at 218.

Tyson's primary trainers, Tommy Brooks and Jay Bright, are insistent in their belief that the bout will go under the 4 1/2 round proposition that is posted in the MGM sports book.

"There's no question what the outcome of this fight will be," Brooks said. "Mike understands what people want to see. They want to see him knock someone out and do it impressively.

"I think that's what he'll do here. The only question is how long Norris can last under the pressure Mike will put on him.

"I don't think he'll be able to take it for too long."

Norris is a durable, competent opponent who was handpicked by Tyson's people for this assignment. He's getting paid $800,000 to give the upset bid his best shot, but he's not a big puncher and Tyson is.

"I'm bringing some pain, baby," Tyson said. "If he makes even one mistake, he'll be taking a dirt nap."

Norris, 34, is 50-5 with a lackluster 27 knockouts and served as the sparring partner for Tyson's previous opponent, Frans Botha. Tyson, of course, fell behind in his Jan. 16 fight with Botha but rallied to win by fifth-round knockout when he landed a picture-perfect right hand.

Tyson, 33, is 46-3 with an eye-popping 40 KOs.

"He's the biggest act in show business," Goossen proclaimed. "After people see him win a couple of fights and be impressive doing it, everyone will know he's back."

Because he was incarcerated between Feb. 5 and May 24 in Montgomery County, Md., after pleading no-contest to assault charges on two motorists who were involved with his wife's vehicle in a three-car crash, Tyson gained some 50 pounds and fell out of condition. Yet he looks fit and muscular now and his trainers say he has been extremely diligent during a camp that opened in Phoenix and later transferred to Las Vegas.

"Any fighter who has been inactive is going to lose a certain amount of his speed, his timing, his coordination," Bright said. "But from what I've seen in this camp, Mike is rejuvenated. There's still a lot he can accomplish in his career."

Thus far, that career has been tumultuous.

A virtual child prodigy as a fighter, Tyson, at 20, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history by defeating Bonecrusher Smith in 1987. He was deposed after a three-year reign as undisputed champion when Buster Douglas surprised him in a 1990 fight in Tokyo that stands as one of sport's greatest upsets.

Later imprisoned for sexual assault in Indianapolis, Tyson emerged from that four-year hiatus to regain the WBC and WBA portions of the heavyweight championship in 1996. But consecutive losses to Evander Holyfield, the latter by disqualification after two third-round biting incidents, blemished Tyson's reputation and marketability.

Due to the suddenness and electric nature of his knockout victory over Botha, Tyson was on course to re-establish himself until the Maryland assault charges and his incomprehensible no-contest plea that brought him jail time.

One thing about it, he has tired of prison monotony.

"I never even want to see a courtroom or a prison again," he said. "I've had enough legal situations. I've had enough setbacks."

Those entanglements appeared to damage his confidence as he prepared for this fight with Norris, yet just in the past week Tyson has appeared refreshed and invigorated.

"I've had to overcome a lot of negativity," he said. "But I've put in a lot of work and I'm in a perfect frame of mind for fighting. If I'm rusty, I'm rusty -- but I'm still going to be sensational when I get in the ring.

"Not too many people could start over as many times as I did."

Even if tempered, he remains feisty.

When asked to pose with Norris for the obligatory put-up-your-dukes photo that routinely concludes a press conference, Tyson was cooperative Wednesday until Norris' handlers began taunting him by saying there's a rematch clause in the fighters' contracts.

"We don't need that kind of talk, chump," Tyson shot, backing away from Norris with a stern, if foreboding, look that served as a warning.

The sequel, however brief it lasts, is Saturday.