Tyson: I’ll ‘destroy’ Nielsen

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

It's a fight perceived to be so one-sided that, as of Wednesday, not a single betting line had been posted on it in the world.

It's not up in Las Vegas, in Great Britain, or offshore.

It's Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen and it's scheduled for 10 rounds yet is expected to go only three or four.

"Tyson is going to come out like a rocket ship for the first one or two rounds," Nielsen said at a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the Showtime-televised fight will be held Saturday. "That is when he is most dangerous, so I have to be ready.

"But the farther the fight goes, the more it will work in my favor. Getting through the first few rounds is the key."

Nielsen, a doughy 250 pounds but sporting a record of 62-1 with 43 knockouts, was handpicked for Tyson's first fight in a year for two reasons: His glittering, if deceiving record, and the notion that he's susceptible to a knockout loss, given the fact American journeyman Dickie Ryan put him into a coma with a 10th-round knockout in 1999.

The reluctance of betting parlors to offer a number on the fight reflects the belief that Nielsen is not primed for an upset of Buster Douglas-type proportions. He's thought to be a longer shot than Douglas was at 40-1 when he defeated Tyson in 1990.

"I expect to destroy Brian Nielsen," Tyson said at the final prefight press conference. "I feel like I'm punching harder than I ever have. He's in a lot of trouble."

Tyson is 48-3 with 42 KOs but has fought only 15 rounds since 1996. The potential effects of his inactivity would seem to be his greatest concern as he comes into this fight with the 36-year-old Nielsen.

"I thought I was going to fight David Izon in June," Tyson said, "but the fight was cancelled when I thought I was going to get (Hasim) Rahman instead.

"I've been training a long time."

Those training sessions, in Las Vegas and Phoenix, were interrupted not only by proposed fights that didn't come off but by legal matters as well. Twice this summer Tyson was accused of sexual assault, with one accusation in California already dismissed and another in Nevada still under review.

Yet at 35 years old he remains a big name and a huge factor in boxing's heavyweight division.

"If he wins, he'll meet the winner of the fight between Rahman and (Lennox) Lewis," Tyson's manager, Shelly Finkel, told the Associated Press, referring to the WBC/IBF title fight that will be held Nov. 17 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Tyson hopes it's Rahman who wins the showdown with Lewis. "I would rather fight Rahman," he said. "His style suits my style better."

Tyson has twice held heavyweight championships and has been involved in 15 world title fights. He was unbeaten until losing to Douglas, then came back out of an Indiana prison to reclaim the WBA and WBC championships until losing consecutive fights to Evander Holyfield.

Since the latter defeat, by third-round disqualification in 1997, Tyson has gone five rounds with Frans Botha, one with Orlin Norris, two with Julius Francis, one with Lou Savarese and three with Andrew Golota.

Nielsen, meanwhile, has rarely ventured from Denmark while being fed an assortment of mediocre opponents. The biggest wins of his career came against aging ex-champions Tony Tubbs, Larry Holmes and Tim Witherspoon, while he went 12 full rounds with Norris his last time out.

"People can think what they want, but I've been underestimated for 63 fights," Nielsen said. "The perception in the U.S. is that I'm a typical European heavyweight and have fought only over-the-hill guys or nobodies.

"But I was a bronze medalist in the 1992 Olympics and have faced as many good opponents in the pros as most heavyweights.

"My plan is to box Tyson in the beginning and take it into the later rounds. I'm going to beat him."