Columnist Dean Juipe: Good, Evil square off in Memphis

Dean Juipe

Friday, June 7, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

If anyone can beat Lennox Lewis -- and Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman already have -- it's Mike Tyson.

He's strong, relatively fearless and has nothing to lose. He not only could commandeer their Saturday fight in Memphis, he could quickly establish a dominant presence and batter Lewis senseless within a few rounds.

But I don't think he will.

I think his lack of activity and lack of rounds against quality opponents in recent years is a significant negative. I think he loses to Lewis within three or four rounds.

But it also figures to be an extremely interesting fight with any number of variables and tangents playing themselves out.

Too bad it isn't here of course, but credit Nevada with taking a higher moral road and blocking the fight on the grounds that Tyson's delinquency needs to be punished. For a state that frequently turns a blind eye toward everything but the bottom line, it was a stunner.

Equally stunning is the amount of money Tyson owes to creditors, lawyers and handlers, all of whom will take their cut off the top of his purse. That $17 million carrot that lured Tyson into accepting the bout looks to be dissected down to pocket change for the former champion.

Assuming Tyson doesn't yet blow a gasket and that he actually steps into the ring with Lewis, the excitement will be immense. Two men of comparable skills who carry the additional weight of animosity toward one another will square off with their reputations at stake, which means anything goes.

It's 5-1 that Tyson loses by disqualification, and in light of how Tyson reacted in his DQ loss to Evander Holyfield it's not a bad investment. He could easily implode if things are going against him, poor loser that he is.

He is apt to be frustrated, given Lewis' incredible reach and polished approach. While Tyson wants to come underneath and in on the chest of every man he fights, it's more difficult against a physically larger man who has his own incentives and no shortage of determination.

I look for Tyson to land a few deadly shots but to find Lewis sufficiently resilient. Within short order, conditioning will come into play and Tyson's lack of fights in recent years -- to say nothing of his playboy lifestyle -- will surface and perhaps determine the outcome.

Tyson, 35, is 49-3 but has fought fewer than 22 complete rounds since 1997. In fact, he has fought fewer than 41 complete rounds since 1991 if you can believe it, with prison time and an assortment of lame opponents leaving him lacking much in the way of quality experience.

If Tyson and his people had been thinking straight, they would have insisted on an interim fight or two before tangling with Lewis. But the overriding concern was to get Tyson into the ring before he completely self-destructs, so they took the fight with Lewis even at the expense of having their man enter the ring at less than full strength.

Conversely, Lewis, at 36 years old, is 39-2-1 and has met the best the heavyweight division has had to offer. He should be adaptable and confident.

It'll be a brawl, no doubt, and a fight that spawns spectacular passions. But in a ring, with rules, regulations and some semblance of order, Tyson comes up short.

Good defeats Evil.