Columnist Dean Juipe: Steward sees Lennox handling ‘Iron Mike’

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 16, 2002 | 9:05 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.

Emanuel Steward pictures Lennox Lewis taking the ferocity out of Mike Tyson when the rival heavyweights meet June 8 in Memphis.

Steward, Lewis' longtime trainer, made the remarks at the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champion's camp in Scotrun, Pa., earlier this week.

"I think Tyson is going to come out and give his all, but Lewis is just too much for him," Steward said. "Lewis is too powerful and too good.

"It will be a mismatch in the first 45 seconds or so."

Lewis, a 2-1 betting favorite for the pay-per-view fight, will prevail because he's focused, Steward said.

"Lewis only has problems with people he does not respect," he said. "His two losses (to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman) were because of that.

"He respects Tyson but he totally wants to beat him real bad. He is going to knock Tyson out.

"Lewis is at his peak as a fighter (and) Tyson is in a situation where he has nothing to do but fight Lewis because of monetary reasons and public pressure.

"Tyson might land a few blows but it will not be enough to hold Lewis off."

Of course, in the interest of full disclosure it should be pointed out that Tyson's trainers have espoused the belief that their man will win the fight with some ease as well. Yet Steward said he's apprehensive about anything going on in that camp (in Hawaii) and that he's led to believe lead trainer Ronnie Shields has his hands full.

"Shields has gone into a bad situation," Steward said. "He has gone into a training camp that is full of trouble. It is a camp with a lot of internal fights."

Shields is new to Team Tyson and Steward feels his voice has been stifled and might be ignored come fight night.

He also believes that Shields will not be able to correct one of Tyson's many obvious flaws.

"Tyson's balance is off and we will definitely take advantage of that," Steward said.

Yet Steward is very much aware of Tyson's greatest claim to boxing fame, his ability to end a fight with one punch.

"Tyson is very dangerous with short punches," he said. "I think he is still capable of being very dangerous (and) it could be a slugfest.

"I do not know if it will be Lewis' toughest fight (but) I think Tyson is going to come out and attack Lewis with more intensity and viciousness than anyone Lewis has ever fought."

Lewis is 39-2-1 and Tyson is 49-3. They're fighting in Tennessee after an April 6 date in Las Vegas was canceled when the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to grant Tyson a license.

"Tyson and his craziness, there's so much of that," Steward said. "I think his antics have taken away from the fight, but that's nothing new."

He added that a twist that works in Lewis' favor is that he's the rare heavyweight who isn't terrified of the former champ.

"The one thing you must remember is that Tyson knows Lewis is not afraid of him," Steward said. "That is a role that Tyson is not used to.

"He doesn't really want to even be in this fight, but he's in a situation that he can't do anything about."

Born in Ghana and raised as a hard-working fisherman's son, Ben Tackie knows the value of perseverance. He says the physical and emotional pressures of boxing are nothing compared with having to scrap for a meal.

"We had to work hard to eat in our family," Tackie said. "When you fight for survival like that, there is no one who can beat you when the issue is just money."

Tackie was one of six related youngsters who worked a boat in pursuit of food and a menial income.

"It was hard work," he said. "When we caught fish, we used everything to catch them, including our bodies. I used so much effort that my body would shake at night."

Tackie, who never attended school, is a distant relative of former featherweight world champion Azumah Nelson, and he began fighting (at the age of 15) in a gym owned by Nelson.

Despite a pair of setbacks, Tackie has righted his boxing career and is 24-2 with 15 knockouts as he comes into this fight. While he has lost to Goyo Vargas (in 1999) and John John Molina (in 2000, in a fight in which he was affected by malaria), Tackie has won his last three bouts and is coming off a win over Teddy Reid.

Nevertheless he is a plus 325 betting underdog in the sports book at Mandalay Bay.

Tszyu, 28-1-1 with 23 KOs, is a minus 475 favorite.

In the primary undercard bout, veteran junior middleweight contender Oba Carr will see what he has left in the tank when he takes on late sub Kuvanych Toygonbayev. The latter is 17-1 with 12 KOs and is coming off a win over Ron Weaver last month in Phoenix. Carr is 54-5-1 with 31 KOs.

Ikeke is 14-1 with seven knockouts but has the distinction of not having fought in 10 months and having lost the last time out. He was beaten by Anthony Hanshaw last July.

Hayes is 21-1 with 12 KOs and dropped an important fight to Robert Allen last October, yet he bounced back to defeat Dennis McKinney last month in Washington D.C. While Hayes won that eight-round fight by decision, he did weigh 174 pounds and he has to get down to 160 for this one with Ikeke.

Also scheduled: Humberto Soto, 20-4-2, vs. Marco Perez, 16-2, eight rounds, junior lightweights; Ishe Smith, 5-0, vs. Daniel Mendez, 12-16-1, six rounds, junior middleweights; Adam Carrera, 4-0, vs. an opponent yet to be determined, four rounds, featherweights; and a four-round women's bantamweight fight between Melinda Cooper, 1-0, and Elizabeth Cervantes, 0-2. First bell is 7 p.m.