Michael Gerard "Kid Dynamite" Tyson vs. Oleg Alexandrovich "Big O" Maskaev, 6/21/2003 (in an AU)

Many mightn't know or remember this, but before Mike Tyson suffered the second of his three career upset KO losses (Lennox Lewis was a firm favorite at the bookies) at Daniel Peter "The Brixton Bomber" Williams' hands, he was originally scheduled to have faced the Russian glass cannon.

Not just rumored or in talks; the ink was dry. Deal was, after smashing Clifford "The Black Rhino" Etienne in under a minute, Tyson had to win three more fights to secure a rematch with Lewis. The first was to be Maskaev (on the Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko - originally Lewis vs. Kirk Johnson - undercard), and we will now never know who the second and third would've been.

Don King - as is a common refrain over his several decade reign of terror - got his grimy fingers in the mix, and Tyson vs. Maskaev dissolved under the weight of contractual litigation by the crook with the lightning-struck hairdo. Tyson was ultimately shelved for 1½ years before inviting Danny Williams across the pond in the summer of 2004 - with disastrous results.

What if he had, however, faced Maskaev a year before? And, assuming he won, what would the HW boxing landscape look like then in the middle aughts? If you subtract Don King from this equation, it's easy to plot a course for Tyson of staying active, defeating Maskaev and two more chinny opponents in quick succession to round out 2003 - and being available (and on a marketable four win streak) for a rematch with Lewis. Remember, retirement decisions were not made by The Lion immediately after his victory over Klitschko. He waited several months, until February of 2004. What he truly wanted was another payday the likes of which only Tyson as a dance partner could provide, before calling it quits. Contractual disputes and legal troubles eliminated Tyson from action long enough for Lewis to decide to leave well enough alone. He was never mulling over the VK rematch - he wanted the much higher reward and lower risk Tyson rematch...and it's hard to blame him. His purse against Vitali was less than half of what he made against Mike.

Maskaev, of course, could have upset the apple cart and hastened Lewis' decision the very night they were all supposed to share a card. He was as immensely powerful as he was fragile, and this is a weathered version of Tyson we're talking about. Oleg, on the night they were supposed to meet, was 3-3 in his last six outings - and had been stopped thrice (by Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, and Corey Sanders). The ornery Kazakh also packed a mighty wallop, however, and bore identical dimensions to Danny Williams - as it happens, coincidentally his own final professional opponent many years later - both standing 6'3" with 79" reach. Is it unthinkable that he could have sprung the upset heralding the beginning of Tyson's end thirteen months before Williams did? Of course, it would have been a fresher Tyson not as far removed from the quick destruction of Etienne.