I never understood why Tyson did not have another title shot after his convincing win against Clifford Etienne. Sure, Tyson was way past his prime... all the more reason why he should have had a fight against one of the world champions (Byrd, Ruiz, RJJ, Brewster,...) because beating Tyson meant low risk and high reward for them. (financially and for the legacy) So how come he did not had a single fight until July 2004 ? Was he feared by others after his KO win against Etienne ? Did he want to take a break from boxing ? Did he ask too much money ? Please enlighten me (and sorry for my bad English). :thumbsup
Of course his career was over AFTER the fight against Williams. But I don't understand why he did not had a title shot after the fight against Etienne, precisely because he was a big name (he was still ranked in the top 10) but also an easy prey.
Of course he did not deserve a title shot (neither did Fres Oquendo or Kali Meehan in 2004) but that's not the point. Holyfield was completely shot but Ibragimov and Valuev offered him a fight precisely because he's an old shot legend, wich means big money and an easy win (well, it was not an easy win for Valuev but you know what I mean). If I was Byrd, Ruiz or Brewster's manager, I would have tried everything to put Tyson in the ring against my boxer, wouldn't you ?
I remember reading a magazine where many of the so called experts they interviewed were picking Etienne to beat Tyson. Was a joke really. Tyson should have continued to fight small chinny heavies and waited for another title shot. Shelly Finkel has to get the award for being the worst matchmaker in history picking Danny Williams and Kevin McBride as opponents for Tyson. Tyson was fighting at that point to pay off his debts only, and once Williams exposed him it was all over. Roach was having a lot of problems training Tyson. He even went on record thinking McBride had a really good chance of beating him, after they parted ways, because he knew Tyson's head wasnt into it.
It's not that simple. In order for Mike to get another title shot, he's going to have to want another title shot. He fought with such lax schedule and was so disinterested it was almost as though he was being forced to do chores. Tyson knows boxing better than some of the trainers he's had over the years and he knew his body and he knew what he was capable of and what he wasn't capable of. A Lewis rematch at that state would have proved disastrous as it's likely that he would lost badly. He still had his mystique and his power after Eitienne which was why Bob Arum offered him $80 million in a 3 fight deal but it was clear that Tyson was no longer focused nor did he have what it takes to be a title contender. He ended up fighting Williams instead as another tuneup before finally being removed as an elite fighter permanently.
Fact: Tyson was training here in Florida at Kings gym last year for a comeback. He couldnt get his head into enough to comeback even with a large offer to fight Evander Holyfield.
Valuev didn't want to fight Holyfield at all as quoted before they fought, too much respect for the legend. It also explains his performance, but I get your point.