Redemption a long way off for same old Mike

"Four months on from the moment that shocked even hard-bitten boxing veterans, Mike Tyson talks exclusively to us about the future." Hard-bitten? A clumsy choice of words from Paul Dempsey as he introduced the "exclusive" Tyson interview on Thursday's Ringside on Sky Sports. Maybe Paul was a little over-excited about the prospects of seeing Tyson's "explosive TV appearance", as he described it, because the claim that he was talking "exclusively to us" seemed a bit wide of the mark, given that the interview was actually done with ABC's Prime Time Live in America.

But at least Sky was giving us the chance to see Tyson take his first tentative steps on the road to redemption. And he began well, too. No excuses, he'd "lost it", he admitted, when he bit a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear. "I was just in a zone. I was in that real serious, frantic zone and the way I struck out was just unacceptable. I was in such a frenzy that I took it to another level . . . for that one moment I forgot he was a human being," he told ABC's Alex Wallow.

Then he spoke about the humiliation he felt every time he watched the fight and how ashamed he was of his actions. But then he got lost in that "frantic zone" again and it became apparent we were listening to the same old Mike.

"I think I'll be banned for the rest of my life . . . I truly believe everyone hates me, because no one gets punished more than I do. But I understand, I'm a big boy, and I believe big boys have big ordeals to be dealt with," he said, self-pity oozing out of every pore.

And what did he think of those people who believe he should be banned for life?

"I really wish I was at liberty to say what I truly wanted to say, but I guess I'm not," he said.

"Well, go ahead and say what you want to say," said Wallow.

"F**k them, that's what I truly feel about them, f**k 'em. They want to see people beg for mercy . . . I'm not that way with anyone, this is who I am, I can't help who I am."

Redemption? F**k redemption. Tyson's too busy deciding who he hates more - himself, self-loathing written all over his screwed-up face, or the world, for not accepting him as he is.

But, still, one half of the boxing world drools over the prospect of a Tyson-Holyfield rematch. Promoter Don King (now there's a surprise) hinted at one - again - after Holyfield's win over Michael Moorer in Las Vegas on Saturday night. To his credit, Barry McGuigan, a guest on Ringside, belongs to the other half of the boxing world, the one that thinks this guy is too dangerous to be allowed back in the ring. "There's still a lot of hate in him," he said. "There are no mitigating circumstances here - what he did to Holyfield was pre-meditated - he wanted to do what he did. The guy should be banned for life, simple as that.

"He has no remorse. He says he doesn't care what people think - I don't think he cares about anything or anybody, for that matter. He should be kept out of the game." Dempsey didn't seem to be listening to McGuigan. "Where does this leave Tyson's chances of making a comeback, swiftly, once the year's ban is up," he asked. Ooh, imagine the pay-per-view sales on that one. The stuff of which Sky Sports' dreams are made? King may well make that dream a reality. Why? "He's probably one of the most despicable people on the face of the earth," said Bill Cayton, former manager of Tyson, of King on BBC1's On Side last Monday night. "He has no integrity, no honesty. He's a con man, he's a bad guy, he has no conscience, and that gives him an edge over everyone because there is nothing he will not do."

The most depressing part of the Tyson story is that, when he started out, he showed the potential to be a decent human being. His misfortune? He became a great fighter and eventually the parasites took notice and took over. He dumped the people who would have had the courage and integrity to tell him he did wrong when he did wrong; but his fragile personality preferred the sycophants who told him that the world was against him. "Nothing wrong with you Mike, it's the world that has the problem," they tell him, as they strut around in the Versace gear Tyson pays for. "Mike will probably end up without a dollar and eventually, when he cannot fight and Don has no need for him anymore, he will just let him go - he will be on the streets, back in the ghetto," said Steve Lott, a childhood friend and former assistant manager of Tyson, on On Side.

Back in the studio, John Inverdale asked Lennox Lewis if he would be prepared to fight Tyson. "If he had both belts I'd fight him." "No moral qualms?" "As long as he promised to eat first," chuckled Lewis. The audience erupted in laughter and applause.

There was more laughter on Monday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, when Holyfield was shown a Hallowe'en mask of Tyson with an ear hanging out of his mouth. Holyfield tried to laugh, just to join in the spirit of things, but he found it hard. "Oh well, it seemed funny at the time," said a disappointed Leno. At least there was some "uplifting" boxing news last week. Thursday's Sky Sports' Centre showed a fund-raising party in London for Michael Watson, who was left in a coma after a fight against Chris Eubank six years ago. His doctors said he'd never recover, but Watson, miraculously, is out of his wheelchair and back on his feet.

Michael shuffled into the nightclub, with one hand on the shoulder of a minder to remain steady. The crowd whooped and cheered. Michael's walking again! Then he spoke a few words and the crowd whooped and cheered again. Michael's talking again! Doesn't matter that this beautiful man in his early 30s talks like a four-year-old and walks like an 95year-old. He's walking and talking - that's good, everything's alright in the world of boxing.

And now Don King wants Tyson back in the ring? So he'll dangle a multi-million dollar purse in front of the impaired vision of a hard-up boxer and send him to fight the man who has nothing left to lose? No worries that that fighter might end up like Michael Watson? Receiving applause because he can half walk and half talk? Let it be on King's conscience. Conscience? Oh, forgot, the man doesn't have one.