Mike Tyson capped a week of bizarre behaviour with his oddest move yet, declaring that he will fight Clifford Etienne in Memphis on Saturday after the fight had earlier been called off.
The former undisputed world heavyweight champion, who had been too ill from the flu to fight, was set to fly by private jet from Las Vegas, said Tyson advisor Shelly Finkel, claiming Tyson woke up this morning and wanted to fight.
But Tyson might have missed his chance. Promoters for his American compatriot Etienne say the "Black Rhino" is not going to fight Tyson on Saturday, having already changed his plans thinking the fight was off.
It was a strange twist to an already unusual week and the fight's status still remained uncertain just four days before the opening bell.
Tyson needs an impressive showing in the fight to justify a potential June rematch with British heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who stopped Tyson in the eighth round last June in the most recent bout for either man.
Tyson had skipped three days of workouts last week with trainer Freddie Roach and gotten a tattoo upon the left side of his face. He was then taken ill and spent last weekend with vommiting and diarrhea.
After Tyson missed airplanes to Memphis on Sunday and Monday, his promoters called off the fight late last night.
Tyson, who had been favorite, called Roach and said he was going to knock out Etienne despite not having trained in a week.