Man who knew Tyson would buckle

It may be that there are few men alive who know more about the psychological make-up of Michael Gerard Tyson than his former trainer, Teddy Atlas. While the world recoiled in revulsion after Tyson was disqualified for biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear in their world heavyweight title fight on June 28th, Atlas stood apart. On the record, he had predicted Tyson would foul to lose.

"How did I know he would do it?" says Atlas, "because he couldn't stand to be undressed in public. He's not the monster or blood man people think. He thought he had a chance for a round or two, but then he couldn't take being embarrassed.

"He had an escape plan in mind, and you have to realise in his mind and his world losing like an animal is a win. He may have lost to you and me, but his followers can say he wanted to kill, he wanted to eat Holyfield. No matter how anti-social we deem it to be, those around him could still cling to the myth."

Atlas, 43, snuffles as he speaks, his nose long since broken. A vivid scar runs from his throat to his ear, the lasting legacy of a knife fight. Former world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer could stand no more of his hard-man training regime, and now takes a gentler option.

As a boxing coach employed by Tyson's guardian, Cus D'Amato, it was Atlas who taught the tearaway youngster how to fight for five years before he was sacked for holding a loaded gun to Tyson's head. Apparently Atlas had been told the 17-year-old Tyson was pressing his attentions on his 12-year-old niece. This is a man it pays not to mess with.

Tyson's third-round defeat against Holyfield may have been a defining moment but, according to Atlas, the reason for his behaviour can be traced back to his first fight against Holyfield in November 1996 when he was stopped in the 11th round, and to his formative years.

"He never was quite the fighter he was dressed up to be, and never as strong mentally as he would like you to think. But in the early days he covered that up because he was able to intimidate people. People made excuses when he lost to Buster Douglas, that he was out of shape. But the truth was Douglas stood up to him and he faltered.

"The first time he fought Evander, he expected to overcome him physically because everybody said Evander was shot. But when he couldn't, when Evander was still there, he began looking to the ref for help. He basically submitted and by the end was no more than a game quitter.

"When they fought for a second time, I felt Tyson did not have the confidence or the wherewithal to compete on a level playing field. He knew he couldn't just overpower Holyfield, and he couldn't intimidate him. He didn't want the fight, and in the end he had all the mental conditioning of a bowl of jelly."

In Las Vegas, Holyfield had gone through his final days of preparation with the confident demeanour of a man certain in his destiny, supremely indifferent to the threat posed by Tyson. Former world cruiserweight champion and Sky TV analyst Glenn McCrory, who originally believed Tyson would gain revenge, began to re-appraise. "He looks like a man who knows he could kick Tyson's arse seven days a week," he said.

Two days before the fight, Tyson and his management team protested that there should be a change of referee. Mitch Halpern, who controlled the first fight, was replaced by the former marine and District Judge Mills Lane.

"He was making the referee issue an alibi," said Teddy Atlas. "He was scared. When a guy whose make-up relies on intimidation is found out, he crumbles. They had set up a landscape where he could foul and find a way out of the fight, and he did."

Despite the defeat, next summer the wise mandarins of the Nevada State Athletic Commission will meet to discuss Tyson's fate. He has been boxing's greatest-ever money-making machine. The question to be considered is straightforward: should the ban they imposed be lifted to allow a return of his fighter's licence?

If the answer is no, their verdict may as well be delivered by Elvis Presley. Nobody in their right mind is predicting that Tyson will serve anything other than the minimum 12month ban or that he will not be in a ring before the end of the year, probably to face Holyfield.

Tyson's savagery may have ensured his immortality within the chequered history of boxing, but his enduring appeal to a section of the public demands he will return. In 1971, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier shared a purse of $1 million. Tyson's third course conservatively could earn him and Holyfield a total of $100 million.

That is probably the unspoken by inescapable reason why Lennox Lewis, the WBC champion, is frozen out of a chance to go for Holyfield's WBA and IBF titles. Lewis is a box office nobody alongside Tyson, but he could win. So why should Holyfield risk the jackpot for the sake of a trifling $20 or $30 million to fight Lewis?

There is a hint of embarrassment in the voice of Jay Larkin, boss of the American cable TV network Showtime, when asked to consider the pay-per-view potential of Holyfield-Tyson III.

"In those terms, it could be the biggest of all time. No question. Holyfield is the good guy, he beat him up once then Tyson does this terrible thing. People want to see what Tyson does next. It may not be nice, but people want to see it.

"Lennox Lewis is not even the fourth or fifth best draw. If Tyson comes back it is good for the industry. When Tyson walks to the ring it is drama and people are watching an event. In 30 seconds anything can happen. He comes off the sports pages and goes on the news pages.

"In the Hollywood wax museum, he has been moved to the Chamber of Horrors next to Hannibal Lecter, but people still go to see him."

Teddy Atlas may have a great Tyson book in him. "Not interested, I've moved on," he says in a manner to brook no argument. But, considering the future, he adds tellingly: "People still want to believe in a monster. No matter how many times they see that Godzilla is dead, they still want to see him. They like to see a car crash.

"If the fight happens again, I see no reason why Tyson should handle Holyfield any better, and you might even see a repeat of the disqualification. After all, people who are born round don't die square."