Boxing Roundup : Tyson Goes 21-0 but Also Goes the Distance Again

Mike Tyson said he wanted to go 10 rounds, but a lot of the paying customers booed when he did go 10 Tuesday night against Mitch Green at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“I wanted to give a good 10-round performance that everybody would like,” said the 19-year-old heavyweight who remained unbeaten with his 21st victory.

But Tyson has built his reputation on knockouts and, as the fight went on, a lot of people in the crowd of 6,529 expressed their displeasure that Green was still around.

It was the second straight 10-round decision for Tyson, who in his last fight went the distance in beating James (Quick) Tillis, and it was one-sided on all three cards.

Tyson landed some devastating punches to his opponent’s head and body, but the 6-foot 5-inch Green often fought back and also tied Tyson up.

Before the fight, Green had predicted he would knock out Tyson.

Afterward, Tyson said: “I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but I didn’t want to knock him out. I wanted to put pressure on him and make him tire himself. They were rugged punches, boom , but if he went down from those, it would have meant he gave up.”

Green didn’t quit.

“I had a good time in there,” Tyson said.

Judges Paddy Donal and George DeGabriel each scored it 9-1 in rounds for Tyson, while Judge Carl Schroeder had it 8-2.

The 5-10 Tyson, who weighed 215 1/2, was able to get inside against Green almost anytime he wanted. But the 225-pound Green would then tie Tyson up.

However, Tyson was strong enough to often deliver sharp punches to the head and body with whatever hand was free.

“If you whip on me, you’re only going to get tired,” Green said before the fight. Tyson whipped on Green but never had him in danger of going down except once in the early rounds when he doubled Green up with two right hands to the body.

Tyson did not seem unduly tired at the end, but there were several times when the young fighter obviously was frustrated.

In the third, Tyson knocked out Green’s mouthpiece with a left hook. And in the fourth round, another left hook by Tyson not only knocked out Green’s mouthpiece but also knocked out a piece of a denture that Green was wearing.

The victory is sure to move Tyson up in the rankings in his bids for a title shot early next year. He was ranked eighth by the World Boxing Council, while Green (16-2-1) was ranked seventh.

Tyson earned $250,000 for his Garden debut, while Green, of New York, got $30,000.

In another scheduled 10-rounder on the card, Mustafa Hamsho of Bayonne, N.J., who twice lost to Marvelous Marvin Hagler in middleweight title bids, stopped Ernie White of Charleston, W.Va., at 1:22 of the fourth round.

Hamsho, who weighed 165, improved his record to 40-3-2 with 24 knockouts. White, 159 1/2 pounds, fell to 8-9.

Briton Lloyd Honeyghan earned a shot at the WBC welterweight title, stopping Horace Shufford of Las Vegas, the No. 1 contender, in the eighth round at Wembley in London.

Honeyghan, the British, European and Commonwealth welterweight champion, wore down Shufford, 33, with some smart boxing and solid punching.

A right hand from Honeyghan in the fourth round floored Shufford for an eight count. Shufford ran into more trouble in the eighth round when, after being warned for a low blow, Honeyghan opened up, backing his opponent onto the ropes and landing a flurry of combinations.

Shufford was about to go down again when the referee stopped the fight.