Just Like the Rest of Them, Pinklon Thomas Gets Carried Away

For the 30th consecutive time, a beaten, bloodied Mike Tyson opponent was led away, to quiet privacy, with friends.

Pinklon Thomas’ destination Saturday night was a beige mobile home behind a parking lot grandstand at the Las Vegas Hilton.

But his modest entourage of five was held up for a half-minute by the slower progress of Suzanne Somers’ much larger and much slower-moving entourage. From high up in the $50 cheap seats, guys leered over the rails and whistled.

Somers and her group of 10 or so were headed for a limo. Thomas, supported by his trainer, Angelo Dundee, trudged along next.

From above, a guy yelled: “Helluva try, Pinky.”

Another yelled: “Nice try with the glove, Angelo!”

The second reference was to a tear that suddenly appeared on Thomas’ right glove between the fifth and sixth rounds. There was a long delay, while Thomas was fitted with a new one.

If Dundee cut the glove to create a breather period for Thomas, as many ringsiders suspected, it achieved only a postponement of the inevitable. It also may have made the result even more painful.

In the sixth, Thomas was hit with 15 consecutive punches and wound up flat on his back.

“That teed Mike off, that they’d pull a trick (tear a glove) like that,” said Kevin Rooney, Tyson’s trainer.

Finally, Thomas reached the mobile home. Bystanders saw his split lip, several small cuts and a partially swollen eye. He disappeared inside.

Outside, a sister waited for him.

“He’s so disappointed,” she said, “He was so sure he could win this fight.”

In a few minutes, Thomas and three handlers walked quickly out, heading for the postfight news conference.

Inside, Dundee pondered a result considerably different from his previous title fight, the stunning upset by Sugar Ray Leonard over Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

“I felt Pinklon was the best guy out there to give this guy (Tyson) a good licking, I really did,” he said.

“But the other guy was a better fighter tonight. And he deserves a lot of credit.”

Dundee was asked if he saw anyone presently in the heavyweight picture who can defeat Tyson. He paused several seconds, kicking at the discarded adhesive tape on the floor.

“No I don’t, not right now. But remember this,” he said, raising an index finger, “Someone always comes along.”

Most in the crowd of 12,706 were impressed with Tyson’s finishing power in the sixth, but one who wasn’t was Tyrell Biggs, the 6-5 1/2 heavyweight who figures to get a shot at Tyson within a year.

His hackles rose a bit when someone asked if he’d give Tyson a more substantial test than Thomas.

“Hey, don’t go comparin’ me to Pinklon Thomas,” he said, with a wince. “Me just showin’ up is better than Pinklon Thomas. Believe me, I’m not going to stand around in front of Mike like Pinklon did.”

At the news conference, Thomas said he wouldn’t make excuses for his beating--it was the first time he’d ever been floored--then promptly itemized three.

“After my glove tore, I was at a disadvantage with the new one because it wasn’t broken in,” he said.

“He butted me three or four times,” he added, pointing to numerous abrasions on his forehead. “And when he got me with that uppercut in the sixth, my shoulder went out.”

“I was punching effectively inside on him (OK, stop snickering), but he caught me with an uppercut in the sixth and . . . I didn’t recover.

“Mike’s a tough cookie. He’s going to be tough for anyone to handle.”