These Are Tempestuous Times for Team Tyson

With three weeks to go before the rematch between Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock, it is clear that Team Tyson is not a happy ship. Neither was the Titanic, and time will only tell if the S.S. Mike will suffer the same fate June 28.

This is some of what happened this week in the turbulent life of the former heavyweight champion:

Sunday a.m.: Tyson goes shopping in the Caesars Palace arcade, looking to have the clasp repaired on a diamond-encrusted leopard bracelet he wears on his right wrist. He is accosted by two boxing writers with whom he has had a tempestuous relationship. He is friendly, even playful. He agrees to meet with one of the reporters for an interview on Monday morning and with the other on Tuesday. Everything’s cool, right?

Monday a.m.: Reporter 1 is informed that Tyson has “a doctor’s appointment” and the interview is, regrettably, canceled.

Monday p.m. (ringside at the Hill-Hearns fight): Tyson and his “Camp Coordinator,” John Horne, show up for the undercard and are swarmed upon by high rollers and celebrity freeloaders from Caesars Palace. But the working press is allowed nowhere near Tyson. When Reporter 1 asks to speak with Tyson about the canceled interview, the Camp Coordinator, who insists that everyone seeking a Tyson interview consult with him first, responds to the reporter with an obscene hand gesture. The Camp Coordinator also says this, using expletives: “ ... you, we don’t give a

Meanwhile, Reporter 2 signals to Tyson, who signals back that all is still OK for Tuesday. Since Reporter 2 writes for New York Newsday, we’re still cool, right?

Tuesday, 1 p.m.: Newsday reporter arrives at the Golden Gloves Gym in North Las Vegas for his interview. Already present are ABC boxing commentator Alex Wallau and a camera crew to film a segment for the June 22 edition of “Wide World of Sports.” Tyson has not yet arrived, and everyone is chatting and cordial. So far, so good.

1:05 p.m.: Tyson shows up, speaks to no one and heads for a dressing room. Then, Tyson bodyguard Anthony Pitts comes to the center of the room and announces: “Everybody out. That means everybody. Outside the gym.”

All media types are then ushered out into the hot desert afternoon. Wallau, an imperious type, informs Pitts that if the ABC shoot gets canceled, it constitutes a breach of its contract with promoter Don King.

Protesting, “I don’t get involved in no intricacies,” Pitts hurries inside to call the Camp Coordinator. But by the time he returns with the good news -- the ABC crew can come on in -- Wallau and his producer have left for a bite to eat.

“Oh, damn,” says Pitts. “Oh, damn. Which way did they go?”

He leaps into his Cadillac and gives chase, but returns frustrated a few minutes later.

Tuesday 1:45 p.m.: A well-fed Wallau returns and the ABC crew is ushered inside. Newsday is still kept out but informed that the Camp Coordinator “is working on it.”

Tuesday 1:50 p.m.: ABC cameraman Gordie Saiger and audio technician Alan Lowrey exit the gym, looking a bit shaken. Saiger tells Newsday reporter, “I don’t think you want to go in there.”’

“Why not?”

“Tyson just bought himself a camera.”

At his feet is the wreckage of a TV camera, the lens snapped off when Tyson, exiting the ring after sparring, suddenly turned camera-shy and let go with a right. “He just said, ‘Get that ... thing out of my face,’ and threw a punch,” Saiger said. “It’s a good thing he’s an accurate puncher, or he might have taken my head with it.”

“Oh, damn,” says Pitts, shaking his head. “Oh, damn.”

Out comes the Camp Coordinator, in purple overall shorts, to try to smooth things over. He is told the punch will cost Tyson a minimum of $20,000 to repair. “We’ll work something out,” the Camp Coordinator says.

Before anything can be worked out, however, the gym door opens and out comes Tyson, in his boxing trunks and a heavy sweat. He speaks to no one, vaults the door of his rented white convertible Porsche and speeds out of the parking lot. “Oh, damn,” mutters Pitts, who sprints back to his Cadillac and pursues Tyson through the streets of North Las Vegas.

Minutes later, the rest of Team Tyson -- trainer Richie Giachetti, co-trainers Aaron Snowell and Jay Bright, the sparring partners -- file out of the gym, into their cars and drive home.

Business as usual on the Good Ship Tyson.