Rooney: They’re ‘Flacks and Bloodsuckers’

So what happened?

How did Mike Tyson go from the baddest man on the planet to the saddest man in the ring in 40 minutes and 37 seconds last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, losing his heavyweight title to Evander Holyfield, a 25-1 underdog at one point?

Holyfield was clearly the superior fighter that night, knocking Tyson down in the sixth round, battering him against the ropes in the 10th and finally winning on an 11th-round TKO.

But the main problem, according to the two men who once ran Tyson’s career, are the people who are running it now.

“He’s got flacks and bloodsuckers around him,” said his former trainer, Kevin Rooney, by phone from New York. “He basically trains himself. He hasn’t had any tough sparring partners since he was with me. They just put bodies in there, people who offer themselves up.”

Rooney, of course, is far from an impartial observer. He recently won a bitter court case after suing Tyson on charges that he broke a lifetime contract between the two. Rooney was awarded $4.4 million.

“He wasn’t ready to fight, or he didn’t want to fight,” Rooney said. “When he got in the ring, I saw that he was scared. Right away, he threw a right hand, but Holyfield blocked it and threw one of his own. I could see Mike thinking, ‘Uh oh. He just took my best shot.’ Right then, the hero and the coward in him were arguing. The coward said, ‘Let’s get out of here.’ But the hero in Mike won out, so at least he stayed in there and took a beating.

“It all has to do with the corner. His handlers know nothing. All they do is tell him how great he is. Preparing for a fight is the hardest part of being a champion. You have to put in a lot of work and a lot of effort. And you get a lot of criticism from the trainer, if the trainer knows what he is doing. The fight itself is the easiest part.”

Bill Cayton, who formerly managed Tyson and has been bitter since the two split in 1988, also places the blame for the loss to Holyfield on Tyson’s current handlers, who call themselves Team Tyson--promoter Don King, co-managers John Horne and Rory Holloway and trainer Jay Bright.

“It was the most inept performance of his career,” said Cayton of Tyson. “He didn’t throw any combinations. He didn’t throw any jabs. He didn’t bob and weave. He didn’t slip punches. He didn’t put pressure on Holyfield.”

Cayton compared it to the night in Japan in 1990 when Tyson suffered his only other loss, getting knocked out in the 10th round by Buster Douglas. Out of shape for the 1990 fight, Tyson had to lose 35 pounds in the weeks before that bout.

“He was a sick man that night,” Cayton said, “but I think he was still better than he was against Holyfield.

“Don King was never interested in Mike as a fighter. He was only interested in Don King. Rory Holloway never worked a day in his life. John Horne is just a comic. And Jay Bright is not a trainer. He might be a good actor, which is the field he said he wanted to go into.

“Mike Tyson could have destroyed Holyfield. He is that good. But instead, he was that bad in the hands of those inept people. I felt sorry for him. It was pathetic.”

Despite all the rancor, Rooney, who hasn’t been Tyson’s trainer since Tyson fought Michael Spinks in 1988, says he would go back with Tyson if the fighter called and apologized to him for cutting him loose, and if they could reach a monetary settlement.

“If he had any sense, he would come back,” Rooney said. “He would beg Kevin Rooney to take him back.

“I would have to have three or four weeks with him. Then, I would hold a press conference and either say, Mike Tyson doesn’t want to fight anymore, or Mike Tyson wants Holyfield.

“The No. 1 thing is that he has to prepare. I’m not going to tell you my strategy, but I will tell you I have a game plan for him that would destroy Evander Holyfield.”

Does Cayton think Tyson will make some changes in his corner?

“Probably not,” Cayton said, “because King would be afraid that whoever came along would take Mike away from King. He would rather Tyson lost as a fighter than to lose him as an attraction.”

To Rooney, the Tyson saga is a tragic one.

“He was definitely on the road to being one of greatest ever,” Rooney said. “He could have passed Rocky Marciano’s record [49-0]. But instead, he wanted to play with the con man [King]. He thought he could outcon the con man.”

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Add Tyson: All it took was one electrifying night to recharge the sport of boxing.

Nobody expressed that better than ESPN boxing announcer Charlie Steiner. On Friday night, he was bemoaning the state of his sport.

“I don’t know if I even want to do this anymore,” he said.

By Saturday, he was gushing after viewing the dramatic Tyson-Holyfield bout.

“This is why we do what we do,” he said. “It’s as if a pall has been lifted. One of these fights only comes along every 10 years or so. For one night at least, it provided a much needed salve.”

Boxing Notes

Boxing returns to the Reseda Country Club, where it flourished in the 1980s. Thursday night’s debut will feature heavyweight Jeremy Williams (26-2, 23 knockouts) in his first appearance since being knocked out in the third round of his June fight against World Boxing Organization champion Henry Akinwande. . . . World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Oscar De La Hoya is back in training after a two-month absence because of a shoulder injury. He is scheduled to face Miguel Angel Gonzalez on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.

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Calendar

Tonight: Jose Alfredo Flores vs. Rodney Jones, NABO junior middleweight title; Eliecer Julio vs. Ricardo Medina, bantamweights, Forum, 7.

Thursday: Lionel Butler vs. Bomani Parker, heavyweights, Reseda Country Club, 7:30 p.m.