The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire:Tyson vs. Francis Reports (1-29-00)

tyson

Tyson destroys Francis.....so what?
by Chris Bushnell

As expected, Mike Tyson steamrolled through walking heavybag Julius Francis, knocking Francis down five times in four minutes. It’s difficult to draw conclusions from such a short contest, and maybe Team Tyson would prefer it that way.

Tyson began the fight swinging wild combinations that missed the lumbering Francis. Although not yet hitting his target, Tyson was already displaying a repair of one of his biggest weaknesses: loading up on the single bomb. However another Tyson weakness remains, as Francis had no trouble tying up Mike when he got close and then walking him backwards.

Francis threw a perfunctory jab that landed on Tyson and amounted to his only offense of the night. Coming in behind a left jab of his own, Tyson eventually found his range with widely thrown body shots from both sides. These crunching blows sapped Francis immediately, and a double left hook to the body followed by a crunching uppercut sent Francis down with 15 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

Francis managed to beat the count, getting up on the count of nine. Tyson came at him, missed a few more wild shots, and then knocked Julius down at the bell with a simple jab to the chin. Sprawled on his back, Francis made it to his feet at seven, and shuffled over to his corner for a brief rest.

Tyson had asserted his dominance already, and ending the fight was simply a formality. 15 seconds into round two, Tyson again crunched Francis to the body with a left hook. The punch slumped Francis back into the ropes, and he bounced off into a missed Tyson right hand that was followed by a landed Tyson right elbow. Dropped on all fours, Francis insisted on continuing and again rose to face the inevitable.

Another 15 seconds elapsed before Tyson slipped a jab, stepped around his opponent, and fired a huge uppercut to Francis’ chest as he leant over. A second uppercut from the left followed, catching Francis on the temple and resulting in the fourth knockdown. Francis was again dropped to all fours before falling over to his side. Francis looked completely spent, yet earned points for courage by rising again before the count of ten. The fight resumed, and Tyson threw a left hook that was blocked by the glove and a right uppercut that missed. Didn’t matter. Francis was dazed, and even the force of the blocked hook was enough to send him slumping to the canvas for the fifth and final time. No count necessary, the fight was waved off immediately.

So what can we draw from this encounter? Not much. On the bright side, Tyson (47-3-1NC/41) did show decent head movement, slipping a few jabs and ducking under a couple of Francis’ roundhouse rights. He also showed improved footwork, as Tyson frequently got within range, then stepped around his opponent before launching his power shots. When he did so, he was quite effective. Clearly the Tyson power remains, and when he can land he can hurt.

However, Tyson critics will have plenty to support their side as well. Easy to tie up, wide open for counters when he throws, and lacking the phenomenal handspeed of his youth, Tyson correctly noted that he has “a long way to go”. Tyson also needs to get close to do his best work, missing by a mile when he launched combinations from a distance. It remains to be seen whether or not Tyson can get close enough to some of the division’s bigger names to land his effective uppercuts or body blows.

Finally, there is the choice of opponent. Beating Francis (21-8/11) is little to brag about. As a confidence booster for Tyson, this fight served it’s purpose. Yet fighting such unworthy competition leaves the biggest question of all unanswered: “What happens when you hit Tyson back? It’s unlikely that Lou Savarese and Shannon Briggs, the leading candidates for Tyson’s next fight, will be able to provide an answer. They may, however, give Tyson more rounds than Francis did, and that alone will may fill in some of the blanks about Tyson’s latest comeback.

.....Chris Bushnell http://www.boxingchronicle.com


Knockout for Tyson, Calzaghe decisions Starie
by BoxingRules

It finally happened, Mike Tyson found out how not to screw up. Tonight, he massacred Julius Francis into defeat following five knockdowns, using an unprecedented Tyson attack -- the body assault.

All of his legal/personal problems aside finally, perhaps Tyson is finally ready to get his act together, judging on his performance tonight. Or maybe not, as we are reminded of his October No-Contest with Orlin Norris and also remember that Francis posed little, if any, challenge for "Iron Mike".

This all ran through everybody's minds during the 4 minutes and 3 seconds of action. Tyson, 47-3/41 KO's w/ 1 No-Contest, destroyed the British Champion Francis who had previously beaten two unbeaten fighters (Pele Reid & Danny Williams) and sported a record of 21-8 with 11 stops.

The freak show, as Tyson described it, is over now. But, maybe not completely over. Tyson's campaign in England resulted in daily headlines for two solid weeks. Afterwards, Tyson and advisor Shelly Finkel said that Tyosn may continue fighting in Europe, ignoring the reports that he is already scheduled to face Lou Savarese in the States in March.

Tyson also made a comment to interviewer Jim Gray about Gray's comments on Pete Rose at the World Series, telling Gray that he was a fan of Rose; he is a big enough fan to have Rose tattooed on his shoulder.

Underneath the hype of Mike Tyson, we were lulled to boredom by Joe Calzaghe's unanimous points victory over Commonwealth Champion David Starie. The Welshman, regarded in boxing circles as arguably the Best Super Middleweight today, was generally lackluster against Englishman Starie.

No knockdowns, nothing special. Though Calzaghe did win nearly every round (my tab was 119-109). The scores were 118-110, 120-108, and 116-113 (the last score by an English judge, no less).

That is about all I need to say about that match, Calzaghe is 28-0/23 KO's after his fifth title defense here. Starie, 22-2, didn't make a good showing but Calzaghe was nothing close to spectacular.

I guess that is about it on the happenings in England. Mike Tyson winning is the big headline, what we think about it is simply the small fine print.


Tyson Dissolves Francis, Next!
By Francis Walker

Performing in Great Britain for the first time in his career, former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, Mike Tyson (47-3, 41KOs with 1 No-Contest) impressed his 21,000 supporters at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, easily dispatching Englishman Julius Francis (21-8, 11KOs) in the second round. It was the first time Tyson fought outside the U.S. since February 1990, when he lost the world championship in Tokyo, Japan to James "Buster" Douglas (KO by 10).

The Tyson-Francis bout, promoted by Frank Warren Sports Network, in association with America Presents, and Sky Sports, was televised exclusively on Showtime here in America.

At age 33, Tyson, a native of Brooklyn, New York, came out winging wildly at his 35-year-old adversary, landing a series of vicious left hooks and right uppercuts to Francis' body. Tyson's punching power was so crisp, so accurate he floored Francis twice in the opening round on a series of vicious left hooks to his mid-section. On each occasion, Francis returned to his feet by the referee's count of 9, but it was clear he was no match for a rejuvenated Tyson.

Just seconds into the second stanza, Tyson put Francis, a flabby 6' 2," club-fighter, on the mat with a single right uppercut to his body. Francis, who again returned to his feet at the count of 9, was floored twice more on a series of left and right hooks to his mid-section.

As a result of the brutal body punishment to Francis, referee Roy Francis stopped the encounter at the 1:03 mark.

As expected, Tyson looked sensational against a guy who was out of shape, inexperienced, and highly untalented. However, as popular as Tyson proved to be to the English -- the 21,000-seat arena sold out within 48 hours two months ago -- he could have fought someone out of the stands and the crowd would still have enjoyed it. Why? Because Tyson was fighting, not Roy Jones, Jr.

Tyson is still a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. Tyson will keep busy and keep winning against "carefully-picked" opposition until he meets his destiny -- a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship.

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