With Japan on his mind and fury in his eyes, Mike Tyson attacked from the opening bell Saturday night to record the 19th first-round knockout of what appears to be a decidedly rejuvenated career.
The former heavyweight champion, looking every bit like a man intent on repossessing the throne, floored outclassed Alex Stewart three times before this nontitle mismatch was halted at 2:27 in the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The romp was Tyson`s second since he suffered a colossal upset to James
”Buster” Douglas last February in Tokyo. For his first act following that comeuppance, Tyson dropped Henry Tillman in June. But Stewart, with only a loss to future heavyweight king Evander Holyfield marring his record, was considered a substantially tougher adversary, perhaps even a threat to stun the boxing world again.
However, Tyson was clearly in no mood to create any more history. Within 10 seconds of fight`s start, he bore in and sent Stewart down with a right to the top of the head. Stewart arose, his radar obviously scrambled. Tyson, sensing an early conclusion, was so impetuous at this point that he wheeled into fast-forward, swung and missed, and went down himself-carried by the momentum of a punch that never was.
But that constituted only a slight interruption in his arsenal. With half a round yet to go, Tyson delivered a left, then another right to the hairline of his dazed foe, and Stewart hit the deck again. It seemed as though the 26- year-old plodder might not make the count, yet Stewart came up again, this time with nothing to offer except target practice.
Tyson couldn`t resist. He stalked the defenseless Stewart, dropping him for good measure with a sharp left to the side of the head. Referee Frank Cappucino began calling out another litany, but it was a formality. The three- knockout rule took over. That, and $550,000 for his trouble, was all Stewart got from his trip to New Jersey. This one really was over before it was over.
”I lost a fight in Tokyo, but I didn`t lose my confidence,” Tyson said. ”I had a job to do tonight, and I did it. I`m sorry it happened the way it did, because I like Stewart. Alex is a nice guy and a good fighter, a class act.
”But I knew I had him. I knew I had him after the first knockdown. I knew I had him when I hit him with my best punch of the fight. It wasn`t even any of the knockdown punches. It was a right to the body. That`s my best punch, my best asset. I hit harder to the body than I do to the head. It`s just that sometimes I`m reluctant to punch to the body.”
Actually, Tyson wasn`t particular. He delivered legal leather to just about every portion of Stewart`s willing anatomy. By unofficial count, Tyson attempted 46 shots and landed 21. Stewart cast 18 and connected with only four, and you`ll have to inspect slow-motion films to find them.
”I got caught, that`s all,” Stewart said. ”I didn`t do what I wanted. I just never got into the fight. I didn`t think I was going to get caught that early. This was devastating.”
Devastating is what Tyson intends to be, what he must be to rule the division once again. He said he will take a week off to rest from his grueling regimen, then plan his future. Holyfield and George Foreman will duel in April. Razor Ruddock, who dispatched helpless Michael Rouse at 2:37 of the first round on Saturday night`s undercard before a sellout crowd of 17,211, is a likely interim proposition.
”I`ll fight anybody,” Tyson said. ”I don`t think I`ll get Holyfield now. I was hungry tonight. I`m gonna stay hungry. I wasn`t prepared for the Douglas fight. I won`t make that mistake again.”
Saturday night`s carnage, among all else, extended Tyson`s reign of terror in this building. In July, 1989, he dismissed Carl ”The Truth”
Williams in 93 seconds here. Thirteen months prior, he bludgeoned Michael Spinks into submission within 91 seconds. Both routs enabled Tyson to retain his heavyweight crown.
Tyson`s display Saturday night was impressive, but the circumstances quite different. For one thing, Stewart is not Spinks. For another, that defeat to Douglas severely diminished Tyson`s aura of invincibility. At late as Friday, even the fameless Stewart was brushing off suggestions of the fear factor.
But Tyson was as ornery as he`s ever been Saturday night in boosting his resume to 39-1 with 35 knockouts. Perhaps the ”Japanese experience”-as promoter Don King calls it-was just the lesson Tyson needed to re-examine his circumstance and objectives.
”I actually made a few mistakes out there tonight against Stewart,”
said Tyson, the analyst. ”I might have tried to do too much, too fast.”
It worked.
