Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

Good morning, Arizona: Iron Mike Tyson cops to coke habit

Mike Tyson told Arizona cops he was a coke addict when they brought him in to custody on Friday. The former champion was ordered released without bond on a felony drug possession charge Friday after being arrested in Buckeye, Ariz, the AP reported on ESPN.com.

Police said they found two bags of white powder in his back pocket and that the boxer “showed signs of impairment.” They asked Tyson to submit to a field sobriety test and he complied.

“He admitted to using today and stated he is an addict and has a problem,” said a police probable cause statement filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the AP report said. “Mike admitted to possessing bags of cocaine and said he uses any time he can get his hands on it.”

Tyson nearly rammed a police vehicle, cops say, and they booked him on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of cocaine after he left a Scottsdale nightclub. One cop saw Tyson wipe a powdery substance off the console of his car as the lawman approached, the report states.

Tyson is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 16.

There was no alcohol found in his system, the AP/ESPN.com said, and cops are waiting for toxicology tests before choosing what to charge the boxer with.

Under the terms of his release, Tyson must submit to drug and alcohol testing if requested, and cannot take illegal drugs, or drink booze, while his situation is pending.

Tyson didn’t elaborate to the press upon leaving the courtroom.

He simply said, “Good morning, Arizona.”

For fans of the fallen fighter, they can take some solace in the knowledge that many souls have been saved from enslavement to the devilish allure of intoxicants stemming from a run-in with law enforcement. Perhaps this latest scrap with Johnny Law will set Tyson on a straighter, narrower path…

And maybe some fans who still have the urge to see him lace ‘em up again for real will get their wish, and a clean (if not totally serene) Tyson will emerge in 2007…

Iron Mike Tyson arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona

It’s been too long.

Mike Tyson had been too quiet, too lawful, for too long.

His good behavior streak has been stopped, however, as the man formerly known as The Baddest Man on the Planet was arrested early Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of cocaine after police stopped him after he left a Scottsdale, Arizona nightclub.

Sgt. Larry Hall said the fighter was stopped after his car almost struck a sheriff’s vehicle while leaving the club at around 1:45 a.m., the AP reported.

“He showed signs of impairment and voluntarily submitted to field sobriety tests,” said Hall to the AP.

Hall said Tyson taken into custody after “showing more signs of impairment” during his field sobriety tests.

Cops then found cocaine on his person, and in his car, Hall said.

Tyson’s is no stranger to the wrist constrictors—he was jailed from 1992-1995 after being convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant.

The boxer should have been jailed for assault when he bit off a portion of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their second tussle, in 1997.

Tyson went back to jail for assault in 1998, and served nine months.

Tyson was back in the news when he fought an exhibition in Ohio on Oct. 20, and he excited the mainstream media when he talked about wanting to box a woman.

More details on the fighter’s legal situation will follow…

Old man Arum, he just keeps rolling along

Put one on the board for the old man…

Bob Arum fended off a charge from bitter rival, the promotional neophyte Oscar De La Hoya, when he got Manny Pacquiao to sign on the dotted line in the Philippines.

Arum arrived in Manila the day after Christmas, the Manila Bulletin online says.

By the time news broke that the Top Rank president was in the country, Arum had already met with Manny Pacquiao, and in one day had forged an agreement with boxing’s most exciting personality.

“Nobody knew I would be coming over (to the Philippines),” said Arum, who kept his trip secret even from much of his own staff.

“I did not know that Bob was going to the Philippines,” said publicist Ricardo Jimenez. Arum, the newspaper report said, actually wanted to fly to Manila on Christmas, but the 75-year-old lawyer could not get a booking.

Supposedly, many folks on Team Pacquiao wanted Manny to jump ship, and sign on with Oscar, but the wily vet Arum went the extra mile(s), and secured the services of the sport’s most buzzed about boxer…

There is something to be said about experience, and Arum has to feel sky-high at defeating his former client, and now his most bitter rival, De La Hoya…

Is Brock/Lawrence YOUR choice for KO of the year?

I defy you to find someone with more knowledge about the day-to-day goings on in the fight game than ESPN’s Dan Rafael.

He can throw a pound-for-pound list at you in each and every weight division there is, and even pronounce the names of the five best Thai flyweights correctly.

When Dan speaks, it is best to nod in assent, because the guy does his homework assiduously…

But, allow me one tiny quibble.

Dandy Dan just called Cal Brock’s KO of Zuri Lawrence on Feb. 25 his KO of the year, and I must dissent.

To me, Shannon Briggs‘ KO of Sergei Liakhovich on Nov. 4 in Phoenix, in what Rafael “called one of the worst, most boring heavyweight title bouts in history until the final minute” is my choice for KO of the year.

The action was tepid, at best, to this point, until Briggs yanked a doozy out of his dreads and sent Liakhovich onto the scorer’s table.

That finish made up for the rest of the snoozer, and since no one had predicted that the fight would go into the middle innings, it qualified as a heavy-duty surprise.

What about it, Blog Squad?

You agree with Dandy Dan, or do you think the Cannon’s lacing of Liakhovich is a better fit for KO of the year?

Or maybe you have another nominee…

Have at it…