After Belting Bruno, Tyson Gets a Belt Back

LAS VEGAS —  From the moment he stepped out from behind prison walls, Mike Tyson faced a wall of doubters.

They didn’t believe he could ever again be what he was when he ruled the heavyweight division as undisputed champion.

Well, scratch at least one name from that list of doubters.

Frank Bruno became a believer Saturday night, forced to face harsh reality after Tyson smashed him into submission 50 seconds into the third round before a sellout crowd of 16,693 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to capture Bruno’s World Boxing Council title.

“I hit like a mule,” said a triumphant Tyson, and who could argue?

For Tyson, it’s another step back to the top of the mountain. First he got his freedom after being imprisoned on a rape conviction. Then he got back his skills, rusted after four years away from the fight game.

And now he has got his first title back, with plans to go after the remaining two-thirds of the undisputed crown--the World Boxing Assn. title held by Bruce Seldon and the International Boxing Federation crown of Frans Botha.

Tyson-Bruno was one of five title bouts on a marathon day of boxing that stretched over nearly eight hours at the MGM Grand.

In earlier fights, Bernard Hopkins defended his IBF middleweight title with a fourth-round TKO over Joe Lipsey, Keith Holmes captured the WBC middleweight crown from Quincy Taylor with a ninth-round TKO, Michael Carbajal won a unanimous decision over Melchor Cob-Castro to take the vacant IBF junior-flyweight championship, and Ricardo Lopez defended his WBC strawweight championship by knocking out Ala Villamor 40 seconds into the eighth round.

But the lasting image the celebrity-filled crowd took from the arena Saturday night was of Tyson on the apron outside the ropes, pointing defiantly to the WBC title belt around his waist.

“I feel a little bit broken-hearted,” Bruno said. “He is a little bit better than I thought.”

Indeed, if Bruno is the yardstick, Tyson is even better than he was before.

The last time the two fought, in 1989, Bruno staggered Tyson with a punch and lasted until the fifth round.

This time, Tyson was never staggered, never slowed as he went about the swift destruction of Bruno to improve his record to 44-1 with 38 knockouts.

Bruno, 40-5 with 38 knockouts, thought he had a lot going for him. He was coming off the biggest victory of his career, a 12-round decision over Oliver MCall in September to give him the WBC crown.

Bruno was coming into an arena filled with his countrymen, wildly chanting and singing their support.

Bruno had a 27-pound weight advantage, 247 to 220, a four-inch height advantage, 6-3 to 5-11, and an 11-inch reach advantage, 82 to 71.

And Bruno was facing a fighter whose recent performances had been criticized. Tyson’s first comeback fight, in August against Peter McNeeley, was not considered a true test because it lasted only 89 seconds against a journeyman.

Tyson’s next fight, in December, ended in a three-round knockout of Buster Mathis Jr. But Tyson missed a lot of punches and looked rusty.

A sparring session before this fight had been prematurely halted because Tyson’s handlers thought he looked flat.

But when the opening bell sounded, there was no rust, no flatness, no advantage for Bruno.

“He certainly wasn’t flat tonight,” said Tyson’s trainer, Jay Bright, responding to those who had questioned both Tyson and Bright’s training methods. “He’s the best in the world.”

Tyson charged ahead right from the start while Bruno, looking nervous, swung with a series of punches that flew wildly over Tyson’s head.

Before the round was over, Tyson had landed five solid punches and opened a cut over Bruno’s left eye.

Tyson was back to work in the second round, unleashing stinging combinations. Bruno, who got in one good punch, was reduced to holding Tyson, a tactic that caused referee Mills Lane to deduct a point from the champion.

“He was holding on,” Tyson said, “because he didn’t want to get knocked out.”

It didn’t help.

The final sequence in the third round began with a left hand by Tyson. After landing three punches, Tyson effectively ended the fight with two head-rattling right uppercuts that caused Bruno to sag helplessly into the ropes.

Tyson got off another left and two glancing rights before Lane stepped in.

The fight was over. The doubts were quieted. The belt was back in the hands that once terrorized the heavyweight division.

*

The long day of action began explosively. In the fourth round of the afternoon fight, Hopkins caught Lipsey with a right uppercut.

The punch was so powerful, Lipsey spit out his mouthpiece, closed his eyes, dropped his gloves and stood flat-footed, like a deer frozen by headlights.

What was still to come was as frightening as an oncoming train.

Before referee Mitch Halpern could intercede, Hopkins fired off four more punches, all of which connected solidly, and Lipsey went to the canvas. Halpern immediately stopped the bout at the 2:50 mark.

Hopkins’ victory improved his record to 29-2-1 with 22 knockouts. Lipsey suffered his first loss, falling to 25-1 with 20 knockouts.

Lipsey was revived, but later collapsed again in the ring before being helped out. The second collapse was because of hyperventilation.

Hopkins described each punch for reporters.

“I don’t think there are many fighters who could tell you exactly what they threw,” Hopkins said.

In the next bout, Holmes (28-1, 18 knockouts) knocked down Taylor (26-4) in the ninth round with a short right hook from which Taylor never recovered.

He got back up, but three more punches from Holmes were enough for referee Richard Steele. He stopped the bout 1:43 into the round.

There were no knockdowns in the fight between Carbajal and Cob-Castro. Carbajal is now 40-2 with 25 knockouts, Cob-Castro, 45-5-4.

Lopez (41-0, 31 knockouts) disposed of Villamor (29-2-1) with a single punch, a left uppercut.

There were two other preliminary bouts. Miguel Angel Gonzalez improved to 39-0 with 29 knockouts by winning a unanimous eight-round decision over Ramon Marchena, who is 52-14-2.

In a women’s match, Christy Martin (35-2-2, 25 knockouts) won a unanimous six-round decision over Deirdre Gogarty (10-4-2).