Ticket-less Tyson offers his two cents to Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines - The only thing more surprising than Mike Tyson's visit to Manny Pacquiao's training session on Thursday was he didn't have a ticket to the match on Sunday (Saturday, US time).

"I told Mike, 'Are you kidding me?'" Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, told sports scribes. "But Manny said he'll give Mike four tickets."

Yet another twist in the bizarre career of "Iron Mike".

If he was stripped of the myriad of controversies that bedeviled him throughout his career, Tyson would be remembered for one and one thing only: As one of the best heavyweight boxers of all-time.

And straight-up boxing fans remember more that phase of Tyson's life, one that began when as a 20-year-old, he floored Trevor Berbick in two rounds to become the youngest world heavyweight champion in 1986. At that time, Pacquiao was just a few weeks short of turning eight years old.

Pacquiao would later admit that watching Tyson fight in the late-1980's inspired him to follow in his footsteps.

On Thursday at the IBA Gym in Las Vegas, the last day of Pacquiao's training for his match with Oscar de la Hoya, Tyson - inactive in boxing for the last three years, out of shape and a mere shadow of his old multimillionaire self - met up with Pacquiao - the first true inheritor of the no-holds-barred, devil-may-care style Tyson was always known for.

Although this wasn't the first time Tyson was this up close to Pacquiao, having watched Pacquiao at ringside in a couple of the Pacman's recent matches.

"He gets a little embarrassed when he's around people and he's not fighting anymore," Roach said, referring to Tyson's refusal to talk to reporters. "He doesn't want to get the limelight away from the star of Manny Pacquiao."

Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao's confidante and assistant trainer, shared to the media the conversation that went on. It was as if the master was in the building.

"Mike said we needed to be active with our head movements and just keep on attacking and attacking," Fernandez said. "If we do that, if we keep Oscar close, we nullify his jab and his left hand. And that's exactly what we've been training all these months."

"It's all sensible stuff," Roach, who once trained Tyson, added. "He just said to be careful moving in straight lines because Oscar has the longer reach."

"It's something we've been working on," Roach assured.

Upon entering the IBA facility and seeing Tyson, Pacquiao approached him, shook his hands and had a photo-op before he went up the ring.

Tyson, who filed for bankruptcy five years ago despite an estimated $300 million in earnings, had clearly become a more ordinary figure. He was garbed in a lavender long-sleeved polo, gray pants and a worn-out pair of leather shoes.

Surrounded by friends and a throng of bodyguards during his prime, Tyson, named one of the greatest heavyweights of all time by Ring Magazine, was with just a single companion.

He told Roach he didn't have tickets to Pacquiao-de la Hoya. Roach couldn't believe it.

Tyson, according to Roach, dropped by the gym without prior notice.

"He just showed up."

It's a pity to see Tyson sink this low. But it's always a pleasure to be in the company of a boxing god. - GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/137751/Ticket-less-Tyson-offers-his-two-cents-to-Pacquiao

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