By Grantlee Kieza
April 25, 2005
Source: foxsports

Mike Tyson and Jeff Fenech were discussing the threadbare state of heavyweight boxing yesterday as Tyson eyes a return to the title picture.

Tyson begins sparring massive American Corey "T-Rex" Sanders in Phoenix, Arizona today in preparation for his $6.7 million payday against Irishman Kevin McBride before a crowd of 20,000 in Washington DC on June 11.

But he is already talking about his prospects against what he regards as a motley crew on top of the heavyweight thrones. "(WBC champ) Vitali Klitschko, (WBO champ) Lamon Brewster and (WBA champ) John Ruiz.

"Mike knows that if he's in shape he can beat all those guys," said Fenech, who is supervising Tyson's training in his greatest test as a conditioner. "We've even talked about a third fight with Evander Holyfield because I would love to see Mike get some redemption for the defeats he suffered.

"I know it would be a different story if they fought again. Holyfield scored a huge upset by stopping Tyson in 11 rounds in 1996 and the following year had part of his ear bitten off in defeating Tyson by disqualification," Fenech said.

Tyson had his first day off training in a month yesterday, a reward for his dedication in the gym. "Mike is doing a lot of cardio work, running, walking and the stationary bike," Fenech said. "People close to him say that he's the fittest he's been for a long time and a lot more motivated.

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"I've told Mike that I don't want him wiping out sparring partners like he did in the old days. I want the sparring to be good solid work for a few weeks so we can continue to build Mike's fitness and to give him the confidence that he can keep going in a long fight if he has to.

"I've been slowly building up his stamina. We didn't even start with three-minute rounds, like most trainers do. "I started putting him through two minute rounds and every so often get him to put together a burst of punches for 30 seconds non-stop."

Tyson, $40million in debt, says he has mellowed in the twilight of a career that saw him become history's youngest heavyweight champ 19 years ago.

He said yesterday the greatest moment in his career was the birth of his kids. Reacting to criticism of his infamous comment that he wanted to tear out the heart of Lennox Lewis and eat his children, Tyson said: "It was just a figure of speech - I've known Lennox for more than 20 years.