By CONNIE MABIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Oct 16, 7:18 PM

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - Mike Tyson said fans should not expect much of a fight when he steps back into the ring.

But the 40-year-old former heavyweight champ promised an entertaining show Friday night when he launches the "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown.

At a news conference at an Italian restaurant, Tyson said he would likely go just four rounds and that future stops on the tour might include bouts with women, possibly professional boxer Ann Wolfe.

Wolfe, from Waco, Texas, is 21-1 with 15 knockouts.

"She's such a prominent, dominant woman in the boxing field," Tyson said.

When asked if he was joking about fighting women, Tyson said, "I'm very serious."

Russ Young, a promoter for Wolfe, said such a bout will never happen.

"That's the first we've heard of it," Young said. "No state would sanction that. She would be outweighed by 60 to 70 pounds. Ann would never entertain the idea."

Tyson said the tour was meant to be fun and raise money for charity.

"It's all fun. I'm not Mike Tyson," he said, referring to the fierce boxer whose career was upended by a prison term. "I'm not 20 years old. I'm not going to smash anybody. I'm not going to talk about smashing anybody's brains. You're not going to see that guy no more."

At the press conference, Tyson posed for photos with fans, signed autographs and campaigned for Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele.

Tyson, wearing a white and blue Steele for U.S. Senate T-shirt, said he used to believe black Republicans were "sellouts." But Tyson said he changed his mind after researching the Maryland lieutenant governor.

"We have to open our eyes more," Tyson said, as he pointed to his T-shirt.

His recent years have been marked by embarrassing fights _ inside and out of the ring _ and staggering debt. Tyson last fought in June 2005, losing to the unheralded Kevin McBride.

He will return to the ring Friday at the 6,000-seat Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown for a pay-per-view event against former sparring partner Corey "T-Rex" Sanders.

Tyson had said he was finished with boxing after his bout with McBride, which he quit after six rounds.

The man who vowed to eat Lennox Lewis' children and bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear has said he's in no mood for a comeback.

He recently trained in a makeshift ring at a Las Vegas hotel.

Tyson shot to fame by knocking out Trevor Berbick in 1986 to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20. He was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas in 1990 and lost his world heavyweight title. He later served prison time for rape, returned to fighting and infamously bit Holyfield's ear in a 1997 fight.




Ann Wolfe is kind of tough

this oughtta be good

riiiiight.

I guess he's used to slapping women around. Might as well make it official.

TMPletz said:

APwriter said:

Gosh, I hate when reporters miss the entire story. Michael Steele is the brother of Tyson ex-wife Monica Turner... The boxer is campaigning for his former brother-in-law. They must be on excellent terms, as Steele oversaw the terms of the divorce for his sister.

Mike doesn't have any qualms with hitting women, now does he...

gosh, if only we could bring back the days where Tyson was actually serious with boxing....

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Once an abuser, always an abuser

luv4u said:

well i can say this, i don't have an opinion on the other women, but that damn Robin Givens was a gold digger and she brought his punches on herself...

Hey, for the ladies who are into that sort of thing,
I hear he's a bit of an ear-nibbler.

Andy Kaufman did it better.

He needs a long stretch in a padded room, to be sho.

missfee said:

Denial and minimizing it, that's what abusers like Mikey do

missfee said:

There's never an excuse to hit someone, man or woman.

meow85 said:

What if it's your gf & she just told you that she's gonna join Morris' group? Especially after she was willing to purify herself in the waters of Lake Minnitonka even though you stole her earring from her?

Is that still not a valid case for what some call a 'Minnesotian Backhand'?

Illustrator said:

The kid was a bad boy no doubt. He lured innocent naive girls into his lair, which in itself, looked like a peado's playground a bit

Illustrator said:

No excuse there either.

Besides, Apples coulda kicked Prince's ass into next week if she wanted to. Not exactly a fair fight. The Kid's hitting her in PR was not unlike a flea bothering a dog. An annoyance maybe....

meow85 said:

i didn't say there was, but she brought it on herself. thats why you should never marry someone and you have ulterior motives.
[Edited 10/18/06 5:43am]

No one brings it upon themselves. It's the abuser that has the controlling anger problem.

Hitting your woman/man is NOT love.

luv4u said:

Yeah okay, so a gold digger marries a man who was beating her (by her claim) before they even got married didn't bring it on herself? She knew what she was getting into, but she was greedy and couldn't see past the dollar signs so no i don't feel sorry for her.

all victims aren't innocent. i'll never believe that.

nobody deserves to get hit, i believe that, but if you keep putting yourself in that situation or if you stay, then after a while, it is you who are putting yourself or keeping yourself in the situation that you are in. It's up the victim to get help...when or if they want it.

missfee said:

I'm suprised I haven't run into him yet, like at the mall or a bar or someplace. There's only so many places to go around here.

You know his career is in the hole when he has to kick off a tour in this dump of a town, LOL.

missfee said:

Nope. No excuse. Your partner's taking advantage of you, you split with them. Involve the law if it becomes necessary, but abusing them is never ever right, no matter what they did. Mot even if it's abuse-in-retaliation-for-their-abuse.

Abuse is never right or justified.

missfee said:

You've clearly never been on the receiving end of an abusive relationship or been close to someone who was. If you did, you'd know better than to assume the victim brings it on themselves because they don't leave.

meow85 said:

and you clearly don't know a damn thing about me to assume what who i know or the situations that i've been through. Like i said before, people need to take responsiblity for the situations that they are in. And obviously i'm not the only who feels this way.
[Edited 10/19/06 5:42am]

missfee said:

I know enough about you to know that you've got some heavily twisted thinking on the issue, at best. Especially if you do happen to be more familiar with this than you're letting on.

luv4u said:

... and it just sickens me to hear this man speak as if he's someone so innocent sweet