McBride sets sights higher
Kevin McBride shrugged off Mike Tyson’s attempts to “break my arm” after sending the former heavyweight king into long overdue retirement.
The tall 32-year-old Ulsterman used his height and spoiling tactics to force a sixth-round retirement from Tyson at the MCI Center in Washington DC.
New Yorker Tyson, 38, confirmed his retirement after the humiliating defeat, which saw him resort to sly clinches, low shots and deliberate headbutts as he desperately tried to salvage something from the fight.
Clones journeyman McBride stuck to his plan, closing the weary Tyson down quickly and stifling his lacklustre single-shot attacks.
Referee Joe Cortez docked two points from Tyson in the sixth round of the scheduled 10 after the American deliberately caught McBride with his head and forced a cut to the eye. The former world champion had earlier been warned about punching below the belt.
Despite the all-too-familiar dirty tactics, McBride was determined to pay homage to Tyson and after the fight, thanked the veteran for the opportunity and proclaimed him “a legend”.
“He was trying to break my arm and headbutt me,” McBride admitted. “That’s the rough tactics of boxing and he wasn’t getting his way with me.
“I am the bigger, stronger man and the bigger stronger man will always beat the smaller stronger man.”
“He (Tyson) is a warrior and I respect him, and I’m a warrior – I came with all the heart from Ireland.
“Tyson is a clever man, he was trying to look for an opening but thank God he didn’t get a punch on.”
Tyson, meanwhile, insisted the headbutt seemed his only option as his energy sapped.
“I was desperate, I wanted to win.”
McBride began the fight well as Tyson failed to produce the usual high-tempo start which has become his trademark. Indeed, even in his last outing, the catastrophic defeat by Londoner Danny Williams nearly a year ago, Tyson had looked ferocious in the opening six minutes.
McBride insists he can now build on the profile-boosting victory and make an impact in the poor quality heavyweight division.
“Every day I am learning something different and it’s great to fight Mike because he is a great warrior. It’s good to have it under my belt,” McBride said after the bout, televised in the United Kingdom on Setanta Sports.
“I take a good shot, I am just coming into my prime and I have got a lot more to offer boxing so I am looking forward to the future.
“It’s great, it’s great for Ireland. Ireland has been crying out for a heavyweight for a long time and I am a legitimate contender now, not a pretender,” said McBride, who admitted he would love to take a world title back to Ireland.
“I am going be the first Irish-born heavyweight champion of the world,” he claimed.
Such an achievement is highly unlikely but for the time being, McBride – who had originally been set to fight Tyson instead of Williams last July – can enjoy his moment of glory.
