Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson might have just sung his swan song on Saturday in the nation's capital. Tyson lost to journeyman Kevin McBride when he quit on his stool after round six. The former champ seemed exhausted and worn down after the sixth, and realized that he had nothing left to give.

   Tyson tried his usual thing in the early rounds; trying to finish McBride with one shot, but the journeyman fought a smart fight with his limited skills. McBride used his weight to his advantage, grabbing and leaning on Tyson throughout the fight. McBride outweighed Tyson by forty pounds, and he used this advantage to drain Tyson.

   The first three rounds Tyson tried to put McBride away, but McBride kept the fight in close and leaned his 271 pounds on Tyson.

   In the fourth round, Tyson tried to bang the body and landed some good shots, but McBride stuck to his game plan and banged at Tyson while they were in close usually while clinching. McBride appeared to hurt Tyson while in close during round five. McBride appeared to have Tyson winded, and banged at the former champ while inside. Tyson started to get desperate in the sixth round, and resorted to some dirty tactics. On one occasion while during a clench, Tyson grabbed McBride's arm and literally tried to break it. This caused a scream from McBride which looked similar to the reaction Evander Holyfield had when Tyson bit a chunk of his ear off. Later in the round, Tyson was penalized two points for an intentional head butt which opened up a cut over McBride's left eye.

   Towards the end of the round, while roughhousing, Tyson fell down and he was so exhausted he had trouble getting up. He even looked to referee Joe Cortez to possibly help him up. It was then, at the end of the sixth round, where Tyson quit while on his stool. Tyson has now lost three of his last five fights, including his last two against journeyman fighters.

   After the fight, Tyson was very blunt when speaking to Showtime's Jim Gray. He basically said this was his last fight, and that his heart wasn't in it anymore. He added that he would be disgracing Boxing if he continued to fight like this. He said that he didn't have that killer instinct anymore, and that he wished he could give the folks their money back. He further elaborated by saying that he basically took this fight to pay some bills, and that he needs to quit if he can't beat this caliber of fighter.

   In other action, Laila Ali stopped Erin Toughill in the third round of their bout. Ali pounded away at Toughill in the corner until the referee stopped it. After the fight, Ali called out everybody that she could think of. She responded to the question of why she didn't participate on the Million Dollar Lady card by saying, "I don't need to be messing around with those little girls." She added that she already beat Christy Martin, and that Martin didn't belong in the ring with her.

   In the other fight on the card, Sharmba Mitchell won a technical decision over Chris Smith. The bout was stopped due to cuts to Mitchell, and Mitchell won when the fight went to the cards.

6-11-2005

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