Mike Tyson flattened Clifford Etienne after only 49 seconds of their heavyweight fight here Saturday, setting the stage for a possible world title rematch against Britain's Lennox Lewis.
Tyson missed with a left hand but followed with a stunning right hand that knocked his American compatriot flat on his back and referee Bill Clancy ended the bout moments later, the sixth-fastest early stoppage win of Tyson's career.
Tyson, 36, rose to 50-4 with his 44th career early stoppage. Etienne, 32, fell to 24-2 with one draw.
A fight that was off and on several times this week wound up being over almost before it began. The rendition of the United States national anthem before the fight lasted 18 seconds longer than Etienne did against Tyson.
The fight had been called off by Tyson's camp last Monday but was reinstated Tuesday with Tyson getting a boost in his five million-dollar payday.
Etienne then threatened to pull out but the "Black Rhino" stayed for a career-best payday of one million dollars.
In the same ring where World Boxing Council champion Lewis stopped Tyson in the eighth round last June, a fit Tyson turned back the clock and showed the power and ferocious attitude that marked his heyday in the late 1980s.
Tyson took the impressive triumph he needed over Etienne to spark interest in a big-money rematch with Lewis. But Tyson said he wanted one or two more fights before taking on Lewis.
"I'm more confident now than I was last year," Tyson said. "But I am not ready to fight Lennox Lewis. I want more fights. Maybe two, maybe three. I don't know. Right now I'm not interested in getting beat up again.
"I'm going back to the gym next week. I want to get my life together."
A clause in the contract from the Tyson-Lewis fight last year would set up a rematch. It allowed each man one fight before such a showdown.
Lewis, who has not fought since, decided not to face International Boxing Federation champion Chris Byrd or WBC mandatory challenger Vitali Klitschko, instead waiting to see if a possible Tyson rematch next June was viable.
Tyson skipped several key pre-fight workouts and had an elaborate Maori tattoo put on the left side of his face, but both Tyson and trainer Freddie Roach declared him fit and said the face decoration would not be a factor.
About 15,000 people attended the conflict of ex-convicts. Etienne spent 10 years in prison for armed robbery. Tyson was jailed three years for rape before a 1995 release and imprisoned for several months in 2001 for assault.
AFP