Why did the Tyson loss to Danny Williams, on July 29, surprise anyone? Common sense tells us that when you reach 38, haven’t taken care of your body, and haven’t fought in a year and a half, that your body, sooner or later, will betray you. And common sense dictate that the longer the fight lasted, the quicker Tyson would tire and become a target.

Maybe injuring his leg early in the fight had something to do with the loss, or maybe the injury was just his aging body betraying, him. Or maybe, it really wasn’t injured and Mike’s manager needed the excuse to fight again. This is boxing folks, and it’s the land where anything can and will happen. If the injury is legit, then Mike will have to take more time off, something he can’t afford to do.

It has happened to the best of them, if they stay around their sport (no, it isn’t just boxing) long enough. Guys like Marciano and Hagler knew when to quit, but most fighters don’t. In Tyson’s case, it was as much a matter of financial need then the adoration of the fans that forced him to take more fights. Then again, what can or would a broke Tyson do for a living otherwise?

Mike Tyson did the right thing, trying to take Williams out early. The punch is the last thing to go in a fighter, and although I have no idea how well the English lad can take a punch, it’s possible that Mike’s punch is gone, you can tell that his legs are. And the fear that his opponents once had of him seems to be gone as well.

A lot of folks read my column and heard me on a variety of boxing talks shows, nationwide, that to lay 15-1 on Tyson was too much money to risk. I didn’t pick the upset, but I day say that it could happen.***

There were rumors before this fight that Tyson might sign with Bob Arum, but somehow, I don’t see that happening after this loss. Tyson, unlike fine wine, will not get better with age, he will deteriorate.

But reports remain strong that Chris Byrd may jump the Don King ship and sign with the Top Rank promoter, giving Arum a small, but respected world champion, who has major problems with the big heavys. We shall see.***

No disappointments in the card in Vegas the following day, Erik Morales and Carlos Hernandez squared off in what was supposed to be a war, and this time, as predicted, the war actually happened. If you believe the judges (and they were close) Morales won almost every round, but the fight was not as one-sided as the scorecards indicated. Almost every round could have been scored either way, but Morales just did enough to pull each one out.

Morales won the decision, and may face Manny Pacquiao before moving up to the next weight class.***

Back to the heavyweights, and it looks like pseudo WBA heavyweight champ John Ruiz will get back into the ring with someone who can fight as dirty as he can, but can’t quite hide the tactics as well.

Ruiz has reportedly signed to fight Andrew Golota for a title fight later this year. As much as I can’t stand Ruiz’ attempts in the ring, which can put Rip Van Winkle to sleep, this fight does hold enough interest for me to actually watch.

I have said for some time that Golota, if he stays clean, can become a world champion again, and he stayed clean vs. Chris Byrd and was robbed in a close decision. Ruiz promised a different problem for the “Foul Pole”. Can he ignore all the hitting and holding and elbows that Ruiz throws? If he can and doesn’t respond in kind, he should win an easy decision here.***

Don’t miss my next column when I will preview the upcoming boxing movie, “Black Cloud”, which opens in Vegas and four other locations in September.***

Help me with my new book. Send all jokes, quips and boxing oddities to Rngsports@aol.com, thanks, and members of the boxing media are free to send this most welcome information as well.***

Update: We are again taking orders for autographed copies of my new book, “OFF THE CANVAS”. Check our website for details. So far I have heard only good things about the book. Be aware that there is about a 3-week backlog on orders. It could be faster, to get non-autographed delivery “Off the Canvas” which is also available on the web at Authorhouse.com, ID#22873, or through major on line book stores like Borders, Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks or Amazon.com.***

Agree or disagree, feel free to express your views.

Glove2Glove:

An old boxing guy passed away in Sacramento a few weeks back, when Sid Tenner went to his last reward. See ya in the big ring in the sky, old friend. You cashed your bet, as you were a 3-1 favorite to get there before me…Rest in peace.

Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.

Prayers are requested for Donna Jean Landers, boxing fan from Oklahoma, who has been fighting cancer for three years. She needs your help my friends.

Please say prayers for writer Marty Carson (auto accident) and his wife (health problems) of Indiana. Marty is a long time friend and a boxing expert.

Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.

Sandy Johnson a staff member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission is fighting breast cancer. A call, e-mail or card, along with your prayers would really do a lot to raise the spirits of an old friend.

Special prayers go out to Mills Lane for his complete recovery. Mills, who suffered a stroke a few years back may be down, but knowing him, he’s far from out.

Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease. And to Arthur Terciera, father of writer Keith, also having heart related problems.

Prayers are requested for Ringsports.com photo journalist Dale Hausner of Arizona, who is having problems with cancer.

Prayers are requested for Kenneth E. Ryther father of our photo journalist Amy Green. Kenneth is suffering from Parkinson’s.

Prayers for Ed “Whitey” Hadar, a former boxer who is having some serious health problems.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.

Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.

Touching on politics briefly: I tried to order the HBO fight between Morales and Hernandez on Saturday night, and I couldn’t do so. I haven’t done much traveling since my best friend Sue took ill and passed away, and I don’t do Vegas in the summertime. In truth, I hate the heat.

Why? Because someone decided that this fight should only be shown PPV on cable and/or the dish network. It goes to some of my past editorials against censorship, first they tell you what you can watch and now they tell you the ways you watch it. Something stinks here, folks.

I have this big old dish in my backyard, and now, in order to watch a fight, even if I have to pay for it, I have to buy either a small dish or hook up to cable. To me this is little more than blackmail and I refused to do either. This is nothing more than corporate terrorism.

While cable would be my choice if I chose to waste my money watching some programming that I don’t enjoy (which is most of today’s TV shows), and the dish network sells ‘packages’, they don’t allow you to choose what stations you want to receive, so to me it’s a giant rip-off.

For example, why should I pay money for programming I wouldn’t watch for the rest of my life, let alone now?

So HBO PPV and others who would have profited by allowing anyone who was willing to pay for the fight to watch it, has lost money, and in my eyes a lot of credibility. Thanks guys for allowing me to miss what might be the fight of the year, although I intend to watch the replay at a friend’s house.

Politics? You bet. These companies got us by the gonads and aren’t afraid to squeeze. And I had the nerve to think there was a law against monopolies.

On the plus side, if this is mine, and America’s biggest problem in the world. It would make me angry, but I’d also feel a whole lot happier and safer.***

And by the way, I stand by my statement made a while back, that it made much more sense to combat terrorism by attacking Iran, which has nuclear weapons, than it did Iraq. And now events are bearing that out, even if our President insists that he did the right thing. I have to wonder who is giving him stupid advice. When you’re attacked by terrorists it is just plain stupid to attack a country that is not a threat to us. Cowboy diplomacy does not work, never had and never will. Sadly, however, no diplomacy seems to have worked against these radicals.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.