Shields is man to tell Tyson game is up

There are times of crisis when a man needs a good friend and Mike Tyson may be about to find one in his trainer, Ronnie Shields.

A small, soft-spoken American whose disposition appears at odds with the brutal world in which he is immersed, Shields is bracing himself to undertake the task that those in his line of work like least.

To tell a boxer it is time to hang up the gloves, bin the gumshield and pack the boots into a box is not only heartbreaking but it gives rise to concern, too.

A disciplined regime of training and conditioning offers purpose and direction. It is often the thread that holds a fighter's life in one piece. Even, or perhaps especially, a life that has been torn to shreds like Tyson's.

Remove that thread and who knows how or where the pieces will fall?

Shields must take that risk. Tyson needs telling that the game is up, that the manner of his defeat against Lennox Lewis is a warning that his future in the ring is bleak indeed.

On Saturday, three weeks short of his 36th birthday, Iron Mike was exposed as a rusty hulk. After 54 professional fights, what remained of the intimidating menace, the awesome power, the stare, the glare, and the crouch which served as a launchpad for a thousand fistic missiles was systematically destroyed.

The grotesquely cut and swollen eyes can heal. The bloodied nose on the head that momentarily rose before slumping back to the canvas in submission 145 seconds into the eighth round will mend. But Tyson's boxing skills are surely beyond repair.

"Mike has a hard decision to make," said Shields.

"Mike is a true warrior, he showed that against Lewis, and true warriors find it hard to say 'no' to this game.

"But at some point, people who care about him have got to to say 'look, this is it, it's over'."

Is it going to be Shields who breaks the news?

He shrugged and replied: "It can be."

He has not long been in Tyson's corner, but Shields has grown close enough to the former undisputed champion to be able to feel pain on his behalf.

Despite much evidence to the contrary, Shields insists: "Mike is such a good person. People have really got to get to know him, but they don't give him a break.

"Whatever he does they try to turn into a negative, but he showed his class against Lewis.

"He fought on until he couldn't fight anymore and he did what a true champion does, he gave everything he had until the fight was over."

Let the good times roll
Tough guys who don't ruffle feathers