Brian Nielsen vs Mike Tyson

Twenty-five thousand Danish voices accompanied “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” as the home favourite entered Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium, but the cheerful refrain proved ill-suited to the punishment that followed. Brian Nielsen, Denmark’s popular heavyweight and an Olympic bronze medallist, brought a record of 62 victories against one defeat into the scheduled ten-round contest on 13 October 2001. Mike Tyson, returning after almost a year’s absence, weighed a career-high 239 pounds, while the taller Nielsen was 259¾. No championship was at stake, although Tyson’s position as the leading WBC contender gave the contest importance in his pursuit of another world-title opportunity.

Nielsen opened with sufficient composure to land a straight left-right midway through the first round, but he was soon driven towards the ropes. Tyson advanced behind the jab, bent low before releasing his hooks, and drove a heavy left uppercut through the Dane’s guard. Nielsen covered his head, held when Tyson came close and used his greater weight to impede the American. Tyson worked in bursts rather than maintaining the pace of his championship years, yet his punches carried considerably more force. The challenger appeared to tire towards the end of the round, but Nielsen had spent most of it defending.

The pattern became clearer in the second. Tyson closed the distance without difficulty and brought the uppercut between Nielsen’s gloves whenever the Dane stood square against the ropes. Nielsen lacked the speed to intercept him consistently and seldom followed his jab with the right hand. A right hook near the bell opened a wound above Nielsen’s left eye. The home fighter returned to his corner marked and already reduced to a contest of endurance.

The swelling increased during the third as Tyson struck with hooks from either hand. Nielsen tried to smother the attack by leaning over Tyson and holding his arms, drawing complaints from the American, but his defence loosened whenever they separated. Late in the round, a left followed by a right sent Nielsen heavily to the floor. He rose and continued, only to be struck below the belt by Tyson near the bell. Nielsen sank down in evident pain and was allowed recovery time by referee Steve Smoger. Although entitled to five minutes, he resumed before taking the full allowance. There was no deduction.

Nielsen attempted to slow matters further in the fourth, tying Tyson up whenever the American reached punching distance. Tyson was no longer attacking with the same urgency, but a stiff jab rocked Nielsen and his shorter punches continued to find openings around the guard. The Dane remained upright through strength and determination rather than effective defence. His left eye was closing, his reactions had become slower and his own punches lacked the authority required to alter the course of the fight.

There was a brief improvement from Nielsen in the fifth. He landed a firm right and another useful blow as Tyson’s pace declined, giving the crowd its first encouragement since the opening round. Tyson answered at once with a right-left combination that drove Nielsen backwards and left him unsteady. By then the contest had become one-sided, although Nielsen’s size and resistance obliged Tyson to proceed more methodically than he had against several recent opponents.

Tyson opened the sixth with a heavy jab, then jarred Nielsen with a left uppercut and a right hand. The Dane could scarcely see from his swollen left eye and was unable to escape the incoming blows. Tyson, himself breathing heavily after the longest contest he had fought since his first meeting with Evander Holyfield in 1996, did not force the finish recklessly. He continued to pick his openings while Nielsen survived to the bell.

When the signal sounded for the seventh round, Nielsen remained on his stool. His trainer, Mike Hall, indicated that the fighter could not continue, and Smoger went to the corner to obtain confirmation directly from Nielsen. The Dane acknowledged that he wished to stop, having said that the last punches were no longer visible to him. The official result was a retirement, recorded at the start of the seventh round, after six completed rounds. Tyson had controlled every session, scored the only knockdown and inflicted sufficient damage to close Nielsen’s eye. It was a sound victory rather than a restoration of his former supremacy, but it kept him in line for the heavyweight championship match he sought. Eight months later, that opportunity came against Lennox Lewis.

I never bought Nielsen’s record as proof he belonged with Tyson, but he was enormously popular in Denmark and tough enough to make the old champion work. Tyson was heavy and no longer moved with the sharpness of his prime, yet his compact hooks and uppercuts still found gaps in Nielsen’s upright guard.

Nielsen held, leaned and tried to smother him, but offered too little in return. Once the left eye closed, the finish was inevitable. Tyson looked rusty rather than rejuvenated, although this was a professional dismantling of a brave, limited heavyweight. Nielsen quitting after six rounds was sensible, not shameful.