ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Mike Tyson regained a piece of the heavyweight championship Saturday night by stopping Frank Bruno in the third round before a roaring crowd of more than 16,000 at the MGM Grand Garden.
A contingent of about 5,000 British fans roared ``Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!'' before the opening bell. But Tyson quickly silenced them as he dominated the defending World Boxing Council champion from Britain.
``It's my time,'' Bruno had said. But from the opening seconds, it was Tyson's time. And when it was over, he threw up his arms and fell to his knees.
The end came with Bruno sitting on the lower strand of rope after a tremendous Tyson barrage. Referee Mills Lane called a halt to the bout at 50 seconds of the third round.
``I'm a ferocious fighter,'' Tyson said before the bout, and while he often punched wildly in his third bout of a comeback that started Aug.19, he was too much for Bruno.
Bruno, 34, had said he didn't think Tyson was nearly the same fighter he met Feb.28, 1989, when Tyson was the undisputed champion. But in that bout, Bruno had rocked Tyson and put up a good fight until being overwhelmed in the fifth round. Saturday night, Bruno hardly landed any effective punches and was in trouble almost from the outset.
Tyson landed a right to the head followed by a left-right to the head late in the first round, cutting Bruno over the left eye.
In the second round, Tyson shook Bruno with a pair of hooks. He wobbled him again with a three-punch combination just before the bell.
Bruno was penalized a point by Lane for continuing to hold, ``because he knew he was going to get knocked out,'' Tyson said.
The end came in the third round when Tyson wobbled Bruno with a left hook to the head. Tyson followed with an 11-punch barrage and landed eight of them. Bruno sank against the ropes, with the ropes supporting him.
Lane didn't bother to count, merely reaching down to remove Bruno's mouthpiece.
At the end, Tyson went to Bruno and put his arms around him.
A question about Tyson before the fight was how much ring rust he might have because of the brevity of his first two comeback fights after a four-year layoff while serving a prison sentence for rape.
He still might be rusty, but there's no question about his hand speed or his power. And it seemed he had some of the fire that propelled him to the undisputed championship in 1987.
``I hit like a mule,'' said Tyson, 29. ``I just wanted to throw a bunch a punches. I just wanted to bring him down.''
``I'm fine. I'm a little brokenhearted,'' said Bruno, who was making the first defense of the title he won by decision over Oliver McCall on Sept.2.
``I was just trying to use my weight against him, to lean on him, but he was just too fast. He got away from me,'' Bruno said.
It was Tyson's first championship fight since he lost the undisputed title on a 10th-round knockout to Buster Douglas on Feb.11, 1990. He fought four times after that fight, but had to serve a three-year term at an Indiana correctional facility. He was released March 25, 1995.
The plan was to have Tyson fight four non-title fights before challenging for a crown. But he was unhappy about the criticism of his 89-second victory over Peter McNeeley and his third-round knockout of Buster Mathis Jr., so he told promoter Don King to get him a title shot.
Saturday night, he made Bruno look inept before a packed house at the 16,723-seat MGM Grand arena.
For much of the week, Tyson was a 10-1 favorite, as he was against Bruno seven years ago. But after 5,000 fans from Britain showed up in Las Vegas, the odds dropped to 5-1.
Loyalty was costly.
Tyson was paid $30 million in improving his championship record to 11-1 with nine knockouts and his overall record to 44-1 with 38 knockouts. Bruno, who lost for the fourth time in five title fights, will receive $6 million. His record is 40-5 with 38 knockouts.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB