Thai boxing could kick-start new career for Mike Tyson
It's an unlikely match - a flailing Mike Tyson and the newly minted Thai boxing world championship series.
The 38-year-old bankrupt is being sought by the new World Boxing Council Muaythai organisation for a monthly series of title fights set for 12 countries across all weight divisions. The new organisation will issue world rankings for muay Thai fighters and plan the first series for the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas in July.
In muay Thai, a mixture of boxing and martial arts, opponents can use elbows, knees and feet as well as their fists to score points. They may not, however, bite, as Tyson did when he took off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear in 1997.
"He is a boxer who can barely get a match-up. And this is an opportunity for him to become a martial arts warrior, a reformed person," said Patrick Cusick, secretary-general of the month-old World Boxing Council Muaythai organisation, which is pursuing Tyson for the newly sanctioned elite series.
If Tyson switches now, he could be ready for a July fight, said Mr Cusick, estimating Tyson would need only two to three months to learn the ropes.
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