After a decade of trial and turmoil, Mike Tyson went a long way to restoring his reputation on the world stage with an explosive first-minute knockdown victory against Clifford Etienne.
After 49 seconds of the first round, Tyson sent his opponent crumbling to the canvass with an explosive right hand. Etienne showed no signs of beating the count and was helped to his feet at the end of the fight by the former World Champion.
However, moments after the third quickest victory in Tyson's chequered career, he dropped a bombshell when he revealed that he had fought with a broken back.
Tyson said: "I broke my back in a motorcycle accident and only found out when I had trouble with my training.
"I wasn't ready for this fight but I had obligations - he needed the money and I needed the money. He's a good man. "
Victory for Tyson puts him on course for an expected re-match with Lennox Lewis - after the British World Champion bludgeoned him to defeat in this very ring last year.
All over for Etienne
But Tyson dismissed a bumper pay day with Lewis when he said: "I don't want to fight Lewis at the moment. I'm so messed up and there is no way I am ready to take another beating from him again."
It is hard to gauge the merits of Tyson's victory against an opponent who has been knocked down no less than ten times in his career so far.
The best guide to Tyson's ability and appetite in a sport that he once ruled as peerless teenager is probably best defined in his guarded comments about his future after the fight.
"I'm not going to lie to myself or to the public," added Tyson. "I need more fights and I'm not interested in getting beaten up again.
"I'll leave here and go right to the gym to continue my training and exercises but I really don't know if I want to fight any more. If I have to fight Lennox Lewis in my next fight there's no way I will continue fighting."
Etienne, who looked undaunted in the early exchanges of the fight, left the ring to a chorus of jeers and was restrained by security guards when he appeared to lunge at a spectator on the way back to the dressing room.
