Mike Tyson, a monster in and out of the ring... so should this cheating, drug-abusing rapist be allowed into the Hall of Fame? -- Daily Mail

By JEFF POWELL, DailyMail.co.uk

Universal acclaim will no doubt accompany Manny Pacquiao whenever he ascends into the Hall of Fame, whether or not Floyd Mayweather Jnr ever braces himself to dispute the mythical title of greatest pound-for-pound boxer on earth with his fists instead of his trash talk.

No doubt America's so-called moral majority will be outraged if Mike Tyson is elected to that starry chamber next year.

Yet Iron Mike’s impact on the prize-ring has been arguably even more powerful than that of the Pacman.

The thunderous fists which made this troubled pigeon fancier the world's youngest heavyweight champion, along with the almost unbearable sensations of fear and tension which accompanied him into the ring, made Tyson one of the most menacing yet compelling figures to throw punches for money.

All those knock-outs, all that drama, all those tickets and pay-TV subscriptions sold, even being on the wrong end of the greatest upset of all time when James Buster Douglas knocked him out in Tokyo, have weighed on the decision to put Tyson on the Hall of Fame ballot for 2011.

Not the rape conviction, not the biting of Holyfield's ear, not the gruesome threats to drive opponent's noses into their brains and devour their children, not the drug abuse, not the broken marriages, not the hundreds of millions squandered on fast cars, loose women and wealthy lawyers.

There will be many protesting that Tyson's outrages should disqualify him from such lofty recognition.

Yet there are many fighters with a chequered history inside and outside the ropes who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Rightly or wrongly, like it or not, the over-riding criterion is a fighter’s contribution to his sport.

And Tyson was the self-created monster who smashed boxing back into the consciousness of America and the world at a time when it was almost dying on its feet.

The hard old game knows that many of its fiercest warriors are born in the meanest of the mean streets, deprived of an education and subjected to a cruel upbringing. Boxing offers an escape route from the ghetto and the chance of self-improvement. For some, this brutal rite of passage takes longer than others but Tyson has got there in the end.

How about you? Should Tyson go the Hall of Fame?
Yes or No?

Source: dailymail.co.uk