clarinews@clarinet.com (STEWART SLAVIN) (01/17/90)
TOKYO (UPI) -- Mike Tyson, resplendent in a flowing white full-length fur coat to match the snow outside, brushed aside a traditional Japanese box dinner of rice and fish Tuesday night and grumbled he was tired, hungry and ``I want beef.'' ``We look forward to making more Nintendo (video) games and Suntory (beer) commercials,'' the world heavyweight champion said in opening remarks to a packed news conference at a Tokyo television station. Tyson is back in Japan, site of his two-round demolition of Tony Tubbs in March 1988, for another title bout Feb. 11 against James Douglas at the Tokyo Dome. ``I don't have any prediction, but I know I'm going to win,'' said Tyson, 23, who will be making his seventh defense since unifying the heavyweight titles in 1987. Tyson's arrival in Japan, delayed briefly because of Tokyo's heaviest snowstorm in two years, followed a news conference in Los Angeles that announced plans for a title bout June 18 with Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City, N.J. Promoter Don King said in Los Angeles Donald Trump agreed to pay ``more than 12 million'' to stage the fight. Tyson would be paid up to $25 million -- the biggest purse in ring history. Tyson, who has not fought since last July 21 when he knocked out Carl Williams in 93 seconds, must first fight Douglas. ``We are ready to go to work and to go to war here,'' said King, who wore a fur coat that matched Tyson's at the Tokyo news conference. ``He's very tough,'' Tyson said of Douglas, who will arrive in Tokyo next week. Tyson proclaimed himself a more experienced and mature fighter than when he last fought in Tokyo. ``I'm just 23 now. If I was just to make all the money in the world and stop now, I would probably die,'' Tyson said. ``Two years ago I was married. Now I'm a bachelor and it's much better being single.'' When Tyson was last in Tokyo, he was in the blush of marriage with actress Robin Givens, who confided to UPI at the time that ``all he wants to do is love me.'' The couple experienced a stormy divorce last year. Asked if he would resume his practice of jogging around his Tokyo hotel, Tyson said ``I don't know yet. Three hundred people were chasing me last time.'' Tyson's trainer, Jay Bright, said ``I hate to say the word fanatical, but the Japanese people have such admiration for Mike. In a way it's almost frightening. ``When we walked out of the Tokyo Dome last time there were 50 people thick on both sides of the walkway. That's intimidating when you see that many people in a frenzy. ``American fans are kind of temperate about it. But these people were in an excited frenzy and wanted to touch him. There is an amazing adulation of Mike here,'' he said. Bright, who said Tyson's self-discipline and dedication to training borders on the ``monastic,'' also shied from predicting a knockout round for the champion. ``Michael will go out there and as soon as he sees the opening, he'll fire at it. And once he fires at it, it will be terminal,'' Bright said.