it was the most high-profile fight you were involved in.
What was the attention like?
JF: I remember the first press conference, every time I made a move –
scratched my lip, scratched my nose – the cameras were ‘click, click, click,
click, click’. There was a big cardboard cut-out of Mike Tyson, and one
of the press said ‘Go and stand by that’. That was the first time when I
thought, ‘Fuck, that’s the guy that I’m fighting, that’s Mike Tyson’. That’s
the only time that I can say I was frightened, when I was standing in
front of that cut-out, six-eight weeks from the fight.
By the time we got to Manchester [the fight was at what was then
known as the M.E.N. Arena], I wanted to stretch my legs. I don’t know
how it happened, it was really surreal. I got off our bus, walked round
the corner, and we’re bang in front of Tyson’s hotel and there’s literally
thousands of people outside and Tyson’s leaning out the window waving
to the crowd and whatever.
I had no idea this was going to happen, all of a sudden it was ‘There’s
Francis!’ That was the only time I feared for my life, I don’t know how
many thousand people were there. The guys were trying to protect me
and got me on a police van but people were mobbing me and pushing the
van and whatever. The crowd have fobbed Tyson off and are chasing this
police van away from the scene. It was a surreal and fascinating thing, it
was bizarre.
I also got messages of support from all over the world, it was a nice
surprise to get that.
MR: Some people were definitely envious, but there was also a lot of
support. Also people wanted to jump on the bandwagon and be a part of
it. There was a lot of people supportive. When the tickets went on sale…
that was the biggest fight this country’s ever had. We’ve had some great
fights put on in this country, but this was the first fight Mike Tyson’s ever
had in this country, against the British heavyweight champion. It was
unbelievable. If that had gone on in somewhere like Wembley that’d have
sold out.
What was it like coming face-to-face with Tyson for the first time?
JF: The only thing that ever went through my mind was, ‘He’s a man and feels pain the same way I do’. The last thing
I was ever worried about was getting hurt in the ring – boxing’s the pain game.
I was very confident. If I didn’t think I could beat him I wouldn’t have even entertained the fight.
When I met him for the first time, I sat there in the press conference, with my headphones on, listening to music,
because it was all about Tyson. The press didn’t want to know about Julius because they knew about Julius – I was
very honest. They asked me one question: “What music are you listening to?”
I remember thinking I can’t let him come onto the stage standing up and have me sitting down, because he’d be over
me, like I’d already been defeated. So I turned round and stood up and made myself as big as I could. I stood in front
of him, and my only regret was that I had my dark glasses on. So that he would truly be able to see: ‘You may be
Mike Tyson, but I’m Julius Francis and I don’t give a fuck about you’.
If it had kicked off on stage like he was known to do, I was prepared. My mindset was ‘Don’t fuck with me’.
He had this aura of invincibility back then, even though he’d already lost against [Evander] Holyfield.
MR: The one thing I noticed, when we were at the weigh-in, I looked at him and thought, ‘You’re nowhere near as
big as I thought you were’. His physical presence did nothing whatsoever to make me think, ‘We’re gonna get well
beat here’. He didn’t look big at all. But on the night, when we got into the ring, he looked like he’d grown to twice
that size – unbelievable. I was just wondering if Julius thought it as well. Perhaps it was mental.
He had an aura, but a lot of that was caused by that silly entourage he had with him. He’s got some sort of stature
about him, like an aura of greatness. He had a very dignified manner. You’re looking at someone وXYۚY