Tyson ends speculation

     It was a showcase for Mike Tyson and even promoter Don King admitted it.
     Tyson held a workout that was open to the media Friday afternoon at the MGM Grand to hype his June 28 pay-per-view rematch with World Boxing Association heavyweight championship Evander Holyfield.
     Tyson, 31, went through a series of workout drills, but he did not spar. King called the 40-minute session a "rumor-rester."
     "We are putting the rumors to rest. We'll let you see him and you'll know how hard he is working," King said.
     It was Tyson's first workout for the media since his preparation for the first fight with Holyfield. That Nov. 9 bout at the MGM ended with Holyfield knocking out Tyson in the 11th round.
     King said the decision to hold the workout for the media five weeks before the Holyfield fight was in response to negative rumors about Tyson and his condition.
     "They're saying, 'He's fat. He's carousing.' We are going to put it out there for you to see," King said. "We are going to nail the rumors in the head that the fight won't take place June 28th.
     "Mike is ready to fight. We're going to quell the rumors," King said.
      Tyson, not always cooperative with the press, answered questions for about 15 minutes after the workout.
     Tyson was asked if the fight was really going to happen.
     "As far as I know, it's going off," he said.
     The Holyfield-Tyson rematch had been originally scheduled for May 3, but the fight was postponed when Tyson suffered a cut over his left eye.
     It was the third time a Tyson fight had been postponed since he resumed his career in 1995 after serving a three-year prison sentence.
     Tyson said the cut over his eye, which caused the postponement, has healed.
     "As long as it holds up, I'll be OK," he said.
     Tyson said he hasn't spent the seven-plus months since the Holyfield fight dwelling on his defeat.
     "I don't let this stuff (boxing) interfere with my personal life. If I did, I'd be a nut," Tyson said.
     Tyson said he does not consider the Holyfield rematch a make-or-break point in his career.
     "I never said that. You guys did," Tyson said, referring to the media. "I have to win it for myself."
     Despite Holyfield's victory in the first fight, Tyson opened as a slightly more than 2-1 favorite (minus 210) when the MGM reopened the odds this week after taking them down at the time of the postponement.
     Tyson had opened as a 25-1 favorite in the first fight against Holyfield last year.
     "My confidence isn't shaken by anything. I'm going in like I knocked him out the first time," Tyson said.
     Richie Giachetti, Tyson's trainer, said Tyson began sparring this week.
     Holyfield is training in Houston.
     "I know what I have to do," Tyson said of his second time around against Holyfield. "This is a good fight for the ages. I'm looking forward to it."
     Tyson said he felt better prepared this time, especially with Giachetti back in his corner.
     The longtime trainer for former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, had been called in to train Tyson for four fights in 1990-91 after Tyson's loss to Buster Douglas in Tokyo in 1990.
     "(Giachetti brings) a great deal of camaraderie, friendship," Tyson said. "It's hard to define. I'm glad to have him."