'I couldn't believe what Mike Tyson did during fight camp - I had no choice but to quit'

One of Mike Tyson's ex-coaches walked out of a training camp after the heavyweight great inked his face with a tattoo just before a fight.

After his shattering 2002 defeat at the hands of Lennox Lewis, Tyson stepped back into the ring in 2003 to claim victory over Clifford Etienne in under 60 seconds in Memphis. Nonetheless, the most talked-about moment was not the bout itself but rather what occurred just 72 hours before.

Tyson stunned everyone, even his close team, by getting a Maori-inspired design tattooed on the side of his face. The boxer's friend, former bantamweight and featherweight king Jeff Fenech, had been training Tyson and assumed the fight was off.

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Recalling his astonishment in an interview with the Mirror, the Australian, 60, said: "This guy's just got this crazy tattoo on his face.

"I was like, 'How's he going to fight with this fresh tattoo on his face?' And he told me he didn't want to fight so I jumped on a plane and went home."

However, the bout went ahead as planned, with celebrated trainer Freddie Roach filling in for Fenech in Tyson's corner. Reflecting on the turn of events, Fenech added: "Three days later, he weighs in and fights. Apparently [there was] pressure from [broadcasters] Showtime and the promoters.

"He jumped in the ring, which was a huge risk, but God was on his side and he knocked Clifford Etienne out inside a round. That was great."

Fenech doesn't rue his decision to leave the camp though, saying: "I trained him for the whole fight but missed out on enjoying the win with him.

"I don't regret that at all because when he got that tattoo on his face, that was a sign to me. You don't get a tattoo on your face three days before a fight."

Reflecting on the tumultuous lead-up to Tyson's last pro fight - the defeat to Irishman Kevin McBride in 2005 - and his own determination to see it through, Fenech said: "He was training so well and then all of a sudden he felt he needed to have a couple of days off, which I thought was a great idea. Then I never saw him for seven or eight days!

"It wasn't the perfect preparation but he still fought. And the reason I stayed was because, if something happened, I was going to look after Mike. I stopped the fight [by throwing the towel in].

"There were people in the corner telling me not to stop it but I told them I was the boss and that I wasn't letting him take anymore punishment. That was a priority of mine."