Lewis Fight Had Highs and Lows for Tyson

Mike Tyson, who will resume his boxing career tonight in Louisville, Ky., against Danny Williams, was asked by reporters why he was so lethargic the last time he faced Lennox Lewis, in a 2002 heavyweight title fight dominated by Lewis.

“I don’t know what ... happened,” Tyson replied. “I may have smoked too much weed, but I wasn’t taking any drugs or anything.”

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More Tyson: Williams, a former British champion, has acknowledged crying before bouts. Tyson has too.

“It’s just a release of emotion,” he told the London Daily Telegraph. “The pressure of fighting, it drives you crazy. It’s all very well calling a fighter a nut but you don’t know the pressure he has of getting bashed in front of say, 100,000 people. That’s real nerve-racking.”

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Trivia time: Which Hall of Fame baseball player had the most career hits without ever getting 200 in a season?

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Always glum: The Newark Star-Ledger reported that Randy Johnson’s agent, Barry Meister, told Arizona Diamondback General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr., “If you don’t trade him to the Yankees, you’re going to have one unhappy player.”

Garagiola’s response: “And how would I tell the difference?”

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More on Johnson: From Jon Heyman of Newsday: “Like his father, Garagiola Jr. has a winning sense of humor. But it’s now clear the $23 million they’d save by jettisoning Johnson isn’t the only incentive for the team that reported losing $60 million in 2003.

“On a good day, Johnson’s no fun. On a 14-game losing streak, from which the D-backs just escaped, the Big Unit’s got to be a royal pain in the you know what.”

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On fumes? Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones, after signing Eddie George to a $2.2-million contract, said the NFL running back “has plenty of gas left in his tank.”

Wrote David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Just goes to show how much it costs these days to get a full tank of gas.”*

A real sleeper: The St. Louis Rams have made time in their practices for something not a lot of grown men will admit being partial to: an afternoon nap.

Said safety Adam Archuleta: “I like the siesta. I think that’s a great concept, and I really think we ought to institute that in America.”

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No shuffler: Laila Ali, who will fight Monica Nunez on the undercard of tonight’s Tyson-Williams bout, says people sometimes expect too much of her.

“I know that people want me to look like my dad,” she said, referring to Muhammad Ali. “I know it’s a little disappointing to some people. They’re all yelling, ‘Do the Ali Shuffle.’ It’s like, I don’t do the Ali Shuffle.”

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Trivia answer: Carl Yastrzemski had 3,419 hits -- sixth all-time -- but his best hit total was 191 in his second season, 1962.

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And finally: Jay Leno on the site of the Democratic National Convention: “Boston is the perfect city for the Democrats because the Democrats are like the Red Sox. They’re optimistic in the spring, concerned in the summer and ready to choke in the fall.”