The champion has ditched plans for a meaningful defence against one of the Klitschko brothers (Vitali and Wladimir) in favour of giving the man he mercilessly destroyed last June a bank-busting rematch.

All Tyson seemingly has to do to keep his side of the bargain is look good against a hand-picked opponent with impressive physical characteristics and a glass chin.

Even in the murky history of heavyweight boxing there has seldom been a more cynical second chance than that offered by Lewis to a man whose attraction has dwindled to peep-show curiosity.

Ironically the pulling power of such a slated June mismatch will only have increased after Tyson’s chaotic build-up to the Etienne fight, which put his name in the worldwide headlines for all the wrong reasons again.

Tyson admitted he skipped training for a week and flew to his Las Vegas mansion after a row over money. His trainers walked away saying he was not fit to fight and, with his promoters insisting he was suffering from influenza, the fight was scrapped.

Tyson got a Maori warrior symbol tattooed to the left side of his face and decided two days later to fight after all.

A no-show would almost certainly have scuppered any chances of his rematch with Lewis and – with a huge hole in his 200million US dollars ring earnings and a hefty divorce settlement with his second wife Monica Turner – Tyson needs the cash.

Tyson weighed in at his third heaviest ever for the contest but insisted he was in “100% better condition than I was when I fought Lennox Lewis”.

Etienne is a well-picked opponent for the purposes of stretching the Tyson myth for a few months longer.

He looks good and has even spent more time in prison than Tyson. He has a good knockout record against lesser men but crucially has been decked nine times in his career and his come-forward fighting style is made for one good Tyson punch to end it.

Then Tyson’s backers can claim an impressive stoppage win despite the ravages of his alleged illness the week before, and Lewis will lick his lips.

But such has been the physical and mental deterioration in Tyson – who has not fought since his pummelling at the hands of Lewis – that memories flood back of the night against Buster Douglas when similar out-of-ring wranglings pushed him towards his first defeat.

Long gone are the days when the one-time ‘baddest man on the planet’ can be picked with any conviction to dispose of the fighter in the opposite corner, whomever that may be.

Etienne, who himself briefly pulled out of the fight before predictably performing a u-turn – presumably because he realised he would never get a better chance to put his name in lights – could scupper the big re-match once and for all.

Etienne said: “Tyson made a big mistake by picking me – he should have picked somebody who didn’t pose a threat.

“This is my biggest fight and there is no pressure on me. I am not concerned about anything to do with Tyson – his tattoos or what happened this past week.

“I have been fighting all my life but never have I worked two months for a fight like I have for this.

“Come fight time it will have nothing to do with Tyson. I will give him a whipping.”

But Tyson is more likely to dredge up one of his uppercuts and win unimpressively, enough to secure the rematch which he and his money men and Lewis’ backers want, but which seldom few others in boxing do.