Ronnie Shields, the former junior welterweight contender who was cited by The Post Tuesday as the best available candidate to train Mike Tyson for his upcoming fight with Lennox Lewis, yesterday was given the job by Tyson’s manager, Shelly Finkel.
Shields will join Tyson in Maui on Saturday and set up camp beginning Monday for the June 8 bout at the Pyramid in Memphis.
“I told them I want to see what’s up first,” Shields said, referring to the often chaotic atmosphere in Tyson’s training camps. “I’m not gonna put up with no bull from any of the other guys in his camp.”
Tyson has been without a trainer since November, when he fired Tommy Brooks, who had trained him for the past several years. Until yesterday, Tyson had planned to go into the Lewis fight with Stacey McKinley, a career assistant trainer, and Jay Bright, a crony from his boyhood in Catskill, working his corner.
The hiring of Shields indicates Tyson plans to take the Lewis bout seriously. Most recently, Shields trained Vernon Forrest for his shocking upset over “Sugar Shame” Mosley in January at the Garden.
“I had a long conversation with Mike in Vegas about a year ago when I was training Zab Judah [a close Tyson pal],” Shields said. “He told me he liked the way I trained Zab and that I trained his style. He said we might work together some day.”
Shields believes Tyson has what it takes to dethrone Lewis.
“It’s a very winnable fight for Mike because he can punch with both hands, and we’ve all seen how Lennox takes a punch,” he said. “But Mike’s got to go back to the way he fought in the old days, the way he fought Tyrell Biggs. I got two months to get him there.”