There they sat in high-back wicker chairs - Mike Tyson and Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, dressed like two gentleman of leisure.
Their manners were impeccable, too. Both concentrated on talking about their rematch Friday night at The Mirage and not about each other.At a satellite news conference May 2, the two fighters acted like a couple of alley cats.
"I'll make you my girlfriend," Tyson, who was in Las Vegas, told Ruddock, who was in New York. He also called him a transvestite.
Asked at Tuesday's news conference if he felt repentant about the remarks, Tyson, feigning contrition, said, "I'm sorry Razor that I called you bad names."
"Mike Tyson is Mike Tyson," Ruddock said. "He can say want he wants. I don't pay attention to that."
He did in May.
Reacting to Tyson "girlfriend" remark, Ruddock had said, "I think he's trying to get brave enough to come out of the closet."
He also called Tyson a moron and an ignorant little kid.
On Tuesday, Tyson complimented Ruddock, who he stopped in the seventh round of a slugfest March 18. Referee Richard Steele was roundly criticized for stopping the fight.
"He's good," Tyson said of Ruddock. "No doubt, he's good."
Not good enough, however, in Tyson's opinion.
"I beat before and I'll beat him again," Tyson said. "He's going to get knocked out."
Tyson, who will be 25 Sunday, is a 5-1 favorite.
"I'm definitely very fortunate to have a second chance against Mike Tyson," Ruddock said. "It was in my best interest to fight him again right now."
A victory would send the 27-year-old Ruddock into a title fight against undisputed champion Evander Holyfield.
Should Tyson win, however, there's a good chance that Holyfield will not be his next opponent. Mentioned prominently as a Tyson opponent is 42-year-old George Foreman, who lost a 12-round decision in a title bid against Holyfield April 19.
Don King, Tyson's promoter, and Dan Duva, who promotes Holyfield, are busy charging each other of not wanting the fight.
There was a half-page add in Tuesday's Las Vegas Review Journal in which Holyfield calls on Tyson to "get it on."
"I'd would never put in an ad unless it was a full page," King said. "This was a half page, which means he's a half champion."
Unbeaten Riddick Bowe, another heavyweight contender, will fight Rodolfo Marin of Puerto Rico in a 10-round bout on the pay-per-view television card.
In a title bout, Azumah Nelson of Ghana, the World Boxing Council super featherweight champion, will fight unbeaten Jeff Fenech of Australia.
Fenech is a former WBC super bantamweight and featherweight champion. He is also a former bantamweight champion in the International Boxing Federation. Nelson also once held the WBC featherweight title.