Tyson has been called a lot of things, many not printable. But sweetheart doesn't come to mind when talking about the man who once said his objective is to drive the nose bone into the brain of his opponent, or who lately has treated the media to string of profanities that would sear the walls of a bordello.

Not even those who for years have lived well off the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world would have thought of Tyson in terms of strings and violins. Instead, they made a point of emphasising their meal ticket's anger and hostility.

But his new trainer, Tommy Brooks, with a straight face, without crossing himself or looking skyward to avoid a bolt of lightning, said yesterday that Tyson has been a prince to train for tomorrow's fight against South African Frans Botha.

Brooks, who used to help train Evander Holyfield, said he had been prepared for the worst when he signed up to get Tyson ready for his first fight since he bit Holyfield'sear in June 1997 and was banished from the sport.

``I thought I was getting a spoiled selfish, self-centred type of kid, a kid who cares about nobody but himself, young, rich, dangerous. But he's been a real sweetheart,'' he said.

Aware that Tyson has not chosen to project his cuddly side to the public, especially recently, Brooks added, ``I'm seeing a totally different Mike Tyson than you're seeing.''

Of course, whenever talking about Tyson it is prudent to cover yourself with caveats and Brooks is no dummy. Tyson is a prince, ``unless he's playing a serious con game.''

Brooks, who admits to hoping after the Holyfield ear-biting incident that Tyson's career was over, said if Tyson uses ``60 per cent of what we've worked on, it's a four or five round fight.''

The bout against the 30-year-old Botha, who was the International Boxing Federation champion for a few days before being stripped of his title for failing a post-fight drug test is scheduled for 10 rounds in the MGM Grand's Arena.

WhileBrooks says Tyson ``in the last 10 years has created a lot of bad habits,'' the trainer has not tried to completely overhaul Tyson's style. Instead, he is trying to get Tyson back to the habits he had in the ring when he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever at 20 years old.

Brooks said he's trying to take the 32-year-old Tyson (45-3) back to future, where he thinks he can be a champion again, by learning to put more punches together than he has in recent years, move his head more and move around guys.

In light of Tyson's self-destruction against Holyfield and his edgy, angry public mood the past couple of weeks, Brooks was peppered with questions about whether Tyson is in danger of imploding again in the ring.

``I'm not a psychologist. I don't know. I'm a fight trainer,'' Brooks said. ``I'm guessing just like everybody else. I see him in the gym and that's all I can go on. He can make me look like a million dollars or a piece of garbage.''

If for no other reason than Tyson wanting the moneyfrom boxing, Brooks said he doubts Tyson will commit another foul in the ring.

``He knows what he did... I don't know, but on the repercussions alone (read that a $3 million fine and no significant income for the past 19 months) I don't think he wants that again.''

Tyson's purse is about $10 million. And with a cut of the pay-per-view sales and other incentives, his take could be about $25 million. Botha (39-1) will earn about $1.85 million.

The last time Mike Tyson fought at the MGM Grand Hotel, a melee erupted in the ring after he bit Holyfield and panicked gamblers forced the casino shut for several hours.

That didn'T stop the MGM from shelling out millions of dollars to sign Tyson again.

This time, though, crowd control may not be the problem.

Ticket sales for Tyson's return to the ring have been mixed, and hotel officials concede the arena won't be filled tomorrow night when he meets Botha in a scheduled 10-round bout.