Sideline Cut: Although boxing fans of a certain generation pine after the magnificent era when Muhammad Ali was in his prime and all across the planet people tuned into their bedside radios in search of long-wave broadcasts for breathless ringside commentaries, one element has not changed. Boxing is as much about fast-talking as fast hitting.

As Kevin McBride went through the dress rehearsals over the last few days, he faithfully recited the line that he is going to shock the world with what he does in Washington against Mike Tyson.

Although the times and characters are very different, McBride's automatic boasts are reminiscent of the insistent declarations Muhammad Ali engaged in before his first fight with Sonny Liston, when most boxing observers believed the Louisville challenger to be deranged with both fear and over-excitement.

Ali, of course, had youth, outrageous talent and the natural showman's flair for the one-liner. McBride is of different stock and although he has to believe in himself, his backroom boys are taking no chances. So before he enters the arena this evening, the plan is that he will go through one more session with his hypnotist before striding through the madding crowd in a state of concentrated bliss. Then, just before the bell, they will use an anchor - a given sign or word - to bring him out of trance just before he locks horns with Tyson.

Unlike Chris Eubank, who was clearly disconcerted by Steve Collins's use of a hypnotist before their fight in Millstreet all those years ago, Mike Tyson has not commented on the prospect of fighting a McBride under the influence of a Svengali. The state of McBride's mind is of no concern to him. He just wants to punish it.

Nobody is giving the Irish man much of a shout here: in the words of veteran boxing writer Bert Sugar, the contest should end "somewhere between 'Oh Say' and 'Can You See'. The assumption is Tyson retains the capability to employ the devastating combination of power and velocity that enabled him to cut a swathe through the heavyweight ranks in his prime. But the erosion of that power through age and the memory of his fourth-round knockout by English journeyman Danny Williams in Ali's hometown of Louisville mean nobody can be absolutely certain Tyson can still channel the anger through his fists.

Regardless of how McBride fares tonight, he can leave Washington happy he gave it his best shot. He has undergone a rigorous diet and fitness programme with Paschal Collins over the past couple of months and under the gifted stewardship of Goody Petronelli, his foot speed and jab have never been faster.

Petronelli's faith in McBride enhances his cause because the ageless Massachusetts trainer is one of the most respected figures on the American boxing circuit. He stood on the wings during the promotional theatrics for the Showtime pay-per-view event, wearing his McBride T-shirt but observing proceedings with a small smile, as if scolding himself for still being involved in such foolishness.

The Tyson cavalcade, which arrived and departed the last day with a black limousine as its centrepiece, is fairly fascinating to behold and it is impossible to establish the precise function of his many brethren. They entered the Blackburn Ballroom on Thursday flanking the fighter and then stood as cheerleaders while Tyson did his thing. It was a strange setting, this old university theatre with a grand piano sitting in the corner, as if Iron Mike might take a notion to go and rattle off a little Scott Joplin. Or simply hurl the instrument across the hall.

But Tyson is an old hand at these promotions and whatever about his emotional contentment these days - "I'm perfect in the game of fighting but in the game of life, I'm a palooka, I'm a bum," he said sadly during the week - he has been on model behaviour.

Then Tyson has always seemed to lurch from courtly, eager-to-please civility to rage and back again. Whether this latest calm is down to a new-found sense of peace or the sheer inability to get excited about boxing McBride is unclear.

If all goes well, tonight's fight will be another small step on Tyson's path to renaissance. He claims to believe he can rediscover the greatness he petulantly cast aside in his prime but more than any athlete, Tyson's prowess was based on youth and speed, both of which are ebbing from him.

It is uncertain how long he can carry on but it seems likely he will be shadowed by greatness in the form of Laila Ali, who fights on a Tyson undercard for the third time in Washington tonight. As the youngest daughter of the most significant athlete of the last century, Ali has instant brand appeal but is also blessed with her father's natural radiance in front of an audience. She will box Erin "Irish" Toughill and is widely expected to enhance her 20-0 record for the title of the first World Boxing Council super-middleweight champion.

Although Ali's skills as a communicator and her famous name have already made her a recognisable face in America, the pay-per-view broadcast will be the first opportunity many will have had of seeing her box.

Boxing traditionalists are uncomfortable with the vogue for women's participation in the sport, with the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood movie Million Dollar Baby dramatising the clash of traditions that exists. Marketable as Laila Ali might be, she commands only a fraction of the vast fees paid to Tyson every time he steps into the ring, but she insists her reasons for following her father into the ring are not primarily motivated by money.

That alone makes her a rare bird in the professional fight game. Since starring as the "bad guy" to Hilary Swanks heroine in Million Dollar Baby, welterweight Lucia Rijker has enjoyed something approaching fame and will shortly fight Christy Martin, a former opponent of Ali's, for the first million-dollar purse in women's boxing. Ali has insisted she will not fight Rijker - she says her size and weight superiority would render the fight meaningless.

Yesterday morning, there was some speculation this evening's event would be graced by the presence of "The Greatest", rumoured to be flying in to support his girl. If Ali does appear, undoubtedly from behind the darkened glass of one of the luxury boxes high up in the MCI arena, he will certainly distinguish the occasion. His presence might well encourage Tyson to put on something of a show in homage of the man who stands omnipotent over the ailing sport of boxing despite the ravages of his Parkinson's affliction. But if Kevin McBride can astonish Tyson and virtually everybody else in that arena, if he can come good on his promise, how sweet and unforgettable to do so in front of the original prophet.