COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- For the most part, as he prepares for his heavyweight bout Saturday against Brian Nielsen, Mike Tyson has exchanged that evil Tyson persona for a more softer, controlled side while training in the Danish capital.

	Mike Tyson has been having a fun time in Copenhagen, here playing with young fan Jannik Pedersen after a workout.

Tyson has let in kids into the otherwise closed gym, talked to youngsters on the streets, strolled around in the city and he has expressed himself in a soft spoken manner in personal interviews with selected journalists.

Maybe it's because the pressure is not that hard here. Compared to the hysteric scenes in England last year, Tyson has had an easy time in Copenhagen. The journalists are always there when he leaves the hotel, but in general Tyson and his followers are allowed to move around without too much fuss, and Tyson obviously likes it.

"I'm bored in my hotel room, but not out on the town," he said. "It's a beautiful city although I haven't really explored it yet."

According to reports, Tyson actually plans on staying in Copenhagen for some time after the fight, and his crew has been looking for an apartment to rent for a while. The main reason for staying is the present, worrying conditions in the United States due to the terrorism threats, but Tyson might also be looking for new inspiration in Europe, as he contemplates training in different places in Europe.

Two things surely will lure Tyson back to the U.S. before too long, however -- his kids and his tigers. In an exclusive television interview with a Danish journalist, he talked about his private life:

"The tigers have personality. They can be loving and needing to be loved, but they can also have the need to be left alone."

As for his kids, he said: "I know they miss me. They follow what I'm doing, but they don't understand what it is to be a professional boxer. They'll see a lot more of me when I retire.

"I prefer to be at home with my family... I can take my kids to buy ice cream without bodyguards around me... I'm often uncomfortable when I'm out. I don't know what I'm afraid of, it's just a feeling I have."

As to the preparations for the fight, Tyson appears to be in great shape. Physical trainer Gunnar Peterson has worked with Tyson for four months and he has made Tyson lose weight and improve his stamina. According to Tyson himself, he could hardly walk around a block without huffing and puffing when he fought Golota. But at this point, it appears Nielsen is in for a well-prepared Tyson.

Nielsen also is in his best shape, reportedly. But the pressure seems to built on him, and he is getting increasingly irritable as his big moment is closing in. Wednesday, he closed his training for the first time, and said he needed that to concentrate.

And there's no doubt Nielsen will need total focus, because, in the ring, he shouldn't be expecting a softer version of Tyson.