Columnist: Tyson’s new tack - have a nice day

Tuesday, July 2, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

WHEN HE emerged from the Indiana Youth Center in spring of '95, Mike Tyson insisted he was a changed man. He allegedly had discovered religion behind bars. He had accepted Allah and become a Muslim.

No more outward turmoil, said the baddest man on the planet. Just inner peace.

Somewhere under the calm facade and the Arthur Ashe tattoo, deep in Mike Tyson's belly where the competitive fires burn so intensely, the rage may remain. But give the man this much credit: He appears to have put the public hostility into remission -- if not on his own accord, then at least at the urging of his handlers.

There was the one episode in a Chicago nightclub, where Tyson was accused of fondling the cheeks -- the ones on the face -- of a young woman, and there were occasional flashes of his menacing old self during the Frank Bruno promotion. But then, where is it said that a man fighting for the heavyweight title in a few days must have the fight media over for tea and crumpets?

It's now 11 days before Tyson, barring an upset of Buster Douglas proportions, takes the WBA belt from Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand. But had you not been waiting patiently for the man to dial into a Monday teleconference, you would have sworn you had called FTD by mistake.

During his 30 minutes on line -- before Don King launched into another cauliflower-ear filibuster -- Tyson tossed out bouquets at the Merlin Olsen rate.

He referred to nearly every writer who posed a question by name. The older scribes, he called "Mister" or "Sir." He didn't bristle, never raised his voice higher than the Michael Jackson octave, even on the few occasions the line of questioning had an edge.

"I don't understand why people are saying that," he said, when informed the Eastern press had suggested Tyson's ferocity has slipped, even in the aftermath of the Bruno destruction, "when I beat him quicker than when I was in my so-called prime."

He sounded more hurt by the query, than miffed by it.

Back when Larry Holmes was pursuing Rocky Marciano's record for most victories by an undefeated heavyweight champion, Holmes disparaged The Rock by saying Marciano couldn't carry a certain part of Holmes' equipment.

Conversely, when a writer used Tyson's name in the same sentence as Jack Dempsey, Tyson took it as a compliment.

"I like Mr. Dempsey a lot. I feel privileged when they say that," he said of the comparison.

And so it went.

If you're of the opinion that devout Muslims have no business roaming Chicago discotheques in the wee hours of the morning, and surrounding themselves with a bunch of mean-spirited guys who wear army boots and shout epithets under guise of an entourage, then it's easy to dismiss Tyson's pleasant demeanor as the stuff of marionettes.

But if nothing else, it shows a willingness to listen to those pulling the strings.

Only time will tell if that's for better or worse.