Commission to weigh punishment

Steve Carp

Monday, June 30, 1997 | 4:17 a.m.

How severely can Mike Tyson be punished for his actions in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden?

It depends how strongly the Nevada State Athletic Commission decides Tyson's behavior Saturday night damaged the sport.

An emergency meeting is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Las Vegas City Hall to determine if Tyson's actions warrant a disciplinary hearing. If that is found to be true, the hearing must take place within 30 days.

Financially, there are limits to how much Tyson can be fined for biting both of Evander Holyfield's ears during the third round of their scheduled 12-round WBA heavyweight championship fight. Suspension-wise, he could get boxing's version of the death penalty and be banned for life.

"Certainly, the commission can suspend and fine Tyson," said Marc Ratner, the NSAC's executive director. "But once again, these are uncharted waters. We've never had anything like this happen, so it's impossible to predict how severe the action will be."

Tyson, who had his boxing license suspended and had his $30 million purse withheld, can be fined a maximum of $250,000 or 10 percent of the purse he earned, whichever is greater. If he were to be fined 10 percent, it would constitute a $3 million fine, the largest in Nevada boxing history.

The suspension, however, is another story.

Nevada could revoke his license permanently. It could suspend him for any amount of time. Again, there is no precedent for what Tyson did in the ring Saturday.

At the end of the third round, referee Mills Lane disqualified Tyson.

Ratner said Lane, who was substituting for Mitch Halpern after Halpern stepped down following pressure from the Tyson camp to make a change, did the best he could under very difficult and bizarre circumstances.

"It would have been tough for anyone working that fight," Ratner said. "It was an extremely tough fight to work. There was a lot of holding.

"But Mills was in control and his actions were appropriate."

One thing that's sure to come up in the hearing is whether Tyson's actions in the third round were premeditated. He left his corner without his mouthpiece and was ordered to put it back in.

But before he bit Holyfield, he had spit out the protective device, making it easier for him to bite the champ's ear.

Tyson's camp denied he lost the mouthpiece, but Holyfield's camp begs to differ.

"We have the mouthpiece," said Jim Thomas, Holyfield's general legal counsel. "We turned it over to the commission."

Holyfield trainer Don Turner said Tyson's frustration was evident, even before the fight.

"Tyson projects the image that he's a tough guy. But I don't think he's a tough guy," Turner said. "He's caught in the crossfire of his own emotions. Whoever he's talking to at the time is what fuels his rage."

Turner said Tyson needs to be disciplined for what he did. But he didn't think a lifetime ban was necessary.

"I think he should fight again," he said. "But he should be disciplined and the ones who instigated the biting should be banned from boxing.

"He's got a lot of people over there. They should have control over the fighter."