Mayhem charges possible

Cy Ryan and Jeff German

Monday, June 30, 1997 | 11:05 a.m.

As President Clinton said today he was "horrified ... horrified" to see Mike Tyson resort to biting Evander Holyfield, Nevada Gov. Bob Miller called for tougher sanctions to deal with this type of behavior.

"The ability and authority of the athletic commission to penalize a fighter should be increased well beyond their current authority," said Miller, who sat ringside Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Miller said he has full confidence in the athletic commission's ability to handle this situation.

"I applaud the commission for their instantaneous decision to withhold the purse," Miller said. "I applaud (referee) Mills Lane for taking decisive action.

"This kind of thing should not happen in sports."

State State Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, and Sen. Ernie Adler, D-Carson City, are asking officials to investigate the possibility of filing charges of mayhem against Tyson.

When Tyson resorted to streetfighting in biting of the ears of heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, he set himself up for a felony mayhem charge, the state senators say.

"I was shocked and sickened," said James, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

James Sunday asked the Nevada Athletic Commission to conduct an investigation to determine if a criminal charge of mayhem should be filed.

Mayhem consists of disfiguring a body part. The law says a person who cuts or disables the tongue, or who "puts out an eye, slits the nose, ear or lip, or disables any limb ..." is guilty of mayhem that can be punished by a prison term of two to 10 years and a fine of more than $10,000.

Sen. Ernie Adler, D-Carson City, called on Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell to "seriously look" at the Tyson incident because it appears to be covered by the mayhem law.

Bell was not in his office today.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also voted to ask for a bill to increase the penalty for a boxer who is disqualified. But it appears that any new law passed this week would not affect the past conduct of Tyson.

Under the committee plan, the athletic commission would be able to order the forfeiture of up to 50 percent of the purse of a boxer. The current penalty is $250,000 or up to 10 percent of the purse, whichever amount is greater.

Tyson earned more than $30 million from the fight.

James said the fight was "turned into a debacle" and was a "black eye" for boxing.

The money from the penalty, James said, would be given to charities that care for abused and neglected children.

"I know there will be a lot of jokes in the future but it's important that everybody understands Nevada is not a state that fosters this behavior," James said.

Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Reno, showed up on the floor with bandages over both his ears with inscriptions "Ouch" and "Bite Me." During the discussion, Washington also quipped the conduct of Tyson was "ear-responsible."

The actions by the Judiciary Committee drew a protest from Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, who said the issue should not be before the Legislature but should be handled by the athletic commission.

"It seems to be all right if an ear is knocked off if you use boxing gloves," Neal said. "Boxing is a violent sport. It's not intended to be clean."

Neal noted Holyfield butted Tyson and opened a cut under the eye of the challenger. Yet there weren't any points deducted for that and the fight wasn't stopped, he said.

"Mr. Tyson, as anybody would do ... as you would do ... used one of the tactics of biting the guy," he said. "It got his (Holyfield's) attention.

"I understand a lot of people do not like Tyson because of his religious affiliation and the Muslims guarding him, but that's his religion."

Neal questioned why a law was being sought when in the past "a guy got his head bashed in and died" and nothing was done. "It's boxing. It's a pugilistic sport. You expect people to get hurt."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he watched the whole boxing card, including a fight featuring two female boxers.

"I want to tell you the only real boxing match was between the two ladies," Raggio said.