Tyson to seek OK in Nevada

Dean Juipe

Friday, Aug. 14, 1998 | 11:06 a.m.

Push was coming to shove and that smooth path that Mike Tyson and his adviser envisioned in New Jersey was wrought with more peril than they initially expected.

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) was voicing his objections.

So was Greg Sirb, the president of the Association of Boxing Commissions.

Even the brother of New Jersey Athletic Control Board chairman Gerard Gormley, a state senator, was spouting off and proclaiming Tyson was wrong to reapply for a license in New Jersey when it was Nevada that revoked his license in July of 1997.

As a result, 17 hours before he was due to appear before the New Jersey commission and find out whether he would be licensed, Tyson withdrew his request and, instead, indicated he would apply in Nevada.

Few saw it coming although one member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Dr. James Nave, said he wasn't surprised.

"I thought a withdrawal was one possibility among three different possible scenarios," he said.

"I thought either New Jersey would approve him, although the chance of them doing that seemed to be declining rapidly; or that they'd refer it back to us at the last minute; or that he would withdraw his application."

Tyson, via adviser Shelly Finkel, took the heat off a New Jersey commission that had scheduled a meeting for today to resolve the question of Tyson's licensing.

Working against Tyson: the fact that he swore before that panel July 30 during its hearing on his licensing; the fact that McCain said New Jersey was "clearly violating the spirit of the law" that loosely governs professional boxing; and the fact that Sirb openly campaigned for New Jersey to defer the issue to Nevada.

Nonetheless, and in spite of Nave's inclination, few anticipated Thursday's 2:30 p.m. fax that came into the NSAC offices directed to the attention of Marc Ratner.

"The fax came in from Mr. Finkel and he called a few minutes later," said Ratner, the NSAC's executive director. "The fax indicated Mike Tyson's desire for a hearing to be relicensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and asked if we could set a date for that.

"When Shelly called he asked if we got the fax OK and he said they'd pulled their request for a license in New Jersey. I said I got it and that was it."

Tempted as he may have been, Ratner didn't ask what prompted Finkel to make this 11th-hour decision.

"It didn't seem worth asking him about it," Ratner said. "I was just glad for the sake of the ABC and for the sake of the sport. If things hadn't happened this way and if New Jersey hadn't deferred, it would have caused a rift between the states."

Ratner said he would talk with the five NSAC members today and schedule a hearing on Tyson's license renewal for sometime in the next two or three weeks.

Tyson almost certainly will be relicensed by the commission when it meets. He needs only a 'yes' vote from three members to resume a career that was sidetracked by his biting the ears of heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield during a June 28, 1997, fight in Las Vegas.

One week later, the NSAC voted to revoke Tyson's license for at least one calendar year as a result of his disqualification loss to Holyfield.

"To be honest, I don't know how the commission is going to vote because we haven't discussed it," NSAC chairman Dr. Elias Ghanem said. "But if Tyson convinces everyone, he should get his license back."

Ghanem said a decision on Tyson's license would be made the day of the hearing.

"There's a big difference in the way we do business," he said, comparing Nevada to New Jersey. "We're not going to make it a circus atmosphere. The commission members will ask a few questions and then we'll vote on it.

"There won't be a lot of hoopla on our part."

That should be fine with Finkel, who told the Associated Press "I feel very positive. We can always go back to New Jersey if it's bad in Nevada."

Initially, Finkel said he didn't feel Tyson would get a fair shake in Nevada although he seemingly changed his mind and decided to take his chances here after the New Jersey commission started feeling the external pressure.

"I was surprised that they withdrew the request in New Jersey, but, then again, I was surprised when they didn't apply here first," Ghanem said. "They should have come here first and I have no idea why they didn't to begin with.

"Withdrawing there and applying here is the right move for Tyson. It didn't make sense to go somewhere else and now Tyson can state his case before us and get on with his life."

The Tyson-Finkel decision also averts the interstate showdown not only between Nevada and New Jersey but between any and all states that host professional boxing cards.

"Had they gone forward in New Jersey it definitely would have destroyed the loose framework the states have worked under for many years," Nave said. "What happened (Thursday) maybe didn't heal the damage that had been done but it kept that framework in place.

"It allows the states to move forward and to continue working together."

Ghanem agreed, saying "this is excellent for boxing and keeps the states from fighting each other."

A cohesive relationship between the states is a goal shared by the ABC and McCain, who, along with Nevada Sen. Richard Bryan, has co-sponsored two prominent boxing bills in the past year in the U.S. Senate.

"I think Senator McCain's comments this week put a little extra squeeze on New Jersey," Ratner said. "He came out pretty hard.

"It had to help."