Columnist Dean Juipe: Disgruntled Tyson bound to contracts

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998 | 7:39 a.m.

LIKE MANY a man before him, Mike Tyson often acts before he thinks.

It's a habit, a pattern. He'll do something and later regret it.

Examples could stretch from here to the Indianapolis prison where he spent time reflecting on his 1992 rape conviction. As was the case in that instance, he acts and later says he's sorry.

It's a familiar scenario: Tyson, the brutish heavyweight, running afoul of the law or doing something stupid, only to find his way into the headlines for an activity frequently -- but not always -- away from his field of expertise, boxing. Days and weeks later he's either real or artificially repentant.

Numerous such episodes have interspersed Tyson's adult life.

There were nights of drinking and debauchery that led to street fights, car wrecks and arrests; there was the public humiliation of agreeing to sit with his first wife on TV while she all but called him psycho; there were the laggard training habits that led to his initial demise as a fighter; and, needless to say, there was the evening he lost his head and bit Evander Holyfield's ears.

Each and every time he caused a furor and later became apologetic.

He's so predictable. Fact is, he's this predictable: In light of his current, supposed, dissatisfaction with his promoter and managers, Tyson, more likely than not, will someday stand with Don King, John Horne and Rory Holloway and refer to them as his lifelong friends and closest confidants.

Wednesday, a public that seemingly can't get enough of even the most miniscule Tyson-related material was reading about a sketchy scuffle with King in Los Angeles, and about Tyson -- through the proverbial "unnamed source" -- looking to get out of the contracts he signed with King, Horne and Holloway.

Later in the day, a statement released in Tyson's behalf said he has formed Mike Tyson Enterprises and that he had hired attorneys and accountants that will report directly to him. A new would-be guardian, Hollywood celebrity manager Jeff Wald, offered no further enlightenments.

Tax problems -- it's said the Iron Man owes the IRS $7 million -- apparently led to his dissatisfaction with King, Horne and Holloway. Yet here's the crux of the matter: Unless Tyson or Wald wants to buy out the King-led trio, there's no breaking the contracts they have with the fighter.

The only way a boxer can extricate himself from a contract with a manager or promoter is to prove malfeasance or complete incompetence, and with Tyson having earned something around $120 million for his six most recent fights he can't maintain they didn't have his best interests at heart. The tax trouble he's in is his own responsibility and likely won't impact his contract situation.

Mike, you're stuck. Everyone thought you made a mistake when you signed with King and his cronies and now, apparently, you're looking for a greener pasture; at least an unnamed source says you are. But there's not apt to be one.

Might as well say you're sorry for causing this latest unsavory ruckus and try to make the best of it.