Columnist Tim Graham: Odd couple goes to mat for freedom

Tim Graham

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 10:25 a.m.

Tim Graham's column appears Thursday. His media notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at tim@lasvegassun.com or 259-4078.

Mike Tyson has at least one adviser for each of his problems.

He has a legal adviser, a financial adviser, a boxing adviser, a spiritual adviser.

But is there anyone out there who really understands what he is going through? Is there anyone out there who can help ease his troubled mind?

Yes, there is. In fact, if Tyson ever came face to face with this person, it would be just like he was glaring at himself in the mirror.

For his own piece of mind, Iron Mike needs to pick up the phone and call Dominique Moceanu.

On the surface it doesn't appear the "Baddest Man on the Planet" has a single thing in common with the elfin gymnast who captured the hearts of America at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

But there are striking similarities:

* Moceanu is a pixie. Tyson is a mental midget.

* They're both former teen icons at the tail end of their internationally renowned careers.

* Moceanu collects Beanie Babies. Tyson was spotted buying X-Men action figures at a Scottsdale, Ariz., toy store last week.

* They share the same girly voice.

But, in addition to a few personality traits, the lives of this odd couple run along parallel bars in a more significant sense.

They share a common goal in trying to bring their gravy trains to the end of the line.

As Tyson tries to dismount from his moochers -- promoter Don King and co-managers John Horne and Rory Holloway -- the 17-year-old Moceanu ran away from home on Monday and filed a lawsuit to be declared a legal adult and break fee from her parents.

It seems Moceanu is tired of her folks squandering the millions of dollars she earned from competitions and endorsements since winning the gold medal.

And, like Tyson experienced with King, she isn't sure how much money she has lost because her parents never told her. But Moceanu's father, a former used-car salesman, has sunk more than $4 million into a Houston gym and a clothing outlet.

"I kill myself training and going to school, and what is (my father) doing with my money?" Moceanu asked. "They haven't been working since 1996. Where does their income come from? Me."

Now that's speaking Tyson's language -- except for the school part, of course. He claimed King, Horne and Holloway bilked him out of millions of dollars through a series of contracts signed upon his 1994 release from prison on rape charges.

Tyson filed lawsuits against all three in March. But it may require back flips -- maybe Moceanu can teach him -- to actually nullify his old Team Tyson contracts.

Horne filed a lawsuit of his own in Las Vegas on Tuesday. He is seeking 10 percent of the earnings from Tyson's next five bouts. Team Tyson was supposed to handle the first 10 fights after Tyson left the slammer.

Tyson only got halfway through that agreement, and Horne wants what's coming.

"We just want him to fill out his contract, and then he's free to go on his way," Horne attorney Bernard LeSage said.

What about an "Evening with Dominique and Iron Mike" at the MGM Grand Garden? Dominique can do some exhibition tumbling and balance beam exercises. Then Tyson can pummel five straight club pugs in succession at $25,000 apiece.

Tyson can knock out his obligations in one night. Moceanu can get some of her money back.

It could be the springboard to a beautiful relationship.