Tyson wants to reapply for license

Friday, Feb. 22, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

Mike Tyson, with sexual assault charges no longer hanging over his head, wants to reapply for a Nevada boxing license with the hope of fighting heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas this year, his attorney said this morning.

A day after the district attorney decided against prosecuting the former heavyweight champion, Tyson attorney Jim Jimmerson told the Sun that the boxer is committed to doing whatever it takes to meet the Nevada State Athletic Commission's requirements for his license. That would include Tyson again taking antidepressant medication and undergoing a physical examination.

"The goal is to get him to fight Lewis in Las Vegas," said Jimmerson, who is spearheading the effort to persuade the commission to give Tyson another chance.

On a 4-1 vote the five-member commission last month found Tyson unsuitable to hold a license, killing an April 6 bout with Lewis at the MGM Grand. Since then, the fight has been pushed back to June 8, and Tyson has been searching for a new venue.

Jimmerson said he's trying to rally support on the panel to reconsider Tyson's license before the required one-year wait.

"My game plan is to have Mike undertake the kind of commitment that was thought he would have undertaken in the past and then at the appropriate time ask the commission to reconsider its decision," Jimmerson said.

"He needs to make a more organized and committed effort to work with the commission."

Jimmerson said he hoped Tyson could re-apply within three to six months. The bout would likely have to be pushed back again for it to take place in Las Vegas.

Jimmerson described Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell's decision Thursday not to prosecute Tyson on sexual assault charges as a positive development for the former champ.

"But I think it would be a mistake for anyone to think that simply because this cloud has been lifted over his head that he will be given a free pass for a license," he said.

The commission did not consider the assault allegations when it denied Tyson a license, but his lawyers believe the allegations had an impact on the panel's decision.

Phoenix attorney Booker Evans said police were quoted in the media prior to the hearing as saying they planned to ask Bell to file charges against Tyson.

"We'd all have to be be fools to listen to that kind of press and think that it had no impact on the decision made by the Athletic Commission," Evans said.

Commission Chairman Luther Mack, who voted for Tyson, said it was "unfortunate" that Tyson wasn't cleared of the charges before the hearing.

"It seemed that there were a lot of negative things in the paper and on radio and TV about the rape charges," he said.

But Mack said it was too early for him to decide whether he would support letting Tyson re-apply before the one-year waiting period.

"The timing is not good right now for them to make a move," he said. "There are a lot of things still on the table."

Commissioner Amy Ayoub, who voted against Tyson, said Bell's decision not to prosecute the troubled boxer hasn't changed her mind, and she wouldn't support Tyson's effort to re-apply before his year is up.

"We gave him a fair chance at the hearing," Ayoub said. "I voted to deny him a license knowing it would be for one year."

Ayoub added: "I would be happy to know that Mr. Tyson has committed to getting himself help, but it doesn't change my opinion on the decision we made."

Jimmerson, however, said the commission now is in a position to "show some compassion" and consider how Tyson has prevailed over a number of people who have preyed upon him in the past couple of years.

"He has been the subject of frivolous allegations in civil lawsuits and even in some criminal cases in a large part because he is viewed as being an unsympathetic figure," Jimmerson said.