Tyson bites again

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002 | 10:18 a.m.

After a night of sleeping on the subject, Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Luther Mack said today that he will approach the issue of licensing Mike Tyson with an open mind.

But he will also require Tyson to attend a Tuesday hearing in Las Vegas.

"I want to be able to look him in the eye," Mack said from Reno. "We'll give him a chance to state his side of the story."

Tyson initiated a melee at a New York press conference that was designed to announce and promote his April 6 fight here with heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Tyson is not presently licensed in Nevada and hasn't been since 1999, when former NSAC member Lorenzo Fertitta advised him to "take your act on the road."

Should a majority of the five-person commission vote against licensing Tyson, the April fight at the MGM Grand Garden would be called off.

"With Tyson, I don't know what to expect," Mack said. "But since this happened in New York, he needs to come in and address the commission.

"By then we'll have all the facts and will have seen the (film) clippings. It could be we'll vote 'yes' or it could be we'll vote 'no.' "

Tyson, a Las Vegas resident, also has a looming problem with the Clark County district attorney's office. It is in receipt of a Metro Police investigation into an alleged sexual assault perpetrated by Tyson against a woman at his home in September.

Police believe there is sufficient reason for the district attorney to file formal rape charges.

"We think there's probable cause to believe a crime occurred," said Lt. Jeff Carlson, commander of Metro's sex crimes unit. Prosecutors will review Metro's findings and likely respond accordingly, although Carlson said "it's their decision whether to prosecute."

Only if Tyson is charged with a crime prior to the NSAC's upcoming meeting would the issue of the sexual assault be weighed into his boxing licensing status.

If Tyson is not indicted by Tuesday, the commission will make its decision based solely on the fighter's recent professional history and the part he played in the ruckus at the Millennium Hotel in Manhattan.

By all but one account and by viewing the video footage of the event, Tyson and Lewis were to have remained on separate, elevated stages as they posed for photographers. But Tyson stepped off his stage and walked toward Lewis in a threatening manner.

A Lewis bodyguard intervened and a lengthy scuffle ensued.

Among the injuries: Tyson suffered a cut along his hairline and a bump on his left temple; Lewis was bleeding from the thigh and claimed that Tyson had bit him; World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman was knocked out and required medical attention; and lead promoter Gary Shaw was hit twice in the head.

"I was wondering whether this was Tyson's way of backing out of the fight," Shaw told the Associated Press.

But Tyson later claimed that he was prodded into creating a scene and issued this statement: "My motivation for approaching Lennox was to stage a faceoff, which I was told both camps had agreed to. It was Lennox's bodyguard who panicked and shoved me. Lennox then threw a right. I was here to promote the fight, not be intimidated. I will never be intimidated by anyone."

Lewis issued his own statement, saying: "As a result of today's events, I will reevaluate my options after the relevant boxing commission has ruled."

MGM spokesman Scott Ghertner said the hotel/casino would defer any decision concerning the pending April fight to the NSAC.

Tyson, 35, was to have received $17.5 million for facing Lewis, the WBC and International Boxing Federation champion who was to have received $20 million for the proposed bout.

Tyson, 49-3 and twice the heavyweight champion, ran afoul of the Nevada commission after being disqualified in a 1997 fight for biting the ears of Evander Holyfield, as well as for an arm-twisting incident against Frans Botha in a 1999 fight, and a fight with Orlin Norris later that same year that was ruled a no-contest when the latter allegedly suffered a knee injury that was the result of Tyson hitting him after the bell sounded to end the first round.

Each of those fights was at the MGM Grand.

A convicted felon who served four years on a sexual-assault charge in Indiana, Tyson is a storied fighter who emerged from a troubled background in New York. He has withstood at least two police inquiries into sex-related incidents -- one in Las Vegas and one in San Bernardino, Calif. -- in the last two years, and those predated the rape allegations presently before him.

His wife, Monica, recently filed for divorce, citing infidelity on Tyson's part.

"I'm looking forward to disposing of Mike Tyson," Lewis said before the ruckus Tuesday in New York. He and Tyson had agreed to a bout with tremendous pay-for-view potential and one in which rival cable networks Showtime and HBO came to a rare compromise that would allow the fight to go forward. As part of their deal, Showtime -- which has ties to Tyson -- and HBO -- which is affiliated with Lewis -- agreed that the network with the winning fighter would retain rebroadcast rights to the fight while paying the network with the losing fighter $3 million.

There is also a rematch clause in the Lewis vs. Tyson contract.

But Tyson put the fight and his career in jeopardy by instigating a press conference brawl that went on for 10 minutes and concluded with Tyson grabbing his crotch and repeatedly swearing as he addressed someone in the crowd after he and Lewis had been separated.

"It was really disappointing," said NSAC executive director Marc Ratner, who did multiple interviews on the subject.