Columnist Ron Kantowski: Teach Ire Mike a lesson

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002 | 10:04 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Having seen the replay of the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis ruckus about a dozen times, I'm still confused whether it was supposed to be a boxing news conference or a bonus episode of "Oz," HBO's critically acclaimed prison drama.

Here's what I saw: A menacing figure spewing profanity, grabbing his privates, threatening another with an unconventional sex act -- and tough guy Chuck Zito, who plays convicted murderer Chucky Pancamo on the TV series, in the middle of it all.

Zito was the guy wearing the Hell's Angels jacket, but he was trying to restore peace. Otherwise, I half expected Vern Schillinger or that Adebisi guy to sidle up and slip Tyson a shank.

Of course, had it been Oz, Tyson would have received a lengthy stay in the hole for this latest tirade. But if Ironhead Mike hasn't thrown himself on the mercy of the court -- in this case, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which will hear his request for a boxing license on Tuesday -- that's where he finds himself.

If only my old man had given me a week to explain myself after I screwed up, before taking away the car keys. It just wasn't the same walking to a drive-in movie.

That's what I was waiting for in the aftermath of Tuesday's fracas: somebody to step up and take Tyson's keys once and for all. It could have been the commission, some suit from the MGM Grand (the host property), Gov. Kenny Guinn or even that gigantic rat who took Bobby Labonte's stock car for a joyride on those ESPN spots.

All it would have taken is somebody with some large, er, intestines to step up and say "Sorry, fight's off." That as much as we can use the $100 million the bout is expected to generate in economic revenue, that we're not going to sell out or look the other way to get it.

Instead, all we got were wishy-washy responses about studying tapes and weighing facts.

You want a fact to weigh -- how about this one? Columnists from major newspapers already are writing the fix is in.

"Allegedly, veiled threats have been made to NSAC commissioners that the major casinos might refuse to support big-time boxing -- the lifeblood of the commission -- if Tyson is not licensed to fight in what was expected to be the biggest pay-per-view show in boxing history," wrote Ron Borges of the Boston Globe.

While Borges' sources appear flimsy, they perpetuate the notion that there's still more footsie being played around here than at a junior high cafeteria in the springtime.

Sure, it's tough to walk away from all that money on the table. But if the commissioners need inspiration for doing the right thing, they need only look to their predecessors.

Back in 1979, just hours before a nationally televised world championship fight between light heavyweights Mike Rossman and Victor Galindez at Caesars Palace, the World Boxing Association demanded that Nevada use unknown judges and officials, or the fight wouldn't go on.

The fight didn't go on. The athletic commission, led by executive secretary Jim Deskin, refused to be intimidated, and a hostile crowd went home.

It was another black eye for a sport that probably always will have them. But at least nobody accused that athletic commission of dropping the icebag.