Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Tyson’s last stand

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 4:35 a.m.

WHERE ARE the boxers of my youth?

You know who I am talking about, the guys who made this sport and who helped shape the mindset of every American kid who was ever picked on in school or on the way home. If you could learn to defend yourself and throw a punch like the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, or the incredible Floyd Patterson or the ever-dangerous Sugar Ray Robinson, then nobody was going to mess with you, and the girls might even notice you were alive.

Those early years for us were actually the middle ages of pugilistic endeavors and the champions who made their way to the top, four and five decades ago, were merely following in the footsteps of some of the giants of boxing history. When Sonny Liston came along -- a man with a history of problems but who conducted himself as a champion should -- it looked like he would reign supreme forever. And then along came the greatest of them all, Cassius Clay cum Muhammad Ali, a man who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, and made boxing the most popular sport of them all.

That was the same time Las Vegas was growing up and into the boxing capital of the world, and together, the sport and the sporting town, grew to unprecedented levels.

Were there problems along the way? Of course. Were there hints of scandal that continued to plague the sport that defined the "S" word in the first place? Yes, we know there were. Did some of the characters who managed their way into the ring and around the corners of the sport bring a certain amount of discredit to what was acknowledged as an already dirty sport? Yep, that too.

But, through it all, the champions managed to pull boxing up and out of its own way, usually when the help was most needed. In almost every sense of the word, the men who wore those championship belts were role models to millions of young boys, and even girls, in those early days because they either represented a way out of their less than ideal circumstances or they demonstrated how winners act and losers act better.

That's about the time something bad happened to boxing. The money started talking louder than the champions like Ali, who put their fists and their unbeatable talents where their unstoppable mouths were. Yes, there was showmanship and even a more than healthy dose of bravado -- all of which added seats to the live gate and television sets to the pay-per-view shows. But through it all there seemed to be some kind of governor attached to the gas pedal of hype and hoopla. It was as if the promoters knew just when to turn their boxers on and off to maximize the profits that flowed exponentially into the game. And through it all Las Vegas was there to make it bigger and better with each championship fight.

This Tuesday the Nevada State Athletic Commission will meet to decide whether former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson will get his boxing license back so he can fight the current champion of the world, Lennox Lewis. The fight promises to create the largest gate in history and an undeniable economic boon to a city that has been down for the count ever since Sept. 11 knocked the United States for a loop.

The question is -- even though there should be no question whatsoever -- what will the commission do?

I haven't read one columnist or listened to one pundit who doesn't think Nevada should turn a deaf ear to any plea by Tyson to be able to get back into the ring in this state and try to earn the multimillions of dollars that will most certainly come his way. That's one of the main reasons I have tried hard to find a good reason to take the opposite view. Mike Tyson is the underdog in this fight and it almost always feels good to take up for the guy who can't fight for himself.

But, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't come up with a rationale that could even remotely justify supporting a vote by the commission to let Tyson back in the ring.

How about the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic advantage that will flow into Las Vegas if Lewis and Tyson get ready to rumble? That money means jobs for people out of work and money for those who haven't had much since last autumn. I know, I know. And if there ever was a reason to look the other way, this might be it. But even that is not reason enough to let Mike come back now.

For how can we ignore that press conference that never happened -- never happened because Mike Tyson went nuts and started swinging for the hills and anything else in his way because someone said something he didn't like. How can we turn our backs and close our ears to the ranting and raving of a man possessed not of his faculties, but of a string of profanities that would make a longshoreman blush?

It wasn't that long ago that Tyson tried to bite off the ear of Evander Holyfield. When the commission yanked his license, it was with the provision that at some point Mike could request another look. This is the time for that look by the commission because now is the time when allowing Tyson to fight could mean a box office bonanza for the sponsoring hotel and the host city.

No one planned on what happened in New York. No one really expected Mike to lose it -- totally, utterly, completely. But he did, and by doing so he showed the world that he isn't ready for prime time again. It is precisely because of the way he acted that Nevada must not take the chance that he will bite, kick, hit or otherwise unleash his considerable violence upon another human being -- inside or outside the ring. Inside the ropes we have learned to accept a man possessed of nothing but a desire to hurt because that is what the sport has become. That, though, doesn't make us right.

But, outside the ring, well, we cannot even think of going there. And yet, that is exactly where Mike Tyson took us the other day, into that world of profane ugliness that left no room for doubt and no room for consideration. Despite his obvious talent for drawing the big bucks and our more-than-obvious need to accept them, it is just plain wrong to allow Mike to fight at this time.

The betting crowd says that the commission will go for the money. I am betting it won't, and I hope that's the only bet that will take place on this fight in the Boxing Capital of the World. Or else we won't be worthy of the name.

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