Panel looks ‘past the money’ in decision

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

The tale of the tape before Tuesday's Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing seemed to favor ex-champ Mike Tyson.

He had packed his corner with respected attorney Robert Faiss, whose past representation of gaming interests served as a subtle reminder of the bigger stakes.

This wasn't just about a license to fight.

Conservative estimates had put potential revenue from a Tyson versus Lennox Lewis fight in Las Vegas at $100 million -- no small change to an economy still reeling from the travel slowdown and thousands of casino layoffs after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

But the money didn't talk. And while the commission's 4-1 license denial may be Tyson's loss, it probably won Nevada some national respect.

"Everybody said they were going to roll over for the casinos," said Kevin Malloy, a fight fan who stood outside the Sawyer State Office Building hoping to catch a glimpse of Tyson. "But they didn't, and for Las Vegas, that's saying a lot."

Now if Tyson-Lewis is to happen, another city will have to agree to host it.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said he thinks the commission "sent a very important message."

"We'll have to wait and see if it resonates," Guinn said. "If another city thinks of hosting the fight, will they respond to the leading boxing commission, not just in the nation, but in the world?"

At the end of the hearing, commissioners began stating their decisions leading up to the vote. When the third voice mentioned denial, Faiss asked for a recess and Tyson followed his legal team quietly into a side room from which he left the building.

Sensing the losing vote to come, Faiss asked the commission to accept withdrawal of Tyson's application. In a business-as-usual model, commissioner John Bailey -- who until last year was Faiss' law partner -- would have convinced his colleagues the withdrawal was the best option.

But on Tuesday Bailey's motion for withdrawal died for lack of a second. The commission then voted to deny the license, leaving Tyson's suitability for other fights in other places at risk.

"I'm really surprised more by that than by the denial," said Luis Rivera, who got one of the few public seats to the hearing. "That really shows that they were being independent."

Last week boxing promoter Bob Arum had argued that if the commission approves the license -- simply for monetary gain -- Nevada may as well support storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who is working to block Yucca Mountain said the athletic commission decision may actually show Nevada's gritty independence to the rest of the nation.

"It's one of those things where you look at the economic impact the fight could have had and you flinch," Perkins said. "But the commissioners also made their position so clear. That's where Nevadans can hold their head high."

In today's New York Post, whose back cover has a photo of Tyson under the headline "No Dice," boxing writer Wallace Matthews called the decision, "an exceptional day for integrity and common sense."

"For once, Vegas looked past the money and into the character of the money-maker," Matthews wrote.

To make up for the lost fight, Scott Ghertner, director of sports and promotion of MGM Grand owner MGM MIRAGE, said the MGM Grand was planning to hold "what we believe would be the largest baccarat tournament in the world" on the weekend of April 6. The company is also trying to sign a "potential star performer" to appear at the Grand Garden arena that weekend.

Commissioners didn't think of their decision as anything other than one involving an individual fighter with whom they have a long history.

Dr. Flip Homansky has been the ringside physician for 16 Tyson fights -- including the 1997 one in which the fighter bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear.

After that fight, which led to Tyson's one-time ban from boxing in Nevada, Homansky worked to bring in a team of doctors to evaluate Tyson's mental stability, and to establish a treatment plan.

The commission learned Tuesday that Tyson is no longer taking anti-depressants and hasn't been in therapy for more than six months.

On Jan. 22 he exploded in a curse-laden tirade following a melee at a New York press conference to announce the then-scheduled April 6 fight at the MGM Grand.

"If one of our referees had been there at the press conference and had tried to come between you and Lennox would you have listened?" Homansky asked Tyson.

Tyson responded: "It's easy to say yes, but there's a Catch-22. Things happened but my intention wasn't to hurt no one."

The commission's task Tuesday was to determine whether Tyson -- who will turn 36 this year -- is suitable for a license. All fighters over 35 in Nevada must prove their suitability, usually with a battery of physical tests and some questions.

But Tyson's antics in several recent fights -- including knocking down a referee who was stopping a fight and twisting an opponent's arm in another bout -- led commissioners to challenge what Amy Ayoub dubbed Tyson's "pattern of uncontrolled, high-risk behavior."

"I'm crazy, but I'm not crazy like that," Tyson said. "I don't want to kill or rape anybody or anything like that."

That statement -- in light of Tyson's rape conviction -- didn't sit well with Ayoub. And commissioners were not happy to hear Tyson's answer when asked what type of support network he has.

"I don't have one friend in my entire life," he said.

Dr. Tony Alamo said he didn't think the commission was sending a message to the nation or the fight world.

"This was about the health and safety of Mr. Mike Tyson and those around him -- the fighters, the referee the other camp," Alamo said in an interview after the decision. "It was about that and nothing else."

But Rev. Chester Richardson suggested the commissioners may have been grandstanding for a national cable audience.

"Who did you want to make a statement to?" Richardson asked. "To Mr. Tyson, or to the world?"

"I think you forgot yourselves," he added.

Tuesday's hearing did have quite a bit of a fight-night feel with reporters from around the world, satellite trucks and even Tyson's entourage. Tyson bodyguard and pre-fight hype caller Crocodile was even on hand in his light blue camouflage to yell his standard, "Guerrilla warfare" as if the hearing was a fight.

Just like any prizefight, the hearing drew fancy suits and modest fight fans with baseball caps. Former casino executive Bob Stupak worked the room as boxing aficionados argued about how quickly "Tyson could drop Lewis."

Some members of the public left the hearing as unsatisfied as a fight fan after a controversial draw. But the majority of people said the decision was, not only the right one, it was a source of pride.

"I think we can be satisfied that nobody was bought today," said Las Vegas resident Will Harris after the decision. "I guess it's good for boxing and it's good for having other fights come here."