Sunday, January 27, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MIKE TYSON: Man or Beast?

Tyson's latest incident might be too much -- even for him

In the nine years he has been the Nevada Athletic Commission's executive director, Marc Ratner can't recall the commission declining to issue a boxing license to someone except on medical grounds.

In those nine years, there have been many occurrences that could have caused a boxing regulator concern.

One man bit part of a contestant's ear off.

One man tried to snap an opponent's elbow while in a clinch.

One man threw a punch well after the bell, causing his opponent to fall awkwardly and injure his knee so badly surgery was required.

One man quickly defeated an outclassed opponent but refused to stop fighting when the referee halted the bout, inadvertently hitting the official and knocking him to the canvas.

One man refused a prefight urinalysis, then tested positive for marijuana.

One man took a swing at another's bodyguard, setting off a melee in which the man reportedly bit the leg of his opponent.

The Nevada Athletic Commission will see the perpetrator of all these acts at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Michael Gerard Tyson, former undisputed heavyweight champion, bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear.

He acknowledged trying to break Frans Botha's arm.

He slugged Orlin Norris after the bell.

He knocked down referee John Coyle as Coyle was trying to protect a defeated Lou Savarese.

He failed a drug test after defeating Andrew Golota.

And he precipitated a brawl Tuesday at a New York news conference when he swung at one of Lennox Lewis' bodyguards.

The same Michael Gerard Tyson, a man whose career was derailed when he served three years in prison for rape, will plead his case for a boxing license before the commission and a national television audience at the Sawyer Building.

At stake will be millions of dollars -- potentially, hundreds of millions -- for a proposed April 6 fight at the MGM Grand.

The MGM paid promoters $12 million for the right to play host to what is expected to be the largest grossing fight in history. Lewis will be paid a reported $20 million and a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue. Tyson will make a reported $17.5 million, plus a share of the pay-per-view revenue.

That is only slightly better than the average purse Tyson has drawn in Nevada. According to athletic commission records, Tyson has earned $169.55 million in 16 fights in the state since 1986. That's an average of $10.6 million per fight.

Tyson's fight against Holyfield on June 28, 1997, at the MGM remains the best-selling pay-per-view fight in history, with nearly two million sales. It is the second-largest grossing fight in state history. Those involved with the promotion think Lewis-Tyson could exceed that bout in both categories, a major reason why the MGM opted to bring Tyson back despite his infamous history there.

The MGM's casino closed for one of the rare times on that summer night in 1997 after Tyson incited a riot by twice biting Holyfield in their championship rematch.

An MGM spokesman refused to say how long the casino closed, citing pending litigation. But because of reports of gunshots, the casino closed for several hours. A reporter calling his office from a pay phone adjacent to the registration desk quickly became distracted when he noticed a man on a nearby phone with a gun sticking out of his waistband.

"When Tyson fights, you not only have to deal with him, which presents you with a huge set of problems, but you have to deal with the crowd he brings in, which is also not good," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said.

Rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered only hours after attending Tyson's fight against Bruce Seldon at the MGM on Sept. 7, 1996.

Also hanging over Tyson, the Clark County district attorney's office is reviewing evidence that police say supports a woman's claim that Tyson raped her in his Las Vegas home.

Tyson is the World Boxing Council's No. 1 contender. Despite being briefly knocked unconscious and suffering a concussion in Tuesday's brawl, Jose Sulaiman, the sanctioning body's 70-year-old president, said the organization wants to proceed with the fight.

That's not surprising since it will provide the WBC with its biggest infusion of cash for the year. In a sanctioned title fight, boxers must pay 4 percent of their purses to the WBC. Given the reported combined purses of $37.5 million, the WBC would make $1.5 million.

Teddy Atlas, ESPN boxing analyst and Tyson's former trainer, said he can't conceive of a way a commission could look at Tyson's record and issue a license to him if money wasn't involved.

Given the flagging state of the local economy and the millions it would mean, many think the commission will license Tyson.

"If you license this guy, with his record, who do you turn down?" Atlas asked. "Why have a boxing commission? The only grounds on which they could license this guy would be economic, because there are unfortunately a lot of people willing to pay a lot of money to see him.

"So, if he gets a license, the state of Nevada ought to save some tax money and disband the athletic commission. It should put together a committee formed of representatives of the hotels and let them do it, because if Tyson is licensed, it's obvious who is running boxing in that state."

Sig Rogich, president of Rogich Communications and one of the most powerful men in Nevada, said he thinks the commission will look past the economics, resist pressure from the casino industry and base its decision on what it thinks is best for the state.

Rogich, a close adviser to Gov. Kenny Guinn and former commission chairman, helped two commissioners, Amy Ayoub and John Bailey, obtain their posts.

Several pro-Tyson forces have insisted Rogich is urging commissioners to vote against Tyson. They reason that one of Rogich's clients is promoter Don King, who was Tyson's promoter until they split five years ago. Tyson is suing King for $100 million.

King doesn't want the fight to take place if he is not involved. He has made open appeals in an effort to reunite with Tyson. Having been spurned, several Tyson insiders say King will seek revenge by getting Rogich to scuttle Tyson's licensing.

Rogich angrily denied that charge. He said he hasn't spoken to King since he saw him in November at the Lewis-Hasim Rahman fight at Mandalay Bay.

"That is preposterous," Rogich said.

Although it isn't unreasonable for a commissioner to help lure a major fight, Rogich said the commission understands it is primarily a regulatory body.

Dave Anderson, the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, wrote last week that the commission would be considered puppets of the MGM and the casino industry if it licensed Tyson. Rogich said while he admires Anderson's work, he disagrees with his view.

"I believe those folks have integrity, and I believe they will do what they believe to be right," he said. "You have to remember, it is a regulatory body, just like (the Gaming Control Board) is. Gaming oversees and regulates the largest industry in the state. There have been a lot of instances where there were opportunities for big new projects to the state and gaming found the people involved unsuitable and turned them down.

"The athletic commission will operate the same way. They have to gather all the facts, and when they're armed with the information, put it in front of them and say, `Is this the right thing to do?' If they vote yes, it won't be because the casinos twisted their arms. And if they vote no, it won't be because they have some hidden agenda. The governor has told them to do what they think is right, and that's what I believe they will do."

Economics, however, will be difficult for the commission to ignore. While hotel occupancy rates have rebounded to close to pre-Sept. 11 averages, the customers being attracted don't spend as much.

The last five major heavyweight fights in Nevada -- Lewis-Rahman, Holyfield-John Ruiz I and II, Lewis-Tua and Lewis-Holyfield II -- generated an estimated nongaming revenue of $31.4 million, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV, said it is impossible without knowledge of the numbers casinos generate from big fights to quantify their impact in gaming dollars.

But he said it is safe to assume those who run the gaming companies have examined the numbers and concluded that staging major fights is highly profitable.

"I could give you an estimate of what it would be if I had access to all of the data I would need, but I don't have that," Schwer said. "We don't know if these people who come to fights do gamble more than nonfight gamblers. Gaming must believe they do and that justifies the additional costs they incur to put these fights on.

"The other part is, we don't know how much cannibalizing of their future business goes on with these fights. Someone may be planning to come to Las Vegas in one month and they switch to another because of a fight. Well, if they don't come on the other time, then the boxing match didn't bring in an additional tourist, it just moved around the time of the visit.

"But the people in gaming would have to know that impact, and they obviously have shown by their actions what they believe."

Eric Brown, a local businessman and longtime friend of Tyson, said part of Tyson's problem is he has been used as a "human ATM machine."

Brown was best man at Tyson's wedding to actress Robin Givens and has known Tyson for 18 years. Brown insists that Tyson is not the ogre he has been portrayed as. Brown said a lack of family to help Tyson, and advisers who work with him just to make money are a large part of the problem.

Brown said he finds fault with the work of Shelly Finkel, Tyson's adviser, and Shawnee Sims, an Atlanta woman who has been running Tyson's career from behind the scenes for the past several years.

"Mike is the ultimate guy who is a product of his environment," Brown said. "If he's around educated or cultured people, he adapts and mixes in. If he's around spiritual people, he's very spiritual. If he hangs around pimps, he'll be pimping. And if he's around players, he's a player.

"But the No. 1 thing is, Mike has been a cash cow for so many people, and while he is not a very educated guy, he's not stupid. He knows that someone like Shelly Finkel wouldn't be around if it weren't for the money.

"I've been with Mike for his highest highs, and I've been there at the times when he was at his lowest lows. He's done a lot of things he shouldn't have done and made a lot of mistakes, things he regrets, but he's also been used and abused.

"The people who are making millions off him and should be helping him are going to the bank and not doing what they should be doing. Where was the security at that press conference? That was ridiculous. Trouble has a way of finding Mike.

"These people, if they're going to be with him and take the good things -- and by that I mean his money -- then they have to be three steps ahead and head of the trouble before it gets to Mike.

"And that's the sad part. It didn't have to be this way. If Mike had people around him who cared, if he had family, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

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Mike Tyson: Man or Beast?

MIKE TYSON: Man or Beast?