BOXING / EARL GUSTKEY : Tyson and Trouble: They Have Met Before

Mike Tyson is no stranger to trouble. In a sense, trouble made Mike Tyson. He came into boxing directly from reform school.

When in 1980 a physical education instructor at an Upstate New York facility for troubled boys saw some boxing talent in the 14-year-old Tyson, he arranged to have him paroled into the care of Cus D’Amato, who years earlier had guided another child of the New York streets, Floyd Patterson, to the heavyweight championship.

D’Amato, who died in 1985, taught Tyson to box. But he never taught him much else. Along his way to the championship and now, as at the threshold of the most important fight of his career, trouble has found Tyson again.

No one is suggesting that Tyson’s Nov. 8 bout with champion Evander Holyfield is in jeopardy. But what promoters have been predicting would be boxing’s first $100-million fight seemed to tremble a bit Friday.

When news came out of Indianapolis that Tyson was the subject of a rape investigation, you couldn’t help but remember the string of incidents that have followed him since he turned pro in 1984.

There was a slapping incident with a Hollywood Bowl parking lot attendant, taken care of by Tyson’s late manager, Jimmy Jacobs. Police were summoned once to quiet a beef he had with then-wife Robin Givens. He wound up in court once to answer a charge he that he had fondled a woman in a New York bar. And when he used vulgar language on a live telecast in Japan in 1990, he shocked a nation.

As yet Tyson faces no formal charges in Indianapolis. He is accused of raping a woman believed to have been a contestant at the Miss Black America contest July 19 at an Indianapolis hotel.

On Saturday, Indianapolis police said that no warrant has been issued for Tyson’s arrest, but that an investigation continues. The woman was not identified.

“The prosecutor’s office and the sex crimes detectives are still meeting, considering evidence,” spokesman Tom Horty said. “It’s not known yet if there’s sufficient evidence to support a warrant.”

Tyson was in Los Angeles Friday and Saturday to attend the Pasadena wedding of his bodyguard, Anthony Pitts. Friday night, through a spokesman, Tyson denied the rape allegation.

No one can say for certain that Al Stankie has landed on his feet, but he is out of jail. He has a new tiger, too.

The onetime trainer of Olympian Paul Gonzales and, until recently, amateur champion Oscar de la Hoya, Stankie recently served three months in county jail for drunk driving.

Stankie, 51, is working with boxing manager Joe Hernandez’s stable of fighters at Mt. Baldy Village. There, he trains Hernandez’s up-and-coming flyweight Cecilio Espino and his brother, Misael.

But his personal project is Ben Arranda, a 17-year-old San Pedro featherweight who has, Stankie says, the right stuff.

“Ben is so tough, the gangs in San Pedro leave him alone,” Stankie says.

“They kept telling him to join up and he wouldn’t. They tried to beat him up to force him to join them, but he beat them up instead.”

Arranda, who works as a weekend cook at Ports O’ Call Village in San Pedro, spars with the Espino brothers, but still needs seasoning.

“He’s about a year away (from turning pro). I’m bringing him along slow and easy,” Stankie says. The question is, where will Stankie be in a year?

He says he has stopped drinking, but his friends have heard that before. Also, he has a thyroid ailment that causes him to lose weight, but he won’t get medical help.

So it falls to Hernandez to manage Stankie, as well as his fighters.

“Al is absolutely one of the best human beings I’ve ever met, and I love him dearly . . . but he does need supervision,” Hernandez said.

Boxing Notes

The Forum has lost its Sept. 16 Humberto Gonzalez-Domingo Sosa WBC light-flyweight title fight. Gonzalez suffered a broken knuckle in beating Melchor Cob Castro June 3, and the injury was only recently diagnosed. He will undergo surgery Wednesday. . . . Last month’s Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock fight not only did better in pay-per-view revenue than most expected, it actually made a run at the richest fight ever, April’s Evander Holyfield-George Foreman fight. For Tyson-Ruddock II, the independent Pay TV Newsletter estimates the fight was purchased by 1.2 million households at an average price of $35, or a gross of $42 million. It thus becomes No. 2 behind Holyfield-Foreman’s $48.9 million, ahead of Holyfield-Buster Douglas at $38.6 million.

While studying accounts of the 1921 Dempsey-Carpentier fight a while back, we noted that the referee for that fight, Harry Ertle, was paid $2,500, exactly what referees are paid today for major fights. In jest, we sent the item along to Mills Lane, the Reno District Court judge and prominent Nevada referee. Lane wrote back to say, also in jest, that he would ask the Nevada Athletic Commission for a raise. He added: “No matter--I do it for the fun, anyway. After all, I get the best seat in the house.”

And speaking of Tyson-Ruddock II, Ruddock’s promoter, Murad Muhammad, says there will be changes in the fighter’s corner before his next fight. Ruddock’s corner was chaotic during the Tyson fight, with several people talking simultaneously. Once, no one remembered to bring the stool into the ring between rounds. “Razor needs a general in his corner and he doesn’t have one,” Muhammad said. One of Ruddock’s cornermen has been Art Miles of Los Angeles. . . . Former middleweight headliner Iran Barkley makes his light-heavyweight debut Aug. 16, opponent to be chosen, at the Sands in Las Vegas. . . . Larry Holmes says he has fired the Newport Beach group promoting him and will go his own way. . . . Heavyweight Tim Witherspoon’s five-year-old, $25-million lawsuit against promoter Don King finally could get a November court date, according to the fighter’s manager, Tom Moran.

Lou Duva, trainer of Evander Holyfield and Pernell Whitaker on East L.A. amateur Oscar de la Hoya: “He’s got a ton of talent, but he will have to show more head movement and lateral (foot) movement when he turns pro.” A year before the Olympics, call these four the top U.S. amateurs: Eric Griffin (106 pounds), Ivan Robinson (125), De la Hoya (132) and Raul Marquez (156).

Kelcie Banks will fight Fidel Avendano Aug. 26 for the Forum’s lightweight tournament title. . . . Ten Goose Boxing’s July 30 show at Reseda Country Club, featuring the brothers Rafael and Gabriel Ruelas, will be shown on USA Cable. . . . Boxing Illustrated historian Herbert Goldman recently ranked boxing’s “10 greatest controversies” and put the 1965 Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston fight at Lewiston, Me., as No. 1. The famed 1912 “double knockout” match in Los Angeles between Ad Wolgast and Joe Rivers was No. 2, and the 1990 Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor fight was No. 3.

The Forum has signed former welterweight champion Milton McCrory for a 10-rounder Aug. 12 against Vincent Durham on the card for the Troy Dorsey-Francisco Medina featherweight title fight.