Boxing

A grand jury indictment of Mike Tyson on a rape charge would not halt the former heavyweight champion’s challenge to Evander Holyfield on Nov. 8, according to the fighter’s attorney.

“I received a letter from Vincent J. Fuller, who is Mike Tyson’s attorney, and it also was signed by Mike Tyson,” said Dan Duva, who will promote the fight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. “The letter said Mike Tyson has decided (that) whether or not an indictment is issued against him, he will go forward with the Nov. 8 bout against Evander Holyfield.”

A news conference to promote the pay-per-view TV bout is scheduled for Sept. 4 in New York, Duva said.

A special grand jury is scheduled to be convened next week in Indianapolis to hear evidence concerning a rape accusation made by an 18-year-old contestant in the Miss Black America pageant at Indianapolis last month.

Tyson also was sued for $100 million in federal court in New York Wednesday by Rosie Jones, a former Miss Black America, who alleged that the fighter had committed assault and battery by touching her buttocks and whispering “sexually perverted” comments into her ear at the pageant on July 18.

Duva, a lawyer, said that the rape investigation is “a very sensitive and emotional issue,” but added: “The general feeling is to let the judicial process run its course and not prejudge Mike Tyson in any way. Just because he’s making $15 million and his job is for the heavyweight championship, he should not be treated any differently than anybody else.”