Boxing Is Alive and Very Well After Tyson’s Bite

Boxing, it won’t die and even Mike Tyson can’t kill it.

Amazingly or not, people who make a living off the “sweet science” say Tyson’s snacking on Evander Holyfield’s ear hasn’t imperiled the sport but invigorated it.

Bob Arum, touring to promote the Oscar De La Hoya-Hector Camacho fight, told USA Today he has never seen crowds so large.

“Tyson and the despicable thing he did [Tyson fights for Arum’s promotional archrival, Don King] made boxing hot,” Arum said. “I’m not saying this is right and this is good.”

But it is profitable. Showtime, which showed the fight, reports gleefully that national networks, plus stations in New York and Los Angeles, replayed “the despicable thing” 986 times.

St. Ides malt liquor, which sponsored the fight, says its participation “brought substantial awareness to the brand family and we’re pleased with that.”

Showtime is still thinking of making Tyson . . . an announcer?

“Does that [biting Holyfield’s ear] make him a leper for life?” Showtime’s Mark Greenberg asks.

Obviously not, if there’s a penny to be earned from him. Get ready, 11 months and two weeks from today, Tyson-Holyfield III!

Trivia time: Four of the last nine overall No. 1 picks in the NFL draft have been from the Pacific 10 Conference. Who were they?

Silver lining: Recent disqualifications of Tyson and Henry Akinwande have largely reduced King to a spectator in the heavyweight division.

King has only one other heavyweight, the unimposing Francois Botha.

“One hopes for the sport that fiascoes only come in pairs,” the New York Times’ Tom Friend wrote after Akinwande was disqualified for clinging to Lennox Lewis, two weeks after the Tyson fiasco, “but Andrew Golota fights again in less than a month so hold onto your riot gear.”

It gets worse: According to published reports, gamblers pocketed about $500,000 in chips during the chaos at the MGM Grand after the Tyson-Holyfield fight that led the hotel to close its casino for three hours.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Doug Krikorian, quoting two unnamed sources, says the real figure was higher, between $1.8 million and $2.5 million.

However, the casino’s security cameras recorded the action. Krikorian reports that one enterprising gentleman was obliged to return $200,000 worth of chips.

Trivia answer: Troy Aikman, UCLA (1989), Steve Emtman, Washington (1992), Drew Bledsoe, Washington State (1993), and Keyshawn Johnson, USC (1996).

And finally: Here’s a problem they didn’t have in the old days, what to do when an outfielder loses his jewelry in the outfield.

Pittsburgh’s Al Martin lost his gold necklace in a recent game against the Philadelphia Phillies and panicked.

“I’ve never not played without that necklace,” he said. “It fell on the ground in front of me and I didn’t know what to do.”

No, they didn’t call time out and all go look for it. Pitching coach Pete Vukovich offered Martin his gold necklace. Martin donned it and, in his next at-bat, hit a game-tying homer off Curt Schilling.

“I told Vuke he’s not getting this one back for a while,” Martin said.