Tyson Thinks He’s Banned for Life

Mike Tyson believes he will not regain his boxing license, suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission because he bit Evander Holyfield twice during their heavyweight championship fight.

“Truly, I think I’ll be banned for the rest of my life,” Tyson said in an ABC interview Monday night.

Tyson was asked why he believed that.

“I truly think everyone hates me,” he said. “I truly believe that. Because no one gets punished more than I am.”

Olympics

Two candidates for Australia’s Winter Olympic team for Nagano, Japan have tested positive for steroids, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates confirmed.

Coates, who declined to identify the pair, said two bobsled competitors tested positive for stanozolol.

Australian Swimming Incorporated president Terry Gathercole said he is eager for United States colleagues to contact him about drug-testing initiatives after Chinese results that he said “lack credibility.”

Gathercole was commenting on revelations that U.S. Swimming president Carol Zaleski called for all Chinese team members to be tested “frequently and without any prior notice” by an international panel between now and the world championships in Perth, Australia in January.

Tennis

Greg Rusedski of Britain overcame a bout of flu and beat wild card Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, in the opening round of the ATP tournament at Stockholm, Sweden.

The victory enabled Rusedski to clinch a spot in the eight-man field for the ATP Tour World Championships at Hanover, Germany, next week.

Nathalie Tauziat of France used strong net play to defeat Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the first round of the Ameritech Cup at Chicago.

The field for the Chase Championships grew by three when Mary Pierce, Irina Spirlea and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario qualified for the season-ending tournament.

The top 16 singles players and top eight doubles teams will compete at New York’s Madison Square Garden, starting the week of Nov. 17.

Golf

Colin Montgomerie, the most successful golfer in Europe for the past five years, said he has decided not to join the U.S. PGA Tour next season, though he plans to expand his American schedule.

The United States Golf Assn. awarded the 2003 U.S. Open to Olympia Fields Country Club in Matteson, Ill., which will host its first U.S. Open in 75 years.

Names in the News

Red Sox pitcher Steve Avery, who barely reached a contract incentive that gave him the right to a 1998 contract, decided to pick up the option that will pay him $3.9 million next season.

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Wilfredo Cordero pleaded guilty in Cambridge, Mass., to charges of beating his wife and received a 90-day sentence, suspended for two years, from Judge Roanne Sragow.

Cordero will not serve any jail time, but he has been ordered to attend counseling for batterers.

The lucrative Golden Four track and field series in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin has been ended, a source close to the organizers said.

The source told Reuters that meet promoters had agreed to end the series to avoid conflicting with a planned Super League to be launched by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).

Craig Breedlove’s bid to wrest the land speed record from the British Thrust SSC team remains on hold until the middle of the month to allow extensive modifications to his Spirit of America.