IRONED-OUT MIKE

Meet the new Mike Tyson, the self-deprecating, joke-cracking, media-friendly Mike Tyson.

He was on display in Hollywood Tuesday at a news conference to promote his Jan. 16 comeback fight against Francois Botha at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Among the many faces the former two-time heavyweight champion has worn are the vicious Mike Tyson, the surly Mike Tyson, the victimized Mike Tyson, the contrite Mike Tyson, the confused Mike Tyson and the repentant Mike Tyson.

Those have all been put in storage for now.

His life a seemingly endless series of self-generated crises, Tyson appeared calm and happy Tuesday. He knows it is the calm before yet another stormy period. He knows that if he actually gets into the ring with Botha, which now appears likely, he must face far stiffer opposition in the weeks that follow.

He is facing sentencing in Maryland on Feb. 5 after pleading no contest to charges that he assaulted two men following a minor traffic accident last August. And then, an Indiana judge will decide if Tyson has violated the conditions of the parole he was given after his incarceration on a rape conviction. That judge could decide to put Tyson behind bars again.

But for now, Tyson seems content to enjoy the moment, to celebrate his return to the only place he seems truly fulfilled, the ring.

Tyson, who has been known to answer reporters’ questions with a grunt, had a book full of one-liners Tuesday.

Asked what had made him change his outlook on life, he replied, “My probation officer.”

When a video trumpeting his Jan. 16 fight malfunctioned, Tyson said, “You come to Hollywood and it’s amateur night.”

At one point, he looked around the crowded room, filled with reporters, cameras and recorders, and blurted, “I love white people.”

He responded to reporters with “sir” and “ma’am.”

When he was asked if his continuing psychological therapy had improved his frame of mind, a question that might have inflamed the Tyson of old, he simply replied, “Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve learned my lesson and I won’t do it again. I’ve been a bad boy. . . . I’m just here to fight. I don’t want any trouble from nobody. . . . All I know is that I’m on parole. I’m trying to be nice up here. That may be something you guys are not acquainted with, but you have to understand my position. I’m a very good boy.”

For one brief moment Tuesday, he allowed himself to slip into his old bad-boy persona when discussing Botha.

“You know what I do,” Tyson told the crowd, “I put people in body bags.”

But overall, he seemed thrilled to be in a public setting that once seemed beyond his reach.

In the 18 months since that disastrous night when he bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in their title rematch, Tyson has had to make one demeaning public appearance after another.

He had to go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission and apologize for the Holyfield incident, hoping he could keep his license.

When that failed, Tyson went before the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, trying to get a license from that body. When that proved to be an ill-advised move, Tyson had to go before the Nevada commission for two more appearances and undergo nine hours of public scrutiny before finally getting his license back. In addition, he had to go through five days of intensive examination by mental health experts in Massachusetts.

And finally last week, Tyson had to go before authorities in Maryland in the assault case.

So it’s no wonder that, confronting nothing more imposing than a fellow boxer he is confident he can beat, Tyson was all smiles on Tuesday. He even gave Botha a smile and a handshake when they posed for pictures. When was the last time Tyson did that with an opponent?

After the Holyfield debacle, the public revulsion was so strong that some predicted Tyson would never fight again. Many swore they would never shell out another dollar to watch him.

No one should have taken those declarations seriously.

Tyson remains a man on the edge, a man more likely to lose to his troubled inner self than to another fighter. And although boxing fans may condemn such behavior, they certainly don’t want to miss the next outburst.

Former Laker superstar Magic Johnson calls Tyson “a changed man.”

Outwardly, Tyson has made a lot of changes. Gone are promoter Don King and co-managers John Horne and Rory Holloway, who were blamed for much of the fighter’s misfortune. In their place are Johnson, acting as an advisor, respected attorney John Branca, rising promoter Dan Goossen, reliable manager Shelly Finkel and capable trainer Tommy Brooks.

When asked why he had moved his base of operations to Phoenix, Tyson said, “I didn’t think anybody else wanted me.”

When asked why he had selected Brooks as his trainer, Tyson said, “He came down, we got along and he didn’t seem like a guy who just wanted to get a paycheck.”

That’s important to Tyson. He has felt used through most of his career, an understandable sentiment considering how many people have shamelessly ripped him off.

But will a new, strong, reliable support team, offering integrity and hope, be enough? Neither King nor Horne nor Holloway was in Maryland last August when Tyson lost control and assaulted two men old enough to be his father. Advisors, good or bad, only go so far.

Whether he goes back to prison or remains free, whether he goes on to regain the heavyweight title or finds that he can never again be the fighter he was, Tyson must ultimately look within himself to find peace and contentment.

Only then will he truly be the new Mike Tyson.