Panel Delays Decision on Tyson

Mike Tyson’s corner was packed Saturday. He had his wife, he had attorneys, he had a spiritual advisor, he had an accountant, he had a psychiatrist, he had a psychological social worker and he even had Magic Johnson.

But Tyson still couldn’t win a favorable decision in his long-awaited rematch with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, a hearing in which he requested the reinstatement of the boxing license the commission revoked 14 months ago.

But Tyson got the next best thing at Saturday’s hearing, an all-but-stated nod from the commission that, if Tyson can prove he is able to control the rage that cost him his license, he will get it back. After meeting for more than six hours, the commissioners decided to postpone a final verdict on Tyson for two weeks to allow the two-time former heavyweight champion to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by one of three doctors or institutes designated by the commission.

The commissioners must supply Tyson with their list of examiners by Monday and he, in turn, must provide the results of a mental evaluation by the following Monday if he is to receive another hearing Oct. 3.

Tyson came before the commissioners Saturday as a sympathetic, contrite figure, a far cry from the angry, violent man who bit Evander Holyfield’s ears in their heavyweight title rematch at the MGM Grand in June 1997. It was that action, including the actual severing of part of Holyfield’s ear, which resulted in the revocation of Tyson’s license 11 days later.

“It won’t happen again,” Tyson told the commissioners. “I am so sorry. . . . I thought I was bigger than the sport. I realize Mike Tyson is an athlete. This brought me down to earth and put it in proper perspective. Whether I get my license or not, this is the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

Tyson attorney Dale Kinsella portrayed the fighter as a man in desperate need of money, a man facing a $13-million tax lien from the Internal Revenue Service, a man with a wife and young children who needs to collect a paycheck.

“I have gotten a lot of cash and I’ve been pretty free with it because I always have a lot of cash,” Tyson said. “If I get relicensed, I’ll get $300 million and I’ll probably give that away too. I am a different creature than most of you people in here, but I have to take care of my family. This is my life. I am going to feed my kids.”

According to Kinsella, Tyson is a man who has “suffered financially, massively.”

Tyson needs a favorable vote from at least three of the five commissioners to get his license back. But before a vote was even considered, there were several troublesome issues to be discussed, and they were:

* The incidents in Maryland and Washington, D.C.: In recent months, Tyson’s name has been linked to two allegedly violent occurrences outside the ring that have been cited as evidence that he can’t control his rage.

In one, two women claim Tyson assaulted them in a Washington D.C. restaurant.

Kinsella provided what he said was the testimony of eight eyewitnesses who claimed Tyson had walked away without touching the two women, one of whom allegedly provoked him.

Not so easily explained was an episode in Maryland after a traffic accident involving Tyson’s car and two others. Two men from the other cars claim that Tyson assaulted them; one with a fist to the face, the other with a kick to the groin.

Kinsella offered testimony from an officer at the scene of the accident who, he said, couldn’t find any evidence of facial damage to one of the alleged victims.

But Kinsella could offer no explanation of how the other victim wound up on the ground if Tyson had not put him there. Ultimately, Kinsella seemed to prevail by stressing that there is “a constitutional provision of innocence.”

The only action filed against Tyson thus far in Maryland is a citizen’s summons. If, as it seems likely, there is no clear resolution of the case in the next two weeks, it no longer appears to be a stumbling block for Tyson, at least until further information is known.

“Whether or not he snapped in Maryland,” said Kirk Hendrick, senior deputy attorney general of Nevada, “[Tyson] is innocent until proven guilty. If he is found guilty, that is a whole other hearing and a whole other issue.”

* The end run to New Jersey: Several commissioners obviously were still upset with Tyson’s ill-advised attempt to bypass the Nevada commission and seek a license in New Jersey.

Under Nevada law, Tyson has lost his license for life, but can reapply yearly. It was assumed he would do so sometime after July 9, the first-year anniversary of the revocation.

But instead, when Shelly Finkel, one of Tyson’s advisors who was also at the hearing, felt that Tyson’s chances would be better in New Jersey and a lucrative fight could be staged there, Tyson applied in that state.

When it became obvious that political pressure would cost him the chance for a New Jersey license, Tyson reversed his field and came back to Nevada to throw himself at the mercy of the commissioners.

* Tyson’s mental well-being: Dr. James Nave, one of the commissioners, raised serious doubts about the validity of the mental evaluation Tyson has undergone when he learned that the three people doing the examining had spent a total of 13 hours with the fighter.

Trying to assure the commissioners, however, Dr. Norman Roitman, one of the examiners, said assuredly of Tyson, “He’s not crazy.”

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HOLYFIELD KEEPS TITLE

Evander Holyfield goes 10 rounds to beat Vaughn Bean. C8