Tyson the Patient Getting a Workout
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BOSTON — Behind the walls of Massachusetts General Hospital, Mike Tyson is undergoing a battery of tests to determine whether he is psychologically fit to return to the boxing ring.
His evaluation, which stretched into a second day Thursday, requires him to answer hundreds of questions from psychiatrists and neuropsychologists. He was to have electrodes strapped to his head, an MRI scan his brain for abnormalities, and explain to doctors what he sees in odd-shaped ink blots.
All this in an attempt to return to the sport he was banned from after biting a chunk from Evander Holyfield’s ear.
Tyson, who smiled and signed autographs as he stepped out of the hospital Thursday, said some might “think I’m a psycho because I bit that guy’s ear off.”
“I just want to let the Nevada commission know I’m extremely sorry and I’m really a good guy,” he said.
Robert Schleser, a psychology professor at Illinois Institute of Technology, said he doubts the medical team will be able to predict Tyson’s behavior any better than they would a coin toss.
The Nevada commission is expected to vote Oct. 3 on whether to give the former heavyweight champion a new boxing license.
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