Bedeviled

The image of Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield’s ears inevitably will come to mind when Tyson enters the ring for his long-awaited return bout against Francois Botha tonight in Las Vegas.

Especially for Robert Garcia.

Garcia, 23-year-old junior lightweight from Oxnard, recorded a fifth-round knockout on the Tyson-Holyfield undercard in Las Vegas in June of 1997. Then he got a close look at Tyson going berserk in the dressing room the fighters shared.

“I’ll never forget his eyes,” Garcia said. “His eyes were like he had the devil inside of him. No one wanted to get near him after the fight.”

Garcia, undefeated in 31 fights, will rub shoulders again with Tyson when he defends his International Boxing Federation junior-lightweight title against John John Molina tonight on the undercard at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino.

The fight takes second billing to the Tyson-Botha 10-round main event and is among three title fights scheduled on the eight-bout card.

Garcia and Tyson are promoted by Dan Goossen of America Presents.

Heavyweight Lance Whitaker of Granada Hills, 17-0 with 15 knockouts, is scheduled to fight Alex Stewart in a 10-round nontitle bout not scheduled to be included as part of the pay-per-view broadcast.

Garcia, who turned pro in 1993 while attending Channel Islands High, has 24 knockouts. Molina, a former two-time champion from Puerto Rico, is 40-5 with 30 knockouts.

They have defeated one common opponent, Francisco Segura. Garcia recorded a 12th-round knockout over Segura in 1995.

“I know he’s a fighter who always comes in in great shape and he has a lot of experience,” Garcia said of Molina. “But I’m excited about this and I’m ready.”

While Tyson has spent the last 19 months trying to rebuild his career and image, Garcia has been busy raising his stature as a boxer. He has fought three times, winning the title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Harold Warren last March.

Garcia recorded a fifth-round knockout in October over lanky left-hander Ramon Ledon, the IBF’s No. 1-ranked contender, in his last fight.

“It was a very tough fight,” Garcia said. “He was quick and strong.”

Garcia’s goal is to unify the 130-pound title. On the horizon looms a showdown with World Boxing Council champion Floyd Mayweather, a former U.S. Olympian undefeated in 19 fights. Another rival is World Boxing Assn. champion Yong Soo Choi.

If he defeats Molina, Garcia would next pursue a fight with Prince Naseem Hamed.

“I have to worry about John John Molina first,” Garcia said. “But we have a lot of plans. I want to see who is really the champion at 130 pounds. There should be one true champion in each weight class. The guy everybody thinks is the best is Floyd Mayweather. But we’ll see what happens.”

Whitaker, 6 feet 8 and 240 pounds, will make his biggest career stride when he fights his first 10-round fight. Stewart, 34, has gone the distance with Holyfield and George Foreman, and was stopped by Tyson. He is 43-8 with 40 knockouts.

Whitaker, trained by Joe Goossen of North Hollywood, has fought only once since being badly cut above the left eye in a six-round victory over Ray Butler last May. He recorded a second-round knockout over Jason Yarosz in October.

“I don’t want to make any predictions, but I think Lance is going to show what he can do in this fight,” Goossen said. “He’s ready to take on a guy of the caliber of Alex Stewart.”

Goossen will lead two other fighters into the ring for the first time.

Ben Tackie of Ghana, 18-0 with 11 knockouts and ranked No. 7 by the IBF, will fight Goyo Vargas of Mexico for the WBC Continental America lightweight championship. Tackie joined Goossen last fall.

Corinne Vanreykdegroot of Atlanta, 2-0 with one knockout, another recent addition to Goossen’s camp, will fight Heather Shoffner of Indianapolis in a six-round women’s lightweight bout.