No Reason to Expect Tyson Will Learn His Latest Lesson

You still don’t get it, Mike Tyson.

You have served a prison term for rape and a jail term for assaulting two men after a minor traffic accident. You have bitten off the ear of one man in the ring, tried to break the arm of another and seriously damaged the knee of a third.

And yet you continue to portray yourself as a victim. If anything, you are a victim of your own rage and self-destructive behavior.

Your latest outburst of self-pity was directed at Orlin Norris, a fighter you claim was somehow to blame for the latest chapter in your seemingly never-ending sorry saga. It was you who hit Norris after the bell ended round one of your scheduled 10-rounder Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It was your short left-handed punch that knocked Norris off his feet, injuring his right knee and thus ending the fight with a no-contest decision.

You questioned whether Norris was really hurt, questioned Norris’ courage when he refused to come out for round two.

Guess what? You were wrong again.

That’s the opinion of a man who should know, ringside physician Flip Homansky. After examining Norris at Las Vegas’ Valley Hospital and examining the results of an MRI, Homansky has concluded that Norris suffered a dislocated kneecap and a strained ligament in his right knee, a knee that had previously undergone surgery.

You questioned how Norris was able to get up and walk back to his corner under his own power if his knee was that badly damaged. According to Homansky, Norris dislocated the knee when he fell, but it relocated itself when he stood up. Asked if Norris did the right thing by refusing to fight on, Homansky said, “Absolutely. By no stretch of the imagination could he have continued.”

Homansky said further surgery might be necessary if Norris wishes to continue his boxing career.

So where does your boxing career go from here, Mike?

Members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission are scheduled to meet today and look at a tape of the fight to see if referee Richard Steele was correct in ruling that your late blow was accidental as opposed to intentional.

This might seem like a game of semantics. Obviously the punch was not thrown accidentally. But since it came a blink of the eye after the bell had rung, while the two men were still tied up, rather than being a cheap shot after Norris had turned back toward his corner, it could be considered “part of the round,” according to Marc Ratner, executive director of the commission.

The commission plans to schedule a hearing for either Thursday or Friday. At that time, if Steele’s decision stands, you will probably receive your $10-million purse, which is currently being held, and be allowed to continue with your career, such as it is.

This much can be offered in your defense. What you did Saturday night has been done over and over in fights since they first put on gloves. Caught in the emotion of the moment, or looking for some small edge, fighters often try to sneak one more punch in at the break or at the end of a round.

And they often get away with it unless it becomes a pattern in the fight.

Your blow was a parting shot, not a sneaky attempt at a knockout. Homansky said that, based on his examination of Norris’ eyes and reflexes, there is no question he didn’t receive enough of a blow to the head to prevent him from continuing. If you had unleashed your full power on him, Mike, he wouldn’t have gotten up.

Your misfortune was to land a blow that caused a man with a bad knee to fall on that knee. And, of course, with your shoddy record of the recent past, you can’t expect the boxing world to cut you much slack.

But the question is, why were you doing it? Why have you become a consistently dirty fighter in recent years? Have you simply lost confidence in your ability to win solely on your talent?

You cannot dispute the fact that, since Evander Holyfield stopped you in the 11th round of your heavyweight title match in November 1996, you have not been the same fighter.

And then came Saturday night.

You were warned once by Steele after hitting on the break earlier in the first round. And then you did it again at round’s end.

Why against Norris of all people?

Your weight was back down to 223 pounds, your movement was back to the level it had been in the pre-Holyfield days and you seemed comfortably on your way to a victory you desperately needed to restore a least a modicum of your credibility.

Instead, you acted like a scared fighter who didn’t believe in himself enough to win by the rules, even against a blown-up cruiserweight like Norris.

How in the world can they market you now?

Your manager, Shelly Finkel, says the revised plan is for you to make another free appearance on cable in December, against Norris if he is ready, with the hope of building up enough goodwill to sell a February pay-per-view show.

Can that plan work? It’s up to you, Mike.

But then, it always has been.