British Officials Will Investigate Tyson’s Actions

He smashed his opponent, the referee and, allegedly, his promoter. He talked about ripping hearts out and eating children.

But two days after spewing his rage in a Scotland ring, former two-time heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was on the receiving end of outrage.

British boxing authorities say they are launching an investigation into Tyson’s behavior in his Saturday bout against Lou Savarese, and a Nevada State Athletic Commission official said that Tyson’s actions would be considered should he apply for a new license in that state.

At issue are Tyson’s actions following the fight at Hampden Park in Glasgow. After going down from a left hand delivered to the top of the head, Savarese got up on unsteady feet. His legs wobbled even more when Tyson followed up with two solid shots.

That was enough to convince referee John Coyle that the fight should be stopped. But even as Coyle stepped between the fighters, Tyson leaped over the referee, knocking him down, to deliver two more blows. Tyson later said he hadn’t heard Coyle’s command to cease and desist.

“Mike said he couldn’t hear me, even though I was standing right in front of him,” Coyle said. “And I don’t know how he didn’t see me.”

The referee said he took no action against Tyson at that point because he had already declared the fight over.

Is it reasonable to expect a man competing in his 52nd professional fight to surmise, whether he can hear or not, that a fight is over when the referee is standing in front of him, protecting the other fighter?

That will be for the British boxing board to decide.

Board officials also must decide what to do about Tyson’s latest outrageous remarks.

In a post-fight television interview, Tyson said, in a tirade directed at heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis: “I want your heart. I want to eat your children.”

Of a possible match against Lewis, Tyson said: “I will rip out his heart and feed it to him.”

Before the fight, there were reports that he had beaten his promoter, Frank Warren, in a dispute over a $650,000 jewelry bill.

Tyson denied he had struck Warren, who would not comment on the claims. But that didn’t stop British newspapers from reporting that Tyson may have hit Warren in the ribs and one eye and/or threatened to throw the promoter out of a window.

One rival promoter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Warren had backed off from pressing charges only after receiving a larger share of the purse.

“We want to have a look at all the reports surrounding what happened before, during and after the fight, including that of the referee and the other officials,” Simon Block, secretary of the British Board of Boxing Control, told the Associated Press.

None of the Tyson incidents, verified or alleged, should come as a big surprise.

Several months earlier, there had been a report that Tyson had slugged his U.S. promoter, Dan Goossen, a claim Goossen denied.

In an interview last year, Tyson was asked what his life would have been like if his mentor, Cus D’Amato, were still alive. Replied Tyson: “He was always trying to get me married early. He wanted me to get married at 15 or 16. Of course, if I did that, I probably would have killed everybody in my family by now.”

Tyson fled to England after wearing out his welcomein the U.S. His infamous 1997 Las Vegas bout again Evander Holyfield, in which he bit both of Holyfield’s ears, cost Tyson his Nevada boxing license.

After getting it back 15 months later, Tyson, in a Las Vegas match against Francois Botha in January of last year, appeared to try to break Botha’s arm at the end of the first round before going on to knock Botha out in the fifth.

Then came a Las Vegas bout against Orlin Norris in October, which ended in a no-contest after the first round when Norris injured his knee as a result of a Tyson punch thrown after the bell.

Tyson’s act was getting old fast. Public disgust was rising at a time when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was pushing hard for boxing reform.

So off Tyson went on a British tour, where it was hoped he could attract new fans and remake the old, sordid image.

All he attracted in fights in January at Manchester, England, and Saturday at Scotland was the usual controversy. Women’s groups protested the admittance of a convicted rapist into the country. The British board expressed concern over Tyson’s use of antidepressants.

So now what?

If the British board decides to forbid Tyson from lacing up his gloves again in the United Kingdom, he can’t expect to find welcome-home signs in this country.

His Nevada license expired last Dec. 31. “He would have to appear before the commission if he requested a new license,” said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada commission. “Anything that has happened since the last time he was licensed would be talked about.”

Although he would not speculate on the commission’s mood in the event Tyson asked to return, Ratner did say that the fighter’s behavior in Scotland was unusual, even for him.

“It was surprising,” Ratner said. “He has always been a most gracious winner. Even when he fought Botha, he picked him up after knocking him out and kissed him.

“If he wanted to talk about being licensed, all these factors would come into consideration. But for now, he hasn’t applied and may not want to.”

While Tyson concedes he isn’t ready for Lewis yet, Jay Larkin of Showtime cable network says a fight against Andrew Golota, perhaps the only fighter whose image is as bad as Tyson’s, is a real possibility.

And where would Tyson be able to get a license to fight Golota?

Said one boxing figure, who asked not to named, “It’s a big world.”