D.C. Vote Favors Tyson

The Mike Tyson traveling circus has finally found a home.

Or has it?

The D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission in the nation’s capital voted 3-0 Tuesday morning to grant Tyson a boxing license, setting the stage for the former two-time heavyweight champion to fight current champion Lennox Lewis at the MCI Center on June 8.

But nothing involving Tyson ever seems to happen quickly or with certainty.

By Tuesday afternoon, commission vice chairman Michael Brown was backtracking, saying, “The first step has been taken. A lot of things have to be done.”

The next step will be a public hearing March 12, followed by another commission vote, which would seem to minimize the importance of Tuesday’s vote.

Officials at Staples Center remain interested in the fight and Manuel Soto, chairman of the California State Athletic Commission, has spoken positively about the economic benefits of the fight. But Tyson’s handlers have not yet applied to California, focusing instead on Washington.

The first wave of protest in D.C. arose at a commission news conference Tuesday. About 12 members of the National Organization for Woman showed up, holding up signs that said, “Stop violence against women.”

Tyson, who served three years in an Indiana prison on a rape conviction, is facing allegations of sexual assault by two women who claim Tyson attacked them on separate occasions in his Las Vegas home. Las Vegas police have said there is “credible” evidence on at least one of the allegations and the investigation continues on the other. No charges have been filed.

“This is a man with an appalling history of violence against women,” NOW president Terry O’Neill told the Associated Press.

Even if he receives a license, Tyson still needs approval from another source: his opponent. Lewis has said he won’t agree to the fight, which could pay each man more than $20 million, unless Tyson first agrees to get psychiatric help.

It was Tyson’s behavior at a New York news conference last month that put this fight in doubt. He threw the first punch in a brawl that culminated, according to Lewis, with Tyson biting him on the left thigh. No one outside the Lewis camp has seen the bite marks.

Subsequently, Nevada, New York and Colorado rejected a Tyson fight. The Georgia commission granted Tyson a license, but Gov. Roy Barnes has said he’s against the fight.