Sig Rogich Tyson's PR cornerman

      Image-maker Sig Rogich, media adviser to Presidents Bush and Reagan, has served as the media crisis manager for Mike Tyson since he gnawed on Evander Holyfield's ears 13 days ago.
      Rogich helped write Tyson's well-received public apology issued two days after the fight. The Las Vegan also advised the boxer not to appear before the Nevada Athletic Commission on Wednesday, primarily to avoid a melee, the political consultant said Thursday.
      A source said the first advice Rogich gave to Tyson was for the fighter to admit he'd made a mistake and apologize for his behavior. Immediately after the fight, Tyson and his camp showed no regrets or remorse.
      Rogich said that though most are his friends, he did not directly lobby the five members of the commission, who fined Tyson $3 million and revoked his license for a year. "If I was lobbying, I was the worst lobbyist," he said with a laugh.
      Each of the four commissioners who could be reached Thursday said Rogich, a former athletic commissioner himself, did not talk to them in advance of their decision.
      The consultant also said he did not call upon his extensive political ties to help Tyson.
      After the June 28 fight at the MGM Grand Hotel, Don King Productions hired Rogich Communications, a crisis management and political consulting firm, to help in press relations.
      Rogich earned a short-lived 114-day ambassadorship to his native Iceland from then-President Bush in 1992. He resigned to rejoin Bush's unsuccessful re-election effort as a media affairs adviser. He also advises Republican gubernatorial contender Kenny Guinn.
      Tyson's decision not to appear Wednesday was based partly on safety, Rogich said.
      "At one point, we thought there would be 1,000 people inside and out, and that would be tough to control,'' he said. "And the (Nevada) attorney general advised Don King he (Tyson) didn't need to be there."
      Rogich's concern was that Tyson's appearance "might be responsible for causing a melee or problem," he said. "Frankly, he wanted to appear. He was concerned by not appearing he would be showing disrespect for the commission."
      The Las Vegas City Council Chambers, which holds 300, was full Wednesday. Roughly another 100 people milled about outside the hearing.
      Athletic Commissioners Jim Nave, Elias Ghanem, Nat Carasali and Luther Mack all said Rogich did not lobby them before their decision.
      Nave, a Las Vegas veterinarian who Gov. Bob Miller's appointed to replace Rogich on the commission, said "not one person lobbied me at all."
      Rogich called him Thursday morning to say he had been hired as a consultant, but Nave said there was no lobbying ahead of time. "If he was going to call anybody, it probably would have been me," Nave said.