Not a swinging success

      Mike Tyson's swing at a police officer following his bout with Evander Holyfield is not likely to result in criminal charges, police said Sunday.
      Also, police said they have uncovered no evidence to support witness contentions that gunfire sparked a pedestrian stampede that injured 45 people inside the MGM Grand Hotel after the championship heavyweight fight.
      Instead, it appears the thousands of people pushing and running for hotel exits were incited by noises that sounded like gunshots, such as a champagne bottle breaking and steel barricades overturning.
      "We now have all kind of rumors and theories as to what started it and we are looking into each one as we go along in our investigation," Las Vegas police Sgt. Will Minor said. "We checked the entire area and found no bullet holes, located no one complaining of injuries consistent with gunshot wounds or found any shell casings."
      Minor said police are expected to review Tyson's swing at an unnamed Las Vegas police officer in the aftermath of the bout. Tyson was disqualified in the third round after biting Holyfield's ear for a second time.
      "We'll have to talk to the officer and look at the tapes, but I have no idea (whether charges will be filed) at this point," Minor said. "Our investigation hasn't even begun on that yet."
      Lt. Dennis Cobb said charges were not likely.
      "We kind of know it comes with the territory," Cobb said.
      Minor said that in general, if an individual attempts to strike an officer in the line of duty, that person could be subject to the criminal charge of assault on a police officer, a gross misdemeanor. According to Nevada Revised Statutes, the charge could be upgraded to a felony if it is determined a deadly weapon was used in the attack.
      The post-fight bedlam erupted at 10:35 p.m. and was contained primarily to the registration lobby and corridors leading to the main hotel elevators, MGM officials said. Several witnesses remained adamant Sunday about hearing gunshots and said they feared for their lives during the panic.
      "I was flabbergasted," said Walter Koziar, 40, a witness to one of two incidents that broke out shortly after he purchased a drink at a bar near the lobby. "I heard pop, pop, pop ... and all of the sudden people started running. It was a near riot. They are very lucky something worse didn't happen there."
      Mercy Medical Services spokeswoman Cathy Hayes said 25 people were taken by ambulance to Las Vegas hospitals for treatment of injuries. Another 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The most severe injuries were two heart attacks and a broken leg.
      Some sporadic fistfights and other altercations were reported during the roughly two hours it took police and MGM security to restore order, Minor said. He said several arrests were made throughout the night but declined to speculate on an exact number.
      Gambling was stopped for about two hours.
      In a related incident, one man was killed and two others injured at a 10 p.m. title fight party Saturday night in southeast Las Vegas. Sgt. Bill Keeton said uninvited guests at the party near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard created a disturbance that led to the triple shooting.
      A 25-year-old man, whose identity was not released pending notification of relatives, died hours later at a Las Vegas hospital from gunshot wounds to the legs.
      The identities, ages and conditions of the two other victims were not released. Police were following up on several leads in the case Sunday, and are asking any party attendees or witnesses to call 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.
      Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Steve Harney said the Highway Patrol and Las Vegas police shut down a two-block stretch of Tropicana Avenue -- from the Strip to Koval Lane -- to secure the area immediately surrounding the MGM, causing a major traffic jam.
      "There was an unbelievable amount of backed up traffic," Harney said. "When the reports started circulating that shots were fired, the roadway was closed off. It was basically a precautionary measure because we didn't want to have a repeat of what happened before."
      Harney was referring to the killing of rap star Tupac Shakur in September near the Las Vegas Strip. Shakur was gunned down as he rode in a car on Flamingo Road after he left the Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight.
      Tyson was paroled in 1995 after serving three years of a six-year sentence on a rape charge. Tyson, who turns 31 today, was placed on probation for four years.
      There is at least one recent high-profile precedent for criminal charges stemming from attacks inside a boxing ring. In July 1996, New York police filed assault charges against three men in fighter Riddick Bowe's entourage in connection with a fight that broke out following Bowe's bout with Andrew Golota. That scuffle sparked a riot at Madison Square Garden that injured 22.
      The Madison Square Garden incident, while much more severe than Saturday's unrest at the MGM, was drawn upon by Las Vegas police as they prepared their security plans.
      Police assigned more than 240 officers to work the fight, along with an undisclosed number of MGM employees.
      "We were on it very quickly," Minor said. "We had numerous officers, both plain clothed and uniformed, who were eventually able to curtail everything in the ring and out."
     
     The Associated Press contributed to this report.