Saturday, August 07, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

KEVIN IOLE: Tyson helped, not hurt, by knee injury

Mike Tyson falls into the ropes in his fourth-round knockout loss to Danny Williams on July 30. A knee injury Tyson suffered in the first round might ultimately help salvage his career by giving him an excuse for the surprising defeat and another chance at a big-money heavyweight fight. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mike Tyson's knee injury has been described as a "career-ender," a "crushing blow" and an injury that "turned out the lights" on his headline-grabbing career.

All of which, no matter how well reasoned, is little more than hogwash.

The injury, suffered eight days ago in his stunning fourth-round knockout loss to Danny Williams, was one of the best things that could have happened to Tyson.

Without the injury, a knockout loss to a fighter of Williams' ilk would have been the end for Tyson. There would be no realistic way to argue he could again fight at a high level.

But the injury gives the 38-year-old Tyson an out. He's not done. He's down, certainly, but far from out.

That's good news for a guy nearly $40 million in debt without any marketable skills other than the concussive power of his fists.

Orthopedic surgeon Richard Emerson, who repaired the torn meniscus in Tyson's left knee Monday in Scottsdale, Ariz., said the injury "was very significant" and would "certainly have had a detrimental effect."

Before he was hurt late in the first round, the former heavyweight champion was showing glimpses of his old self. He moved his head. He jabbed. He varied his attack. Significantly, he appeared on the verge of stopping Williams.

After the first round, things changed. Some of that can be attributed to a lack of stamina. Tyson has a history of fading in fights.

But part of Tyson's decline against Williams has to be attributed to his injury. He couldn't adequately push off on the knee, and he didn't have the agility to cut off the ring and, perhaps most importantly, to defend himself.

"The slides that he would need to do would have been extraordinarily difficult for him," Emerson said.

All that gives Tyson's handlers the ability to repackage him and take one more shot at the bright lights and big money. He's home in Phoenix now and, yes, he's rising from the ashes.

That rise, no matter how unlikely it seemed eight days ago, will land Tyson in Las Vegas.

Nevada regulators voted 4-1 against him at a 2002 licensure hearing and had to believe they'd seen the last of him July 30 as he slumped against the ropes in Louisville, Ky., blood trickling down his face.

Perhaps to the horrors of Messrs. Bailey, Alamo Jr., Homansky, Avansino and Brown, the members of the Nevada Athletic Commission who will have to decide if Tyson can return to the ring here, he will come calling once again.

As a denied applicant, chairman John Bailey said, Tyson must face the commission in person to prove he's fit to fight.

The commission revoked Tyson's license in 1997 after he twice bit Evander Holyfield on the ears in perhaps the most heinous act in boxing history.

Incredibly, Tyson was licensed again less than 18 months later, only to embarrass those who had supported him by trying to snap Frans Botha's arm and hitting Orlin Norris clearly after the bell.

If you granted Tyson a license 18 months after he gnawed the top of an opponent's ear off, how can you turn him down after he goes through five fights without any behavioral problems? That's like getting probation for first-degree murder, then getting life without parole for speeding.

The commission wants to make certain Tyson doesn't snap in the ring because -- as anyone who was at the MGM Grand on Bite Night knows -- an out-of-control Tyson can lead to serious public safety issues.

There's no quibbling about that.

But if Tyson were going to snap, it probably would have been sometime during or immediately after the Williams fight. Here's a debt-ridden boxer, knowing his knee is badly hurt and thinking his career -- and only source of income -- might have just evaporated.

But visitors to Tyson's locker room said he was quiet and respectful, just as he had been in the months leading up to the fight.

The evidence the commission needs to determine his fitness to fight in the world's pre-eminent boxing state is on a couple of videotapes.

Tyson has proven what he has to prove, he's paid for his crimes and fouls and he deserves to fight here, if he chooses, without the circus of yet another public hearing.

Kevin Iole's boxing column is published Saturday. He can be reached at 396-4428 or kiole@reviewjournal.com.