Referee on the ropes

      The Nevada Athletic Commission will meet today to consider a protest made Wednesday by Team Tyson over the selection of the referee for Mike Tyson's fight Saturday against Evander Holyfield at the MGM Grand.
      John Horne, Tyson's co-manager, submitted a letter of protest Tuesday against the commission's appointment of referee Mitch Halpern for Tyson's challenge against Holyfield, the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion.
      The five-member commission is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. in the media center at the MGM.
      "Mike Tyson absolutely cannot fight if Mitch Halpern is the third man in the ring," Horne wrote. "Although Mr. Halpern may be a promising referee, we do not feel comfortable with him as the referee for a fight of this importance and magnitude.
      "In the first fight, I feel that the fight became too physical for him to control and I do not believe it is fair for Mike Tyson to enter the ring with anything other than 100 percent focus on the fight.
      "All we are asking for is what is fair. We never even considered that the commission would appoint the same referee back to back for an event of this magnitude and pressure, especially with all the other qualified referees that the commission works with. We do not protest any other referee that you may appoint."
      Horne asked for an immediate decision to keep the promotion, expected to be the richest in boxing history, "intact."
      Halpern, of Las Vegas, refereed the first Tyson-Holyfield fight on Nov. 9, stopping the bout in the 11th round and awarding Holyfield victory by technical knockout.
      The commission appointed Halpern as the referee for the rematch on Friday by a 5-0 vote.
      Commission chairman Dr. Elias Ghanem said he first heard from Horne on Thursday.
      "We didn't hear anything after the fight in November," Ghanem said. "They let us know they didn't want Mitch before the meeting. They just told me they didn't want Mitch. He (Horne) didn't say at the time. He just said they would rather not have Mitch.
      "We are going to call an emergency meeting of the commission," Ghanem said. "The rules and regulations of the state say we have to."
      Halpern refused comment on the protest. However, he did respond to Horne's contention that the fight was too physical for him to control.
      "I can handle those fighters," Halpern said. "There is no question about that."
      Halpern, 5-foot-10, 155 pounds, has refereed 38 world championship fights.
      "It is not about size. It is respect in the ring," he said. "I demand respect, no matter who the fighters are, period."
      Marc Ratner, commission executive director, said he was told last Thursday about possible referee opposition from Dana Jamison, Don King Productions vice president for boxing operations.
      "She brought up that the Tyson camp and the WBA were unhappy with (Reno referee) Mills Lane," Ratner said. "About two hours later, she said Team Tyson wasn't too happy with Mitch Halpern."
      Ratner said Halpern travels to other countries as a WBA referee.
      "They were very much in favor of him being the referee for the fight," Ratner said.
      Jim Nave of Las Vegas has been the leader on the commission for several years on the assignment of officials.
      "I understand it is certainly within their legal right (to protest)," Nave said. "It is disappointing that nobody from the Tyson camp came to the commission meeting when we picked officials for this fight, even though Marc invited and asked them to come."