Columnist Dean Juipe: Tyson adviser fails to offer sound advice

IT'S CONTAGIOUS. Just get near Mike Tyson and apparently a case of the dumbs leaps from the former heavyweight champion on to anyone so much as standing nearby.

Take the latest to be afflicted, Shelly Finkel.

Once thought to be astute and fairly perceptive, Finkel, based on his actions late last week, has relinquished his hold on those admirable traits.

No sooner does he join Tyson's inner circle and his common sense goes belly up.

Other symptoms of this infectious malady include a closing down of the thought process and an inability to ascertain the obvious.

Given that Finkel isn't the first associate of Tyson's to come down with these ills, the fighter himself must be the carrier of this odd bug. It's now apparent that anyone in his company exposes themselves to numerous risks, not the least of which is a sullied reputation.

Finkel added his name to that list by "advising" his client to bypass a smooth road in Nevada for a tempestuous one in New Jersey. It was as if Tyson and Finkel stood at the fork, contemplated the choices and then opted for the one laden with distress.

Let's see: They could have done the expected and had Tyson reapply for his boxing license in Nevada, where his reinstatement was absolutely 100 percent certain to be approved; or they could apply in New Jersey, away from the jurisdiction where Tyson ran afoul of boxing authorities, and, in effect, turn the reinstatement process into a federal case.

Finkel's move, uncovered Friday, succeeds where many a physicist has failed: He managed to create friction where none had existed.

It was out and out stupid.

Tyson would have sailed through his reinstatement hearing in Nevada and anyone who thinks otherwise has a poor grasp of reality. The state is not litigious by nature and it was not about to deny Tyson a license after it had been revoked for one year following his biting antics in the ring with Evander Holyfield.

After a fairly simple hearing in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Tyson would have been stamped, certified and okayed. Nevada would relicense him and he could then fight anywhere in the world.

But Finkel, the latest in a string of Tyson advisers, didn't take the path of least resistance. Instead, he complicated matters by having Tyson apply for a license in New Jersey.

That decision resulted in some immediate tension and put a few more lawyers to work. The NSAC was under the impression it had first dibs on the subject of Tyson's reinstatement due to the McCain-Bryan Boxing Act of 1997, and it now has attorneys pouring over the semantics of the bill and the miniscule differences between terms like "revocation" and "suspension."

Finkel (and Tyson) had no reason to put these states, as well as the national Association of Boxing Commissions, in these defensive positions. They're also jeopardizing the intent if not the spirit of a boxing bill that, while it didn't revolutionize the sport, attempted to streamline a few of its many quirks.

The so-called adviser came up short in the good advice department. He succeeded in generating hard feelings and little else.

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