Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Tyson is receiving, and accepting, more bad advice

FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMP Mike Tyson has applied for a fight license in New Jersey. Some boxing officials appear surprised that Tyson adviser Shelly Finkel went down the road to New Jersey rather than seeking to re-license Tyson in Nevada where he lost it a year ago after biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a championship bout. The Nevada State Athletic Commission revoked Tyson's license for a minimum of one year after that violent display of poor sportsmanship took place on television.

This month Tyson was eligible to request a NSAC hearing to consider being re-licensed. Finkel instead applied for a license in New Jersey. He told our reporter he didn't believe a Tyson application to fight again would be given by Nevada. It would be most interesting to learn if he has some back-door assurances that New Jersey will grant his boxer a license. If this matter winds up in court that would be the first question Finkel should be asked during pre-trial depositions. Every bit as interesting would be to learn what or who gave him the impression a Tyson application wouldn't be approved in Nevada.

Nevada officials were shocked when Finkel made this move and can't imagine that a boxing state such as New Jersey won't tell Tyson to clean up his disciplinary problem in Nevada before applying in the Garden State. This is exactly what we would expect NSAC officials to tell Finkel if New Jersey had been forced to act against his boxer over unsavory conduct in an Atlantic City ring. Even more important is that the ear-biting incident wasn't just something that happened in Las Vegas, it was seen around the world time and time again for several weeks following the match.

So what's on the mind of the people running the Tyson camp? Let me guess that Finkel is using this move in hopes of pushing the NSAC into giving him some signs that they will re-license his boxer. Then he will withdraw the application in New Jersey and come to Nevada as he should have done last week. This is a very poor tactic when dealing with a five-member board of independent thinkers. Finkel has, in effect, questioned their independence and ability to act fairly when dealing with Tyson. It's difficult to believe that people who have publicly had their integrity questioned by somebody representing Mike Tyson aren't offended. They should be offended, but they also must not allow this insult to affect their judgment if, or when, Tyson does show up to be licensed.

Just how the NSAC officials will vote on the Tyson matter, I don't know and neither does Finkel. The final decision can be made only by the commission after a full hearing. That's the way his license was removed and that's the way it should be given back or denied.

There are large numbers of good boxing fans who honestly disagree with any possibility of ever letting Tyson back in the ring. I'm not one of them, because he has been and can again be an exciting competitor in a sport that thrives from such excitement. Also I've seen and appreciate a different Mike Tyson from the one biting the ear of an opponent.

Tyson has had a bag full of self-imposed trouble in recent years. It's a shame that he continues to punish himself by following bad advice.

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