When I heard that Mike Tyson went before the Nevada Board to appeal for his license, I shuddered. I mean, hasn’t he displayed enough animalistic and violent behavior to be barred from the ring?
When Mike was on, he was a great boxer. He was revered for his swiftness and ability to take out his opponents in the blink of an eye. Yes, it was known that he has a slight violent temper, but that added more to his bad boy image.
However, when Mike was off, he was a pure beast. When Tyson took a bite of Evander Holyfield’s ear, he should have been barred for life. Instead he was suspended for 18 months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but because people loved Mike so much, they just fined him $3 million and gave a simple warning.
Being reinstated in 1999 and not the least bit remorseful, he proceeded to try to break Francis Botha’s arm while they fought long after the bell. That was in the ring, where the policies of good sportsmanship are supposed to govern.
All of us know about his episodes outside the ring such as: the rape charges, the decking of a referee, the hitting of various people, etc.
It is probably true that the revoking of his license will cause a income loss for Nevada, where many people would surely like to be if he fights against Lennox Lewis.
Mike has been one of the greatest boxing money makers of all time and the boxing economy may suffer a blow. But surely safety for the big name boxers as well as the up and coming fighters will be the ultimate concern.
That would definitely be cause for alarm, as they have done nothing much about the previous complaints. So if a fatal accident in the ring does occur, that will raise a lot of heat for the board.
Obviously, they made the right decision by denying Tyson’s reinstatement to Nevada.
Mike should not have even been appealing to this board. He should be at home trying to meditate, as his religious beliefs of Islam does stand for peace.
For some who believe that he still has room to change and grow, and be the fighter that he once was, get real.
Melissa Bridgewater, a freshman majoring in PR journalism, is from Trinidad, West Indies. She can be reached at bridgewater_mj@hotmail.com.