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| ON THE ROPES... What's your ruling on the Tyson bite? July 15, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:How have the characters of fighters changed over the years? Why wasn't Tyson kicked out of boxing for his rape conviction? What is the historical link between the lower/working classes and boxing? Why is boxing's fate linked to Mike Tyson? What is beautiful and intriguing about boxing?
NewsHour Backgrounders
June 30, 1997:
Paul Solman examines the Tyson bite and the effect it will have on public support for boxing.
The NewsHour's sport coverage.
Outside Links
Excerpts from Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson.
Mike Tyson's record.
Evander Holyfield's record.
Earlier this month, in living rooms across America, evening news replays of Mike Tyson savagely biting Evander Holyfield's ear forced armchair referees everywhere to reexamine conventional views of Mike Tyson as an athlete, and boxing as a civilized sport.
The Bite took place during
Round 3 of a long-awaited title bout in Las Vegas. Tyson deliberately shed his mouthpiece before the round and when the fighters fell into a clinch, he bit a piece off the top of Holyfield's right ear and spat it out. Referee Mills Lane gave him a warning. Then, in the final seconds of the round, Tyson went for the other ear and the referees disqualified him.
The governing body responsible for deciding the punishment for ear-biting, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, leveled a direct blow to Mike Tyson's pocketbook: a $3 million fine. The discipline board also suspended his license to fight in Nevada (other states are expected to honor the "spirit of the ban").
Tyson can fight outside the U.S., but he is still on parole and must get permission from a judge in Indiana to leave the country.
Monetarily, the punishment is a minor setback: Tyson was paid $30 million to participate in the fight and he already owns two mansions, a huge farm and countless Mercedes and BMWs. The day after the commission's announcement, Tyson paid over $200,000 for a brand new Ferrari 465 GT. Actually, due to his enhanced notoriety, he stands to make many more millions if and when he is re-licensed. (He is allowed to reapply every year.) His promoters and boxing organizers are certainly not throwing in the towel; they waited for Iron Mike to get out of jail after serving three years for a rape conviction, and they will wait until Tyson is allowed back in the ring.
The Holyfield-Tyson fight was supposed to help return boxing to its glory days when Muhammad Ali enthralled the world with his skills and personality. Two days after the fight, Tyson read an apology in which he said he
"snapped." He said he would seek mental therapy. Like other convicted felons, Tyson has pointed to his troubled childhood to explain the petty robberies, purse snatchings, street brawls, and female battery in his past.
Many non-boxing fans were disgusted by the animal brutality of the fight and Mike Tyson's deliberate violation of the rules. Even boxing advocates said the sport had reached a new low.
So, is boxing in decline? And what about Tyson's career--are fans disgusted enough by his behavior to stop buying tickets and paying-per-view?
Not so, says Ferdie Pacheco, former doctor to Muhammad Ali, and longtime boxing observer. Pacheco took a pragmatic view of the episode, saying, "Where there is big money, there is big forgiveness."
Our guests take historical and literary views of boxing. Author Joyce Carol Oates has written extensively on boxers and the fans who support them. From the very beginning of his career, she says, "Mike Tyson, a boy warrior, has become legendary, in a sense, before there is a legend to define him."
Our second guest is a cultural historian. In his book: "The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America," Elliott Gorn traces the cultural links between boxing and the development of cities, the working class, and urban male culture.
Questions asked in this forum:
How have the characters of fighters changed over the years? Why wasn't Tyson kicked out of boxing for his rape conviction? What is the historical link between the lower/working classes and boxing? Why is boxing's fate linked to Mike Tyson? What is beautiful and intriguing about boxing?
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