In what William Gildea of the WASHINGTON POST called
"possibly the ugliest and most distasteful bout in
heavyweight championship history," Saturday's WBA title
fight between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson ended with a
Tyson DQ for biting Holyfield twice in the third round.
Marc Ratner, Exec Dir of the NV Athletic Commission,
announced after the fight that Tyson is "temporarily
suspended" and his $30M purse "is being withheld pending a
hearing" to be held Tuesday (WASHINGTON POST, 6/29).
NATIONAL REAX: In DC, Michael Wilbon: "[I]t's safe to
say boxing has reached a sick and incomprehensible low"
(WASHINGTON POST, 6/30). In Philadelphia, Bill Lyon: "In a
sport that has always been its own worst enemy, this was a
night of special shame" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 6/29). Mike Lurie
of CBS SportsLine wrote under the header "Tyson Takes Bite
Out Of Boxing's Credibility" (CBS SportsLine, 6/29). In San
Antonio, Dan Cook: "It's very difficult to disgrace boxing
but Mike Tyson made a great effort Saturday night" (S.A.
EXPRESS-NEWS, 6/29). In Toronto, Dave Perkins: "It's long
past the point of saying [the DQ] is another black eye for
the sport" (TORONTO STAR, 6/29). Also in Toronto, Steve
Buffery: "Will boxing survive this latest black eye?
Probably. Incidents of this sort are almost commonplace and
the sport somehow keeps bouncing back" (TORONTO SUN, 6/30).
In Miami, Dan Le Batard: "Saturday's insanity might help
boxing, believe it or not, because a bloodthirsty fan spits
money like an ATM machine" (MIAMI HERALD, 6/30). In K.C.,
Jason Whitlock: "[Tyson] embarrassed himself, and he
embarrassed a sport that we long ago thought was beyond
embarrassment. ... [Holyfield-Tyson II] quite possibly
doomed the sport forever. It will be difficult for anyone,
even boxing's most ardent fans, to take this sport seriously
again" (K.C. STAR, 6/29). USA Network's Sean O'Grady: "How
many black eyes can one sport have? It seems like
everything is a black eye for boxing. Boxing is resilient
to these kinds of things" (USA). In Milwaukee, D. Orlando
Ledbetter: "You know that the world of professional boxing
is on its proverbial death bed when the loquacious Don King
is left speechless" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/29).
Holyfield's attorney, Jim Thomas: "I think Don King -- and
you will laugh at this -- is a victim here. He worked very
hard to make this fight possible" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
6/30). In N.Y., Jimmy Breslin: "[W]hen Tyson is shoved out
the door, the whole business of boxing should be fired out
right after him" (NEWSDAY, 6/30). Also in N.Y., Shaun
Powell: "The sport should collectively organize a boycott of
Tyson. Commissions should bar him from fighting in their
states. ... And the public, which shells out good money for
outrageous ticket prices and pay-per-view rates, we should
say enough" (NEWSDAY, 6/30). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's
Fredrick Klein: "Boxing is the sport that needs the most
regulation, but gets the least. One shouldn't be optimistic
that Saturday's fiasco will change that" (WSJ, 6/30). ESPN's
Keith Olbermann: "It's official now. Boxing is no longer a
sport. Now it's a parody of the life of Vincent Van Gogh"
(ESPN, 6/29). ESPN's Dick Schaap: "If you had scripted it
though, you could not have found a more fitting way to sound
the death knell of boxing" ("The Sports Reporters," 6/29).
Showtime's Jim Gray, on Tyson's future: "I think it's going
to be very, very difficult for Mike to continue his career.
But this is boxing, after all. ... America has a short
attention span, that of a gnat. ... he'll probably always be
remembered for this. But I think he'll be able to continue,
and I'm sure he'll want to continue." ("Today," NBC, 6/30).
