SHELLY FINKEL, the adviser for MIKE TYSON, said that
Tyson "intends to fight somewhere before the year is out,"
regardless of the outcome of his hearing in NV on Saturday,
according to Ron Borges of the BOSTON GLOBE. Finkel: "Mike
has serious financial problems." Finkel said Tyson "will
absolutely fight" even if denied a license from the NV State
Athletic Commission. Tyson recently signed an extension on
his exclusive contract with SHOWTIME "that provided him with
a reported million-dollar bonus but also resulted in the
cable network putting liens on much of his property."
Showtime "wants to ensure that if he doesn't fight again, it
can get back some of the millions Tyson owes it." The IRS
recently "slapped" a $6.3M lien on Tyson's CT home, and
Showtime has now "done the same with his other properties"
(Ron Borges, BOSTON GLOBE, 9/18).
THE HEARING: Tyson, on his chances of being reinstated
at the hearing: "I'm not very encouraged" (N.Y. TIMES,
9/18). In Las Vegas, Kevin Iole writes that there "is
pressure on the commission to license Tyson because the
economic benefit his fights bring to the state and the
dearth of major boxing cards in Nevada in the past year."
Tonight's OSCAR DE LA HOYA-JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ fight is "the
first major fight card" of '98 in NV (REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/18).
