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Monday, March 11
All signs point to approval for Tyson
<hr width="100%" size=1> Associated Press
</td></tr> <tr valign=top> <td width=501> WASHINGTON -- It would take a surprise, last-round knockout to keep Mike Tyson from getting a boxing license in Washington. The judges' scorecards are already well in his favor going into Tuesday's public hearing. While there's sure to be plenty of passion on both sides, the hearing by the D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission is approaching mere formality. The three-member panel bypassed protocol with an unofficial 3-0 vote in Tyson's favor last month, and they've given every indication that the actual vote, which is expected immediately after the hearing, will go the same way. "I think I've given the impression that we've been favorable," commission vice chairman Michael Brown said Monday."I haven't said it's a done deal." Brown said the commission is unlikely to be dissuaded by emotional arguments, and that he would need tangible medical or psychological reasons to vote against Tyson. Brown said reports from the doctors who examined Tyson in Washington last week have been favorable. "Nothing has been brought to our attention that would raise concerns about his fitness to fight," Brown said. If the commission votes yes, Washington would become the favorite to play host to a Tyson-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight on June 8 at the MCI Center. Tennessee and Michigan have also become front-runners in a crowded field -- a resort island in South Korea on Monday became the latest site to express interest -- but both fighters' camps have shown more interest in the nation's capital. Tyson left his training base in Hawaii to appear before the commission and submit to the doctors' examinations last week. Lewis has begun the process to apply for a license, and his representatives were in town at the end of last week. Local support has been steady. Mayor Anthony Williams endorsed the fight because the city's tourism trade needs a boost. MCI Center owner Abe Pollin gave his approval after Williams guaranteed "a safe environment" for the 20,000-seat arena. There has been opposition, some of it unexpected. The Greater Washington Board of Trade, whose members stand to gain from a weekend's worth of out-of-town visitors, has written a letter to be read at the hearing telling the commission that the city's "respect for ethics and athletics are more important than any speculative financial return the Tyson fight would bring the city." "The mayor, residents and business community have all worked too hard to improve the city's image to risk tarnishing it on a fight like this," board spokeswoman Mary Anne Reynolds said Monday. Opponents cite Tyson's volatile personal and professional track record, which kept him from getting a license in Nevada in January and has caused him to be rebuffed several times in recent weeks in his worldwide search for a place to fight WBC-IBF champ Lewis. Tyson's past includes a three-year prison sentence for rape, a one-year sentence for a road rage assault and a one-year boxing suspension for biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a fight. Nevada's decision to deny Tyson a license came after a melee at a news conference to promote what would have been a Tyson-Lewis fight April 6 in Las Vegas. Brown's usual response is that the potential economic benefit to the city outweighs the risk of having Tyson fight. He has heard the arguments so many times that it makes the public hearing almost superfluous. "Since the whole process started four weeks ago, we've heard from all groups from all across the region," Brown said."I don't think we'll hear anything radically different at the hearing, but we have a duty and a responsibility to make sure people are heard publicly." <SPACER type="block" height="1" width="501">
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