DATE: Monday, June 30, 1997                 TAG: 9706300166

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

THE TOOTH BE TOLD, WITH TYSON AROUND, DON'T TURN THE CHEEK

Anatomically speaking, sports has never seen anything quite like the bizarre ending to the fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

What did we learn from this apparently unprecedented incident, in which Tyson was disqualified after biting Holyfield in the ear twice in the third round?

We learned that something happened in the fight that put Tyson's nose out of joint. And that he does not have ice water in his veins.

We saw that by trying to van Gogh Holyfield, Tyson forced referee Mills Lane to put his foot down.

Lane is a veteran. He is not wet behind the ears.

Lane shook an accusing finger at the hot-headed Tyson, whereby Tyson found himself in trouble up to his knees.

Not even Tyson supporters - the bleeding hearts - will be able to lend a helping hand this time. Boxing, for now, is content to give Tyson the cold shoulder.

If this were any other sport, Tyson would be thrown out on his, uh, ear. Or some other piece of his anatomy.

Will that happen to Tyson? Maybe. Maybe not. A week-kneed boxing commissioner may decide to turn the other cheek.

This is boxing, after all. In time, someone likely will give Tyson another chance to show us that he's got his head screwed back on.

Whereas the champion, Holyfield, kept his nose to the grindstone for this fight, Tyson had the gall to enter the ring prepared to do whatever it took if his iron fists couldn't get the job done.

Our hearts go out to Holyfield, who deserved to retain the title in a more dignified manner, assuming there is any dignity still involved in the fight game.

There was none in the postfight melee that followed Tyson's disqualification. Down at the mouth for losing the fight, Tyson vented his spleen.

Afterward, Tyson's people claimed that their fighter's outrageous behavior was precipitated by a head butt from Holyfield in the second round. Holyfield's head cut Tyson in the corner of his right eye. Whereby Tyson set out for revenge, Old Testament-style, but with a twist: an ear for an eye.

By now, there has been a free-for-all of amateur psychologists weighing in on the subject of why Tyson self-destructed.

Did he get cold feet?

Is he faint-hearted?

Maybe, despite his menacing visage, Tyson is lily-livered.

Tyson has always worn his heart on his sleeve, so, in time, perhaps he will tell us that he has shouldered the responsibility for this outlandish embarrassment.

For now, Tyson's multimillion-dollar purse is being held up. This is what he gets for biting the hand that feeds him.

So far, few have seen eye-to-eye with Tyson, though it is still early, and not everyone, including silver-tongued Don King, has been fully heard on the subject.

In the next few days, we are bound to get another earful.

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