DC ruling possible Tuesday on Tyson boxing license

Mike Tyson could find out on Tuesday if Washington officials will give him a license to fight heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis despite concerns Tyson's past legal problems could give the nation's capital a black eye.

"We could (vote on the Tyson's application tomorrow), and I am hoping that we will, but the commission has the prerogative and the authority to table (postpone)it," said Gina Douglas, spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which works with the city's boxing and wrestling commission.

"I think most people would love for this (to end) so we could just move on for whatever happens next," she said.

If the three-member panel grants the license, Tyson could meet Lewis for a June 8 bout at Washington's MCI Center.

Tyson, 35, a former heavyweight champion, who has served a prison term for rape and once was suspended from boxing for biting his opponent's ear, had been set to fight Lewis in April in Las Vegas.

But Nevada's athletic commission refused to renew Tyson's license after he and Lewis brawled during a January news conference in New York.

Even if the Washington commission votes to reject Tyson's application, the boxer has already been granted a license in Tennessee, and promoters in Michigan are considering doing the same.

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams and others have lobbied to bring the fight to Washington, citing a potential financial windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Several groups, including the National Council of Women's Organizations, have urged local officials to block the fight.

If the license is granted, "we would join with (D.C. business) and church groups who have expressed opposition for the fight not to be held and raise public awareness that it is not good for the city nor does it make a positive statement about violence toward women," said Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, which represents about 150 U.S women groups.

Burk said it was unlikely opponents could challenge the commission's decision in court because "what they are doing is perfectly legal."

Tyson's boxing career has been riddled with legal troubles inside and outside the ring. In 1992, he was convicted of raping a Miss Black America contestant. In 1997, Tyson was banned for a year after he bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a world title fight.