Monitor: US comment on the lifting of Mike Tyson's

All the News of the World

THE VOLATILE and undeniably talented ex-champion is a strange character and easily the biggest draw in boxing. Promoters are drooling at the thought of a third Tyson-Holyfield bout that could break every box office record in boxing history. Tyson's supporters, who include such sports icons as Magic Johnson and Muhammad Ali, say he has suffered enough for the biting incident. Maybe they are right. "I am no schizophrenic and no manic depressant," Tyson explained. "I'm just me. I represent people, pimps, whores, prostitutes." With that kind of insight, he may be on the way to reform. But don't bet on it.

San Francisco Chronicle

GIVE TYSON a second chance. He read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in jail and now he figures he has paid his price. The anti-hero is harder to revere, but easier to forgive. Everyone deserves a second chance. OK, maybe a third or fourth. But in Tyson's case, when will we stop counting? Athletes often learn that they can be losers off the field as long as they are winners on it. So Tyson's reinstatement makes perfect sense. Better that he take out his pain between the ropes than in some night- club. He belongs in the boxing ring. It's the only place where he can truly be himself.

The Miami Herald

IT WAS nice to learn that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has reinstated Mike Tyson's license to commit mayhem in the ring. After all, it would have been disappointing if boxing's reputation for the absurd were marred by a rational decision on the part of its many governors. The most honest thing about boxing is that it concedes that the game is about money more than about sport. Without Mike Tyson's magnetic brutality, the game will not attract the revenue to which today's fighters have become addicted. So all is forgiven if only Mike Tyson will fight again and help restore boxing's reputation for sordidness. The game cannot well survive with even a hint of respectability. The very last thing boxing moguls want is a perception that the game has gone soft. They know they cannot survive the disgrace that ethical rules would bring to boxing. So Tyson returns, and everything is back to normal.

Philadelphia Inquirer