Tyson ban is hardly sufficient

Mike Tyson has received the toughest possible penalty from the relevant governing body for biting his opponent Evander Holyfield on the ear during their June 28 heavyweight title bout. The NSAC not only chose to revoke, rather than suspend, his license, but also fined him the maximum sum of US$3 million, 10 percent of his purse for the fight.

But that is not enough. Tyson may be boxing's biggest money machine and, as New Jersey Athletic Commission chief Larry Hazard put it, "an integral part of boxing", but if the sport is to retain any legitimacy, any respect, it is going to have to do without him. His attorney is saying the one-year minimum ban period is Tyson's total penalty, after he has done his time that should be it. But it is not enough, for reasons that extend beyond Tyson as an individual.

There are many reasons to apply special rules to public figures, but that most relevant to Tyson is that role models must live up to appropriate standards. Sports people are role models to children and young people all around the world; their demeanor and behavior is admired and imitated, as indicated by their popularity with advertisers. Yet with his latest action, his expression of total contempt for the rules, not only of boxing but of civilized behavior, Tyson showed just what a totally inappropriate role model he is.

-- The Bangkok Post