License granted

Jet, March 11, 2002

License granted: Michael Brown, vice chairman of the D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission, speaks during a press conference in Washington to announce that the commission has granted Mike Tyson a boxing license. Dr. Arnold McKnight (1), commission chairman, looks on. The three-member commission unanimously approved the license as the first step in setting the stage for a possible bout against Lennox Lewis on June 8 at the MCI Center.

A public hearing will be held March 12, followed by a final vote, but Brown was confident the license would be granted. "We're expecting a lot of opposition, but we're expecting a lot of support," Brown said. Tyson has been looking for a boxing body--in the United States or abroad--that would permit him to fight WBC-IBF heavyweight champ Lewis. The bout was originally scheduled for April 6 in Las Vegas, but Nevada officials denied Tyson a license after an altercation with Lewis at a news conference in January (JET, Feb. 11).