Mike Tyson Might Fight Croatia's Zeljko Mavrovic In Las Vegas
Barry Marjanovich
Tyson scheduled to fight in Las Vegas
By Simon Cambers / Bloomberg News
New York -- Boxer Mike Tyson will return to the ring on Oct. 2 against
an undetermined opponent, less than five months after the former
heavyweight champion's release from jail, one of his advisers said.
Tyson, 33, will fight at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, said
Shelly Finkel, Tyson's boxing adviser. Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello
Sport reported that Tyson's first fight will be against either Axel Schulz
of Germany or Zeljko Mavrovic of Croatia.
If Tyson wins, a second fight is scheduled for Dec. 11, Finkel said.
Tyson, who knocked out Francois Botha in the fifth round of his last
bout on Jan. 16, was freed on May 24 after serving less than four months of
a two-year sentence for assault stemming from an altercation following a
traffic accident in August.
The youngest-ever world champion at age 20 in 1986, Tyson unified the
International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Council and World Boxing
Organization titles a year later.
After losing all three titles to Buster Douglas in 1990, he served
three years for a rape conviction before being released in March 1995.
Tyson regained the WBC and IBF titles in 1996, only to lose to current
champion Evander Holyfield. He was then disqualified in their rematch in
June 1997 for biting Holyfield's ear.
Tyson was jailed Feb. 5 after pleading no contest to kicking one
motorist and punching another following a minor three-car accident in the
Washington suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Aug. 31.
He was given a two-year sentence, with one year suspended, and is on
parole until September after which he would be placed on two years
probation.