Boxing: Tyson rethinks return

MIKE TYSON last night withdrew his application for a New Jersey boxing licence, hours before regulators were to rule on it, and instead asked Nevada for another chance to fight.

The reason for the sudden change was not immediately known. Tyson's lawyer, Anthony Fusco Jr, said he was told by a member of the boxer's camp to withdraw the application. "The message was from Mr Tyson that he has decided to withdraw his application," Fusco said.

Marc Ratner, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, which banned Tyson last year for biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a fight in Las Vegas, said he received a letter from Tyson's adviser, Shelly Finkel, yesterday asking the commission to give the boxer a new licence. The commission will meet within three weeks to discuss the application.

Instead of reapplying in Nevada after a mandatory one-year wait, Tyson had asked the New Jersey state Athletic Control Board to let him return to the ring in that state, a move criticized by some as an attempt to sidestep Nevada's ban. The New Jersey board would have announced its decision today.