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More cause for concern Government alarmed about Tyson's medication
Posted: Wednesday May 24, 2000 05:39 PM
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- The chief medical officer for British boxing is unaware Mike Tyson takes antidepressants and says the former heavyweight champion must be off the medication for a fight next month in Scotland. "No professional boxer in the UK is allowed to box with medication," Adrian Whiteson of the British Boxing Board was reported as saying. "I will want to know chapter and verse about what he's taking and why he's taking it." Tyson has been taking medication for about two years and has had three fights in that period, facing Francois Botha, Orlin Norris and Julius Francis. It is believed, however, Tyson goes off his antidepressants before he fights. "It's not illegal in Nevada, but it's not performance-enhancing, that's for sure," Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, said Wednesday from Las Vegas. Tyson's last fight was in Manchester, England, on Jan. 29, when he knocked out Francis. Dr. Flip Homansky, chairman of the medical advisory board for the Nevada commission, agreed the antidepressant is not a performance enhancer. "But I do think they should be up front and tell what drugs he is using wherever he fights," he said. It was not clear why the issue of Tyson's medication is being raised now when there were no questions for the Francis bout. At a jail hearing in Maryland in 1999, Tyson's wife, a physician, said her husband was taking the drug Zoloft to combat depression. Tyson has been granted a visa to enter Britain for his June 24 bout against Lou Savarese in Glasgow, Scotland, amid protests from women's groups and some lawmakers regarding his criminal past. The boxing board also has granted him a license. However, Whiteson, a doctor and respected figure in boxing medical matters, has the power to prevent the fight from going forward. "I certainly wasn't aware Tyson was on medication," Whiteson said. "But now it has been raised. We will certainly want to know all the facts and see where we go." The Tyson fight was debated in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Wednesday, with lawmakers renewing their condemnation of Home Secretary Jack Straw for letting him in Britain. "With Tyson the message is that no matter what the crime, the level of violence, the fact that your behavior has included rape, a crime right up there with murder, you can go on, live your life, make megabucks, be a hero, be surrounded with all the trappings of success and gain preferential treatment from officialdom," Roseanna Cunningham told fellow Scottish MPs. She said allowing Tyson into Britain sent the wrong message to young people about violence against women. "If we do not challenge that head-on in every way we can, then we collude by default in that image," Cunningham said. Her remarks came on the same day tickets for the fight officially went on sale. Promoters said more than 20,000 of the expected 60,000 seats have been bought.
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