Sports Psychiatrist Supports Tyson Return

Dan Hecht
The Journal News
November 4, 1998

VALHALLA - Yesterday's reports that Mike Tyson is on the verge of returning to the ring against Francois Botha in January, met with unwavering approval from a leading sports psychiatrist who spoke last night at Westchester Community College.

"As long as it's not Evander Holyfield," Dr. Ronald Kamm said as he led a discussion in front of the Introduction to Boxing class. "Holyfield is a special case. He beat Tyson twice, and the second time, when Tyson was afraid of losing, Tyson lost control. That fight won't happen again."

Kamm, who emphatically said his analysis come strictly from careful secondhand observation and study, is an Adult and Adolescent Psychiatrist in private practice in New Jersey, and has led American Psychiatric Association symposiums on youth sports, including the impact of viewing sports violence on television.

"Mike is not my patient," Kamm said, "and you have to be careful to psychoanalyze someone from a distance." But between the Mass. General report being made public, and the recent interview in Playboy magazine, there is reliable information out there.

"There is no one reason why Tyson bit Holyfield's ear. When I read in the summary that Mike did get angry and had hostility toward some of the examiners during the evaluation . and then said to them that 'don't worry, I'm not going to do anything about it.' That showed control."

Yesterday, he repeatedly cited the Massachusetts General psychological report on Tyson's state of mind - a report that found Tyson fit to box and that led to the Nevada State Athletic Commission lifting its suspension of Tyson last month.

The class watched tape of the Holyfield-Tyson prefight and then the three-round June 1997 fight. Kamm said it was his third time seeing the biting and he still found it amazing, and very wrong.

"In Mike Tyson's world there is no No. 2," Kamm said. "He was upset about a head-butt, low blows and when he looked to the ref for support he didn't get it. A man like Mike grew up on the mean streets and is either dominant or very, very helpless. And when authority doesn't offer help, he feels he' s not in control . But what he did was very wrong."

Fred Kelly of White Plains, a student in the one-credit course taught by New York State Athletic Commission deputy commissioner Steve Acunto of Mount Vernon, is prepared for Tyson to return.

"I feel sorry for him," Kelly said. "If anything, I feel pity for him. I' ll probably watch his next flight; it depends on who he's fighting. If he fights Botha, I'll watch to see what Tyson has left. I grew up in a situation similar to Tyson, so I can relate more than most people. But I certainly can't condone what he did. But he's a good boxer, and I'll root for him if he can control fights the way he used to."

Kamm said boxing is not child's play.

"If your kids are going to watch it, you should watch it with them," he said. "Boxing is violent, but not more so than the commercials kids see, where the violence goes unpunished. That's another reason I feel Tyson will be different. He understands risk and reward. He was punished.

"I think he knew if he had lost to Holyfield by boxing, he would've probably been done. By doing what he did, he may not have lost as much as he might've."