Nevada Senate approves biting bill

 CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The Nevada Senate moved quickly Wednesday to approve a bill that would let the Nevada Athletic Commission seize all of a boxer's purse for biting opponents or other foul behavior.
 The money would go to a fund for abused and neglected children.
 Lawmakers said they were shocked by Mike Tyson's ear-biting attack on Evander Holyfield during Saturday's heavyweight title fight. Once they determined they had jurisdiction over the penalties, they endorsed harsh sanctions on boxers who behave in an unsportsmanlike manner.
 Two of the 21 senators voted against the measure.
 Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said the bill hadn't been well thought out and several provisions could contain unforeseen problems. Coffin also wanted the funds to go to the fighter's families and to pay the medical bills of brain-damaged boxers.
 Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, called the bill an attempt to punish the top boxers who are often black or Hispanic.
 The measure provoked bitter debate on the Senate floor by many lawmakers who called the introduction of the bill "sound-bite legislation" and a publicity-seeking move.
 But by the time the bill came up for a final vote, most of its opponents had reversed their positions.
 Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she changed her vote after talking with a friend who was a former chief of the athletic commission.
 He told Titus the commission already had planned to approach lawmakers and request a toughening of the laws regarding inappropriate behavior in the ring because of the rise of such actions in recent years.
 The commission was thrilled to see lawmakers move quickly when the issue gained international attention, she said.
 If the bill passes in the closing days of the 1997 Legislature, it couldn't be applied retroactively to Tyson.
 It would give the commission the authority to take the full purse if a boxer violates standards listed in official contracts signed by a boxer before a fight.
 Those would include decisions by a referee or the commission that a fighter or manager entered into a contract in bad faith, agreed to throw a fight, didn't honestly compete, or committed "an act detrimental to the interest of boxing."
 The change will bring Nevada's statutes into compliance with boxing contracts and will define for the commission the behavior deserving of a penalty.
 Under current laws, the commission can withhold up to 10 percent of the purse or $250,000, whichever is greater, for violations of fight rules. In Tyson's case, that would amount to just under $3 million.