Tyson should tell all at hearing

 LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mike Tyson might be better off leaving his lawyers and handlers at home when Nevada boxing regulators meet to determine his fate for biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear.
 The chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission said Wednesday there's only one person who can explain what happened in the ring that night -- Tyson himself.
 "I really think there's only one guy who has to justify his actions in the ring and that's Mike Tyson," Dr. Elias Ghanem said. "I don't want to press anything and tell him he has to show up, but we are relly talking about Mike Tyson here."
 Tyson signed papers Wednesday allowing the commission to go ahead with a meeting next week where he could face a lifetime ban from boxing along with a $3 million fine.
 Tyson has said he will not fight the sanctions, but pleaded earlier this week to be allowed to box again when the commission meets at 9:15 a.m. PDT July 9 at the Las Vegas City Hall.
 "I only ask that I not be penalized for life for this mistake," Tyson said.
 Tyson, his lawyers and promoter Don King remained quiet Wednesday, but sources indicated that the plans are for Tyson to appear before the commission at the hearing and ask for leniency.
 The state attorney general's office asked for the revocation of Tyson's boxing license in its formal complaint, a legal move that allows the commission to impose its stiffest fine, 10 percent of Tyson's $30 million purse.
 If Tyson's license were revoked, he would have to wait at least a year before reapplying, but the commission has the authority to make that even longer. A suspension could be up to five years with a maximum fine of $250,000.
 Ghanem said that any speculation about possible penalties is just that. He said he hasn't discussed Tyson's fate with any of the other four commissioners, and won't until the hearing, which is tentatively set for Wednesday.
 "I'm not the type that would stand for a secret deal and I don't know how we could do a secret deal," Ghanem said. "It's pure speculation from everyone that isn't involved. There is no done deal and there won't be one."
 However, if the way the commission handled Oliver McCall's quitting in the ring during his heavyweight title fight with Lennox Lewis in February is any indication, Tyson figures to face more than a year out of boxing.
 McCall has agreed to a one-year suspension for quitting against Lewis, but commissioners have said they view Tyson's biting of Holyfield as more serious.
 Joe Rolston, a deputy attorney general prosecuting the case, said the state doesn't plan to call any witnesses during the hearing and will simply play the tape of the fight for commissioners.
 "It's not a situation where we need to find a smoking gun," Rolston said. "The tape speaks for itself."
 If Tyson changed his mind and decided to fight the sanctions, Rolston said the scope of the hearing will enlarge dramatically.
 "Its different in this case because Mr. Tyson has said he won't be resisting," Rolston said. "If that changes, we would have a full blown hearing with witnesses and everything else."
 Ghanem said he wants to hear from Tyson himself, whose only comments so far came during a 4-minute and 16-second statement Monday in which he said he "just snapped" when he bit Holyfield twice during the third round of their heavyweight title fight Saturday night.
 "It's good sometimes to say, 'Hey, I want to explain,"' Ghanem said. "We might have some questions for him. Right now we've only heard from a press conference and from what everyone else is saying."
 A spokesman for Don King, meanwhile, said the normally talkative promoter would remain quiet until the hearing, which he would probably attend to show support for Tyson.
 Mike arley said King did not want to interfere with the commission's penalty process.
 "Don's feeling is that it is in the hands of the commission and until that is resolved he won't be talking," Marley said.