Josh Bogorad

Amidst all the lawsuits, flashy knockouts, belts lost and recaptured, time spent in prison and any other obstacle that could be imagined, the stage was finally set to see Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis fight the heavyweight championship bout everyone wanted to see.

Tuesday afternoon, that stage came crumbling down, and instead the public was forced to bare witness to the sissified bite- and slap-fest that no one wanted to see.

In a publicity event for their upcoming April 6 bout, Tyson charged across the stage like the reckless bull that he is and confronted Lewis. After a second or two had passed, he took a shot at Lewis' bodyguard. Keeping in theme with his recent efforts in the ring, Tyson missed. A melee ensued with both entourages of the fighters throwing punches at each other while Tyson and Lewis laid somewhere submerged in the pile.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, and can't keep up with the fast-paced changing world, but I remember a time when the fights in the ring would be the ones people enjoyed seeing and talking about. These days, every fight press conference turns into a fight, and every boxing bout turns into a joke. It's not merely limited to heavyweights. Earlier this month, the Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas press conference went to blows as well.

And who could forget that epic battle between Lewis and Hasim Rahman? I'm certainly not talking about the title bout that Rahman forgot to show up for but rather I'm referring to the brawl on ESPN's "Up Close" that took place during an interview with the two fighters.

But now Tyson and Lewis may not even have a chance to bring that fury with them into the ring.

The press-conference quarrel between Lewis and Tyson may end up negating the fight entirely. Tyson is up for evaluation next week and is petitioning to be reinstated to fight in the state of Nevada. The commissioners now have their hands full trying to decide if Tyson is stable enough to fight in Nevada.

Now, I know Tyson has been through some low points in his life, but this has to rank down there near the bottom. Nevada has legalized gambling, prostitution and 24-hour alcohol sales, yet they may consider "Iron Mike" too much of a risk to fight there.

If Tyson does manage to get reinstated, the fight still isn't guaranteed to proceed. After the press conference Lewis questioned whether he even wants to fight Tyson anymore. Honestly, can you blame the champion? This is a man who, after swinging at everyone affiliated with Lewis, rose from the pile and had to be restrained as he yelled into the sea of reporters. Never one to mince words, Tyson was crystal clear in his tirade towards the crowd. He even extended an invitation to one of the members of the press to join him on stage.

"Come up here you (expletive) (expletive). I'll (expletive) you in the ass," Tyson exclaimed.

His comments were reminiscent of a post-fight interview more than a year ago when Tyson said, "I want to rip out (Lewis') heart. I want to eat his children."

In the wake of the press-conference debacle, reports surfaced that Tyson may have bitten Lewis on the leg during the scuffle. Whatever the reasoning for the bite, apparently old habits die hard. The current probation that Tyson is on dates back to his 1997 match against Evander Holyfield, in which he bit off a piece of Holyfield 's ear.

Wait a second. Can someone tell me one more time why Lennox Lewis might not want to face Tyson?

Now Tyson can only wait while his future is determined for him. In less than a week, the board will decide whether or not they will allow the fight. Shortly after, Lennox will decide if he will allow it. If this fight does get cancelled, maybe at least fighters will learn to save the fighting for the actual match. That may be asking a little too much, however. This is a sport where at one time Mike Tyson was considered to be a brilliant fighter. With Tyson being the measure of brilliance, it's hard to imagine boxers learning anything.