Mike Tyson may have cost the MGM Grand millions of dollars by biting Evander Holyfield's ears, but that fight will not stop the hotel from being host to future bouts.
Tyson might not be involved in any of them, however, despite a contract he has with the MGM that calls for one more fight. Tyson cannot box for at least a year and the hotel's relationship with promoter Don King reportedly is strained."There is no doubt we're going to remain in the fight business," MGM president Alex Yemenidjian said. "The fight business is here to stay and the MGM Grand is here to stay."
Yemenidjian's comments were the first to address the resort's boxing future since the June 28 heavyweight title fight that came to a chaotic end when Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield's right ear, then bit him on the other ear.
Panicked customers who thought they heard gunshots later forced the closure of the casino for two hours the night of the fight, which normally would have been a lucrative time for the hotel.
It was not the first disturbance at the hotel after a Tyson fight. Rapper Tupac Shakur and his entourage got into a fight at the hotel following Tyson's win over Bruce Seldon last September, and a short time later Shakur was fatally shot on a nearby street.
"What we need to figure out is how to overcome the unpleasant events we had to deal with," Yemenidjian said. "Once we do that, the long term prospects are good for boxing."
Under a six-fight contract signed by the MGM with King and Tyson following the boxer's release from prison in 1995, the hotel is still owed one Tyson fight.
With Tyson banned from boxing for at least a year, though, it would be at least fall 1998 before that final fight could be held. Yemenidjian said the contract the hotel has with King precludes him from discussing future Tyson plans.
Under the deal, King got an interest-free loan of $15 million to buy MGM stock at $24.25 a share. King repaid the loan out of gate receipts at a rate of $5 million per fight from the first three Tyson fights at the hotel.
The MGM agreed under the deal to guarantee the stock would be worth at least $30 million, or $48.50 a share, by March 31, 1998.
MGM executives are seeking a buyer for the 618,500 shares set aside for King, which are in an escrow account. MGM stock has been trading in the $35-a-share range recently, meaning, the hotel would have to make up the difference to King.
On Thursday, the MGM announced record earnings for the quarter ending June 30, but said they would have been even better had the fight not ended like it did.