It’s Tyson Vs. The Ringling Bros., Act Ii

Madonna won’t be there this time and you can’t buy a $1,500 ringside seat. Still, the circus atmosphere surrounding Mike Tyson’s penalty hearing Wednesday figures to rival that of his fight with Evander Holyfield.

An overflow crowd of media and those simply wanting to get a glimpse of Tyson are expected at the Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing, where Tyson will learn the severity of his punishment for biting Holyfield’s ears.

With only 327 seats available in the Las Vegas City Hall council chambers, media credentials are being issued for the hearing and spectators are expected to line up early to get a chance to watch the spectacle.

What they see may be briefer than the fight itself, assuming Tyson goes ahead with his plan not to fight sanctions from the commission.

“We’re anticipating it being less than 15 or 20 minutes for the whole matter,” said Joe Rolston, the Nevada deputy attorney general prosecuting the case against Tyson.

Sources close to Tyson say the former heavyweight champion will attend the hearing, though he is not required to be there. Tyson will likely plead for the commission not to ban him for life from boxing, essentially throwing himself on the mercy of the court.

Rolston is seeking revocation of Tyson’s boxing license, a recommendation the commission almost surely will follow so it can fine him up to $3 million, or 10 percent of the purse he would have earned for fighting Holyfield.

The real question is when Tyson will be allowed to apply for a license again. Though the five commissioners have been tight-lipped, the widespread consensus is that Tyson faces being banned from boxing from 18 months to two years.

Hilton bails out on fight

The junior bantamweight title fight between fierce rivals Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero will go on next week, although it may not be at the Las Vegas Hilton, one of the promoters vowed Monday.

Asked if the fight was still on, promoter Cedric Kushner said: “Absolutely.”

“At this point, I can only tell you it will be in Las Vegas,” Kushner said by telephone from New York.

Earlier Monday, the Las Vegas Hilton said the July 18 fight had been canceled in a dispute over insurance and that ticket refunds would be made.

The Hilton said it canceled because of the failure of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to “provide a certificate of insurance to the Hilton.”

A spokeswoman for Arum, who promotes Tapia’s fights, said Arum was traveling on a press tour with Oscar De La Hoya and was not immediately available for comment.

The much-anticipated battle between Tapia, the WBO champion, and Romero, the IBF titleholder, has long been sold out in the 6,340-seat Hilton convention arena.

Kushner, the promoter for Romero, said officials at the Hilton had apparently become concerned in the turmoil that followed the June 28 heavyweight title fight when Mike Tyson was disqualified after he bit Evander Holyfield twice at the MGM Grand.

Both Tapia (40-0-2, 24 knockouts) and Romero (30-1, 27 knockouts) grew up in Albuquerque and their intense mutual dislike has made the unification bout a ring natural.

Ali scoffs at Tyson

What’s Muhammad Ali’s idea of a good joke? Imagining a fight between himself and Mike Tyson.

In the July 14 issue of The New Yorker magazine, Ali is asked whether Tyson could have beaten him.

“Don’t make me laugh,” replied the former heavyweight champion, who then broke into laughter. “Tyson don’t have it. He don’t have it.”

To dispel any doubt about what “it” is, Ali pointed to his head.

The 55-year-old Ali retired from boxing in 1981.

WBA drops Tyson from rankings

Mike Tyson was dropped from the WBA rankings after causing an international uproar by biting Holyfield’s ears during their WBA heavyweight title fight June 28.

The sanctioning body, headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, said it dropped Tyson because of WBA regulations that stipulate no boxer who has been suspended by a local commission can be rated by the organization.

“We are acting in solidarity with the commission of Las Vegas,” said Alberto Sarmiento, one of seven members of the WBA rankings committee.

South Africa’s Francois Botha took Tyson’s No. 1 position in the WBA rankings.