MIKE TYSON, who just a few days ago was lamenting that he sometimes felt everyone in the world was against him, may soon discover that he was right. As the snarling two time heavyweight champion left the MGM Grand Garden Arena in disgrace following Saturday night's disqualification loss to Evander Holyfield, his once adoring fans pelted him with invective, rubbish and stale beer. Tyson responded by angrily shaking his fist at the crowd.

Given his own shaky medical history and Tyson's fearsome reputation, it should not have been startling that Holyfield would wind up in hospital following the fight, but who could have guessed he would be there as plastic surgeons worked feverishly to reattach a segment of his right ear, which Tyson had bitten off and spat into the ring?

Holyfield successfully defended his World Boxing Association title when referee Mills Lane disqualified Tyson after the challenger had twice deliberately bitten Holyfield during the third round.

Somewhere along the line, what had been billed as a morality play pitting good against evil was transformed into a cautionary tale which had more to do with civilised and uncivilised behaviour.

Tyson's $30 million purse was withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which will act to suspend his boxing licence at an emergency meeting tomorrow.

While it is doubtful that the commission had the authority to keep the entire amount barring exceptional circumstances, the maximum fine allowable by statute would be $300,000, a piddling one per cent of Saturday's earnings - that could represent a drop in the bucket compared to the other penalties Tyson might face.

Beyond losing his right to practice his trade, he could also face civil action on Holyfield's part. There is also the possibility that Tyson's action could be construed as criminal in nature, in which case it could in turn constitute a parole violation that might even send him back to prison.

Suffice it to say that the least surprised person in the whole world was probably Desiree Washington, the young Rhode Island woman Tyson raped six years ago.

Saturday night's rematch began in much the manner of its predecessor, last November's fight in which Holyfield engineered his monumental upset. In an effort to smother Tyson's rapid charges and neutralise his lightning like combinations, Holyfield was quick to wrap Tyson into what looked like complicated wrestling holds at every opportunity. At times it looked as if Lane would need a crowbar to separate the two.

When a fight is engaged at such close quarters, there is the ever present danger of a clash of heads, and this one wasn't long in coming. Early in the second round, Tyson came straight ahead just as Holyfield, bending low from the waist, rose to embrace him yet again, Holyfield's forehead caught Tyson on the side of his right eye, opening a cut which immediately spurted blood. Lane immediately signalled that the damage had come as the result of an unintentional head butt," meaning that had the fight subsequently been stopped as a result of Tyson's wound it would have been either ruled a technical draw (in the first three rounds) or the result would have gone to the judges' scorecards.

Tyson, apparently dissatisfied with the interpretation, decided to take matters into his own hands, settling it the same way such matters used to be resolved back at the Indiana Youth Facility where he served his prison sentence. Indeed, when the bell sounded to begin the third, Tyson reported for battle sans gumshield, an oversight which was noted by Holyfield and reported to Lane, who ordered the mouthpiece put back in.