LAS VEGAS, Jan 30: Nevada state officials denied Mike Tyson a boxing licence on Tuesday, thereby barring his planned April 6 fight with Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted 4-1 to reject Tyson’s licence bid at the end of a three-hour hearing in which they grilled the boxer repeatedly over his scandal-marred career, and after he failed to convince them that he deserved another chance.

“I’m not Mother Teresa, but I’m not Charles Manson either,” Tyson told them at one point. “Just treat me equally. I don’t care if you’ve got to ban me for life. Just ban someone else for doing the same thing.”—Reuters