The United States is able to separate church and state. Apparently, the Boxing Hall of Fame voters are able to separate Boxing from bullshit. Or are they? Mike Tyson, along with Sylvester Stallone and the late Harry Carpenter were elected to the HOF this year. This is the best part……

All those knock-outs, all that drama, all those tickets and pay-TV subscriptions sold, even being on the wrong end of the greatest upset of all time when James Buster Douglas knocked him out in Tokyo, have weighed on the decision to put Tyson on the Hall of Fame ballot for 2011.

Not the rape conviction, not the biting of Holyfield’s ear, not the gruesome threats to drive opponent’s noses into their brains and devour their children, not the drug abuse, not the broken marriages, not the hundreds of millions squandered on fast cars, loose women and wealthy lawyers.

Obviously, some people are going to have an issue with this. Tyson’s life, for the most part, was a nightmare. The guy was good for some amazing interviews, but I guess at the end of the day there is no doubting his talent. If we look at this with a keen eye, they also elected Sylvester Stallone for his role in the Rocky movies. I guess the Boxing Hall of Fame likes characters.