LONDON, July 1: Mike Tyson's chomping of Evander Holyfield's ear during their fight on Saturday has cast a shadow over the world of boxing. But it is not the first time that sport has been besmirched by excessive violence.Following are some other ugly sporting moments: Tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back just below the left shoulder blade by Guenther Parche, a fan of rival Steffi Graf, on April 30, 1993, while competing in a tournament in Hamburg. Seles, ranked world number one at the time, was out of action for two years and 3-1/2 months. Parche received a suspended sentence which a German court later declined to overturn. Soccer star Eric Cantona launched a flying `kung-fu' style kick at an abusive Crystal Palace fan while playing an English league match for Manchester United in 1995. Cantona was banned from soccer for eight months. He was given a two-week prison sentence, reduced on appeal to 120 hours community service. South African rugby player Johan le Roux bit All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick's ear during a Test match played at Wellington in 1994. Le Roux was banned for 18 months and never played for South Africa again. He said he would have felt better about the suspension if he had bitten Fitzpatrick's ear right off. A kick in the face during a 1993 Rugby Union Test match against the All Blacks left England centre Phil de Granville with horrific face injuries. None of the All Blacks were punished. De Granville's Bath team mate Jonathan Callard needed 27 stitches in his face after Elandre van der Bergh raked him during a 1993 England tour match in South Africa. Van der Berg escaped punishment because the South African Rugby Football Union could not prove his act was ``wilful''. Tonya Harding and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, were both punished after the brutal clubbing on the knee of her Olympic rival Nancy Kerrigan during the US figure skating championships in 1994. The assault knocked Kerrigan out of the championship but did not stop her from coming back to win silver in the Winter Olympics the following month.When Harding was found to have hindered the investigation into the crime she was ordered to pay $ 160,000 in fines and penalties, perform 500 hours of community service and give up her competitive career. Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison and Harding's bodyguard to 18 months in prison.In a desperate attempt to keep his World Championship title hopes alive, Ayrton Senna cut inside race leader Alain Prost at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, provoking a crash which sent both cars off the track. Senna needed to win the race to stay in the running for the World title, and though he rejoined to race to cross the line first - while Prost was forced to retire - he was disqualified and Prost took the title. Senna was also fined $ 100,000 and given a six-month ban for dangerous driving.Basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman kicked a courtside cameraman after he tripped over him while stumbling out of court in January this year. Rodman was suspended for 11 games, fined $ 25,000 and ordered to see a counsellor because of the incident.Ice hockey hit man Dale Hunter left Pierre Turgeon suffering from a consussion and a separated right shoulder after he sent him crashing into the boards with a vicious blindside check as the New York Islanders' star celebrated scoring a goal during an NHL game in 1993. Hunter was suspended for 21 games and fined $ 15,000.Nineteen-year-old Italian ice hockey player Miran Schrott collapsed and died after Giacinto `Jimmy' Boni hit him in the chest with his stick during a second division match in 1992. Boni was convicted of manslaughter and fined $ 1,800 in lieu of a three-month prison sentence. A temporary ban was soon lifted by the Italian Ice Hockey Federation and he was playing again within months of the incident. Argentinian football ace Diego Maradona shot and wounded with an air rifle six journalists besieging him outside his mansion in 1994. Maradona last year offered the journalsits a total of $ 10,000 in compensation which they rejected. An Argentinian state prosecutor requested Maradona be jailed for four years but the case has yet to be settled.
