AUSTIN, Texas -- A state lawmaker said Mike Tyson should not be given a license to fight in Texas and questioned whether the boxer would be subject to arrest if he comes to the state.

"If I was his manager, I'd be looking for some place else to fight," said Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie.

Allen said Tyson, a convicted rapist, didn't register with Texas officials as a sex offender when he trained in San Antonio last spring.

"I think Tyson's toast in Texas," Allen said.

Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the San Antonio Police Department said Saturday they weren't familiar with the specifics of Tyson's case so couldn't comment on whether he could be arrested in Texas.

Tyson and Lennox Lewis were scheduled to fight for the heavyweight title in Las Vegas, but Nevada officials rejected Tyson's bid for a license.

Tyson applied Thursday for a license to fight in Texas, which hasn't hosted a heavyweight title bout in 20 years. Promoters in Michigan also are bidding to stage a fight there and Tyson also is expected to apply for a permit in California, and possibly Tennessee.

In Texas, Allen serves on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Department of Licensing and Regulation, the agency responsible for issuing boxing licenses. He also sits on the House Committee on Corrections, which deals with the state's prison system.

The person who will rule on Tyson's request is Bill Kuntz, the agency's executive director. He has declined comment.

Under state law, the Department of Licensing and Regulation is scheduled to expire in 2003 unless lawmakers decided to keep it.

"If I was the executive director of licensing, I think I'd come to a fairly speedy conclusion as to the political implications of that," Allen told the Austin American-Statesman.

Allen warned that Tyson could be arrested if he comes to Texas if he doesn't clear up questions over his sex-offender registration status.

"Mike Tyson's application for a boxing license in Texas faces some serious challenges," said Allen, who in 1997 co-sponsored legislation requiring the state to publish names and addresses of convicted sex offenders.

"Should he succeed .... he might find himself facing an even more serious challenge -- an arrest warrant on the airport tarmac," Allen said.

Officials with the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, the Astrodome in Houston and the Alamodome in San Antonio have expressed interest in hosting the fight.

Lester Bedford, the Fort Worth-based promoter working with Lewis' promoter, Main Events, defended Tyson's application.

"Texas has the best shot at licensing Tyson," Bedford said. "I don't think Texas can legally or constitutionally deny him. If he can pass the (physical) exam, the fact he has a criminal background, you can't use that against him."

Texas has licensed at least one convicted rapist in the past.

Tony Ayala Jr., was a top-ranked junior middleweight before he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for rape in New Jersey. Once released, he returned to Texas and has fought several bouts, including a victory over Santos Cardona last summer in San Antonio.

At the time, Ayala was awaiting trial on charges of felony charges of burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and wore an electronic ankle monitor during the fight.

Ayala ultimately pleaded guilty to illegally entering a home with the intent of assaulting two women. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 10 years of probation.