C.J.: Mike Tyson showcases referee skills

Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson had to referee a weigh-in Thursday.

Tyson's Iron Mike Productions is a promoter of tonight's nationally televised ESPN's Friday Night Fights card taking place at Target Center.

After getting his local media commitments out of the way, Tyson presided over the weigh-ins held Thursday at Pour House, where a couple of his charges got a little chippy while posing for pictures.

There's startribune.com/video of Tyson having to separate super featherweights Dennis Galarza, of Orlando, Fla. and Celiel Castillo, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who is making his pro debut.

I think Galarza pushed first, but I wouldn't swear to it. Tyson encouraged the fighters to focus their attentions on the audience instead of each other.

Galarza and Castillo are both so pretty, although they would probably prefer the word handsome, it's a shame they've decided on a career path that may take a toll on their looks.

I asked one of the promoters, Leon Margules, president of Warriors Boxing, if Galarza and Castillo disliked each other?

"They just met!" Margules said with a laugh. "You know, when guys get ready for a fight, their nerves are on edge."

When my nerves are on edge, it raises my body temperature.

That apparently didn't happen for Castillo, despite his heat for Galarza. My camera was not rolling the first time Castillo headed out into the cold, which caused him to recoil and come running back inside making all kinds of unboxer-like sounds.

I did, however, capture his eventual profanity-laced run to the van that was picking him up later. He was cursing the cold, not me, although I made big fun of how he was handling the weather.

Castillo, whose face, teeth and ears are just flawless right now, also insisted to me: "I know him, he's Dennis Galarza. And he's [going to] know me. He's going to know who this Puerto Rican guy is."

It'll be interesting to see who wins this bout.