As a rule, fight promoters are all about making bucks, not social statements.

They peddle entertainment and violence, not redeeming values.

Which is why it is interesting to note the real possibility mixed-martial arts promoter T. Jay Thompson said he may withhold headliner Jason "Mayhem" Miller from a scheduled Feb. 18 card at Blaisdell Arena.

Miller, who is on probation for an aggravated assault conviction in Atlanta, has been charged with first-degree burglary here amid an allegation he kicked down the door of an ex-girlfriend's Nu'uanu apartment last month. A preliminary hearing is scheduled today.

If sufficient cause is found to order Miller to stand trial, the best and, indeed, the prudent course of action would be to withhold him from the announced bout with Robby Lawler until the charges have been addressed. As a statement-making move on the promoter's part, it would be as refreshing as it would be rare.

It would be more of a stunner than anything you're likely to see in the ring Feb. 18. History suggests as long as a fighter can step into the ring, it is a rare promoter who lets anything get in the way. And promoters who, as Thompson maintains, "are looking out for the kid (Miller)" and the sport, are beyond rare.

As Bobby Lee, who has spent a half-century with the Hawai'i State Boxing Commission, puts it, "if all the guys who have been in trouble got kicked out, you'd never have a fight."

Promoters do not KO their meal tickets. If anything, Miller's presence on the card has the likelihood of building up the box office. Sad to say, but the allegation of having knocked down a door is probably worth an additional 1,000 in ticket sales.

Witness Mike Tyson and a long line of fighters who have been in trouble with the law. Their notoriety only made them bigger curiosities and more marketable.

Without a regulatory group looking over his shoulder, Thompson has nobody to answer to except his own conscience and business interests. And in his line of work the two rarely collide. As Thompson put it, "(for) promoters in general — and I'm one of them — our job is to be almost slimy. It is like it is part of the job (description)."

In Thompson's case, you figure enlightened self-interest figures into the package, too. "I'm in it for the long money; not the short money," he says. "There are parents and kids, people we want on board in this sport for the long-run success."

Still, for all its merit, consider it a remarkable upset if Miller isn't in the ring Feb. 18.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.