Bankrupt brawler
August 4 2003

Troubled boxing champ Mike Tyson, once estimated to be worth at least $US300 ($463.82) million, has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to bring some order to his finances, his lawyer said today.

Tyson, currently facing assault and disorderly conduct charges stemming from a scuffle in a Brooklyn hotel in June, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, according to his attorney Debra Grassgreen.

The one-time heavyweight boxing champion - who served three years in prison in the mid-1990s on a rape conviction and was suspended from professional boxing for biting the ears of heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield during a 1997 bout - opted for bankruptcy after years of financial mismanagement and free spending habits that saw him squander hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings.

According to media reports, Tyson amassed and spent between $US300 million ($463.82 million) and $US500 million ($773.04 million).

“As a professional fighter, who relied on others to manage his affairs, he discovered that his debts far exceeded his assets,” today’s New York Post quoted Grassgreen as saying.

“Now, he has taken the lead in bringing order to his financial affairs.”

Tyson, nicknamed “Iron Mike,” also blames ring promoter Don King for his financial ills, the Post said.

Tyson has a $US100 million ($154.61 million) lawsuit pending against King that goes to trial in September, claiming King cheated him out of millions after he got out of prison in 1995 and went back to fighting for the promoter.

Tyson’s financial outlook has been deteriorating for some time and media reports have speculated for over a year that he would have to file for bankruptcy due to mounting legal fees and lavish spending on a series of homes and cars as well as clothing, jewellery and even pets such as pigeons, cats and tigers.

In 2002 he claimed lack of funds prevented him from paying estranged wife Monica Turner Tyson $US10 million ($15.46 million) in a divorce settlement.

During the divorce proceedings it was reported that Tyson had spent $US9 million ($13.91 million) on legal fees alone from 1995 to 1997, as well as $US230,000 ($355,600) on pagers and cell phones, $US410,000 ($633,900) on a birthday party, $US8,100 ($12,500) for the care of his pet tigers and $US65,000 ($100,000) for limousine services alone.

Tyson has also alleged his ex-wife failed to send a promised multi-million dollar payment to the Internal Revenue Service and that Turner squandered millions on a lavish lifestyle.

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