Troubled boxing champ Mike Tyson, once estimated to be worth at least US$300 million, has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to bring some order to his finances, his lawyer said on Sunday.

Troubled boxing champ Mike Tyson, once estimated to be worth at least $300 million, has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to bring some order to his finances, his lawyer said August 3, 2003. Tyson leaves a news conference in New York on Jan. 22, 2002. [Reuters]

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 on Friday, 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 burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings.

According to media reports, Tyson amassed and spent between $300 million and $500 million.

"As a professional fighter, who relied on others to manage his affairs, he discovered that his debts far exceeded his assets," Sunday'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 $100-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, jewelry 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 $10 million in a divorce settlement.

During the divorce proceedings it was reported that Tyson had spent $9 million on legal fees alone from 1995 to 1997, as well as $230,000 on pagers and cell phones, $410,000 on a birthday party, $8,100 for the care of his pet tigers and $65,000 for limousine services alone.

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

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+China's richest village: It takes brains and guts ( 2003-08-19) +Relief for indigent college students ( 2003-08-19) +Leaders meet Australian PM ( 2003-08-19) +New security official promises open mind ( 2003-08-19) +Government to rationalize auto sector ( 2003-08-19)		+Beckham is Collina's favourite player ( 2003-08-19) +The goal is unbelievable: Sun Jihai ( 2003-08-18) +Agassi, Clijsters top US Open seedings ( 2003-08-19) +Jamison goes from Warrior to Maverick in nine-man deal ( 2003-08-19) +I can handle the criticism, says Beckham ( 2003-08-19)