TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS OF MIKE TYSON
* 1978: Arrested for purse snatching as a 12-year-old in Brooklyn and sent to Tryon School for Boys.
* 1979: A boxing instructor at a New York State correction facility for boys brought Tyson to the attention of Cus D’Amato, who had guided Floyd Patterson to the heavyweight title.
* 1982: Expelled from Catskill High School for a series of transgressions.
* 1984: D’Amato becomes Tyson’s legal guardian.
* March 6, 1985: In his professional debut, Tyson defeats Hector Mercedes in one round.
* Nov. 4, 1985: D’Amato dies of pneumonia.
* Feb. 20, 1986: Tyson sexually propositions a sales clerk in an Albany, N.Y., shopping mall and becomes violent and abusive when she rebuffs him. Later the same night, he is ejected from a movie theater after a similar incident.
* Nov. 22, 1986: Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in the second round, winning the WBC heavyweight title to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20.
* March 3, 1987: Tyson defeats James “Bonecrusher” Smith at Las Vegas to win the WBA heavyweight title.
* May 30, 1987: Tyson knocks out Pinklon Thomas in the sixth round at Las Vegas to retain his WBA-WBC heavyweight titles.
* June 21, 1987: A parking lot attendant alleges Tyson tried to kiss a female employee and struck the male attendant. He is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and assault with a deadly weapon, and pays $105,000 to settle the case out of court.
* Aug. 1, 1987: Tyson decisions IBF champion Tony Tucker to unify heavyweight title.
* Oct. 16, 1987: Knocks out Tyrell Biggs in the seventh round in Atlantic City.
* Jan. 22, 1988: Knocks out Larry Holmes in the fourth round.
* Jan. 26, 1988: Named 1987 WBC boxer of the year.
* Feb. 9, 1988: Actress Robin Givens and Tyson marry in a civil ceremony at New York.
* March 20, 1988: Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs.
* March 25, 1988: Jim Jacobs, Tyson’s co-manager, is buried in Los Angeles. Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, demand access to Tyson’s money for a down payment on the $4.5-million home in Bernardsville, N.J.
* May, 1988: Dents his $183,000 Bentley convertible in a fender-bender in New York City and gives the slightly damaged car to two policemen, who later were suspended when their superiors found out.
* June 17, 1988: Givens and her family go public with tales of beatings by Tyson.
* June 27, 1988: Tyson sues manager Bill Cayton to break their contract, then knocks out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.
* July 11, 1988: Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor.
* July 27, 1988: Settles the Cayton suit out of court, reducing Cayton’s managerial share from one-third to 20% of purses.
* Aug. 23, 1988: Breaks a bone in his right hand in a 4 a.m. street brawl with pro fighter Mitch “Blood” Green in Harlem.
* Sept. 4, 1988: Tyson is knocked unconscious after driving his BMW into a tree. Three days later, the New York Daily News reports the accident was a “suicide attempt” caused by a “chemical imbalance” that made him violent and irrational.
* Sept. 12, 1988: Tyson sends tennis player Lori McNeil, an alleged victim of his violence, 1,000 roses to wish her luck in the U.S. Open.
* Sept. 21, 1988: Tyson threatens a TV reporter outside his Bernardsville, N.J., home and throws a Walkman at the camera crew.
* Sept. 30, 1988: Givens says in a nationally televised interview that Tyson is a manic-depressive and that she is afraid of him. Tyson sits meekly next to her.
* Oct. 2, 1988: Police go to Tyson’s Bernardsville home after he hurls furniture out the window and forces Givens and her mother to flee the house. Five days later, Givens files for divorce.
* Oct. 7, 1988: Givens files for divorce.
* Oct. 14, 1988: Tyson countersues Givens for divorce and annulment.
* Oct. 26, 1988: Trump bills Tyson $2 million for services rendered in his role as advisor. Tyson becomes partners with Don King.
* Nov. 16, 1988: Givens sues Tyson for $125 million, charging libel because of a New York Post story in which Tyson calls her and her mother, “the slime of the slime.”
* Nov. 23, 1988: Tyson again sues Cayton.
* Nov. 30, 1988: Tyson is sued for $92,000 by a Manhattan furrier for a Russian sable coat the furrier claims Tyson and Givens bought as a birthday gift for Givens’ mother.
* Dec. 12, 1988: Sandra Miller of New York sues Tyson for allegedly grabbing her, propositioning her and insulting her at a nightclub. A jury later finds Tyson guilty of battery, fining him only $100.
* Dec. 15, 1988: Lori Davis of New York sues Tyson for allegedly grabbing her buttocks while she was dancing at the same nightclub on the same night as the incident with Miller.
* Jan. 11, 1989: During a deposition in his lawsuit to oust Cayton as his manager, Tyson makes blatant sexual hand gestures and a sexually explicit statement to a female attorney.
* Feb. 14, 1989: Tyson and Givens are divorced in the Dominican Republic.
* Feb. 25, 1989: Tyson knocks out Frank Bruno to retain the world heavyweight title.
* March 27, 1989: Givens withdraws her $125-million libel suit against Tyson.
* April 9, 1989: Tyson is accused of striking a parking attendant three times with an open hand outside a Los Angeles nightclub after the attendant asked Tyson to move his Mercedes-Benz out of a spot reserved for the club’s owner. The charges are later dropped due to lack of witness cooperation.
* April 26, 1989: Gets a speeding ticket in downtown Albany for driving his 1989 Lamborghini 71 mph in a 30-mph zone while drag racing with a friend.
* May 5, 1989: Gets another speeding ticket in downtown Albany for driving his Lamborghini at an unspecified speed above the 30-mph limit, again while drag racing.
* June, 1989: Tyson and Givens’ divorce is finalized, and Tyson is fined $300 and sentenced to community service for speeding violations.
* July 21, 1989: Tyson knocks out Carl “The Truth” Williams to retain the world heavyweight title.
* Feb. 11, 1990: In a stunning upset, Tyson is knocked out by James “Buster” Douglas in the 10th round and loses his world heavyweight title.
* Aug. 17, 1990: Phyllis Polaner, former aide to Givens, sues Tyson for sexual assault and harassment. The suit is still pending.
* March 28, 1991: Tyson admits paternity of an 8-month-old girl born to Kimberly Scarborough of New York.
* June 28, 1991: In what would be his last fight before his legal problems, Tyson defeats Razor Ruddock in 12 rounds.
* July 18, 1991: Tyson meets Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, at a pageant rehearsal. They go to the boxer’s hotel room in the early morning hours.
* July 22, 1991: Washington files a complaint with police alleging Tyson raped her.
* Sept. 9, 1991: A special grand jury indicts Tyson on rape and three other charges. Two days later, he is booked in Indianapolis and released on $30,000 cash bond.
* Oct. 2, 1991: Natalie Fears files a $12-million palimony and paternity lawsuit in Los Angeles.
* Oct. 18, 1991: A Nov. 8 fight between Tyson and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is postponed because of a rib injury Tyson sustained while training.
* Jan. 7, 1992: Court-ordered blood test shows that Tyson is not the father of Natalie Fears’ son.
* Jan. 21, 1992: Judge denies motion to delay rape trial.
* Jan. 27, 1992: Rape trial begins with jury selection in Marion (Ind.) Superior Court.
* Jan. 30-31, 1992: Washington testifies.
* Feb. 7-8, 1992: Tyson testifies.
* Feb. 10, 1992: After nine hours of deliberation, Tyson is found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviate sexual conduct. The counts carry a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.
* March 26, 1992: Superior Court Judge Patricia Gifford sentences Tyson to 10 years in prison, suspending four. She orders him to serve the term immediately.
* March 31, 1992: Indiana Court of Appeals denies a motion to free Tyson pending an appeal; Tyson is disciplined for giving other inmates his autograph.
* April 15, 1992: Tyson is ordered to serve his sentence at the Indiana Youth Center, a high-medium security facility of about 1,400 inmates west of Indianapolis.
* May 8, 1992: Tyson is found guilty of threatening a guard and disorderly conduct in prison, adding 15 days to his sentence.
* June 22, 1992: Washington files a civil suit seeking unspecified damages against Tyson.
* June 25, 1992: The Rhode Island Supreme Court, ruling on a disciplinary question raised by Washington’s former attorney, says she should have testified during Tyson’s trial that she had hired an attorney to handle the civil case.
* July 23, 1992: The Rev. T.J. Jemison, president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., the nation’s largest black religious denomination, is indicted on a federal charge of perjury for having testified at an unrelated trial that he did not offer Washington $1 million to drop charges against Tyson. The charge was later dismissed.
* Oct. 28, 1992: Tyson’s father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, dies in Brooklyn. Tyson does not ask for a leave to attend the funeral.
* Nov. 17, 1992: Washington’s attorney, Deval Patrick, says she is undergoing treatment for a sexually transmitted disease she contracted from Tyson in Indianapolis. He won’t say what disease.
* Nov. 19, 1992: Chief Justice Randall Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court disqualifies himself from hearing the Tyson appeal in the event it reaches that court. He does not say why.
* Dec. 3, 1992: Alan Dershowitz files a second appeal, saying Washington and her parents withheld information they discussed book and movie rights with attorneys and had signed a contingency fee before Tyson’s trial.
* Jan. 22, 1993: Dershowitz files an appeals brief with the Indiana Court of Appeals, informing the court that he will focus on alleged attempts by Washington to sell her story.
* July 13, 1993: Noemi T. McKenzie, of Woburn, Mass., files a civil lawsuit in Marion Superior Court alleging Tyson committed battery against her on July 18, 1991, during a rehearsal for the Miss Black America beauty pageant.
* Aug. 6, 1993: By a 2-1 vote, the Indiana Court of Appeals upholds Tyson’s conviction.
* Aug. 26, 1993: Attorneys for Tyson ask the Indiana Supreme Court to review his conviction.
* Sept. 2, 1993: The Indiana Supreme Court denies Tyson’s appeal without comment.
* March 1994: Tyson fails his high school equivalency test. Had he passed the two-day test, three months would have been deducted from his sentence.
* June 13, 1994: Judge Patricia Gifford refuses to reduce Tyson’s six-year sentence to the 26 months he has served, saying he has not completed the necessary educational or vocational programs.
* Feb. 13, 1995: Tyson’s release date is moved up from May 9 to March 25, his original release date, by the Indiana Department of Correction.
* March 13, 1995: WBO heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe pays a 45-minute visit to the Indiana Youth Center to discuss a possible $120-million fight with Tyson after his release and says the boxer is “in excellent shape.”
* March 25, 1995: Tyson is released from the Indiana Youth Center.
* August 19, 1995: Begins comeback with 89-second victory over Peter McNeeley in Las Vegas.
* Dec. 16, 1995: Knocks out Buster Mathis Jr. in third round in Philadelphia.
* March 16, 1996: Knocks out Frank Bruno in third round to win the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
* April 9, 1996: Tyson was accused by a 25-year-old beautician from Gary, Ind., of sexual battery in a nightclub on Chicago’s South Side on April 7.
* April 26, 1996: Chicago police say the accusations of sexual battery by the beautician were baseless.
* Sept. 7, 1996: Knocks out Bruce Seldon in the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title.
* Nov. 9, 1996: Loses to Evander Holyfield when referee Mitch Halpern stops the bout in the 11th round.
* June 28, 1997: Tyson is disqualified after the third round of his rematch with Holyfield after he bites Holyfield twice, once on each ear. Tyson claims he was retaliating for a head butt inflicted by Holyfield that opened up a gash above his right eye. Referee Mills Lane ruled the butt was accidental.
* July 9, 1997: The Nevada State Athletic Commission, in a unanimous voice vote, revoked Tyson’s boxing license and fined him $3 million for biting Holyfield in their June 28 bout. Tyson, who also was ordered to pay legal costs, can apply for reinstatement of his license in one year.
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