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Tyson Under Investigation in a New Sex Assault Case
PHOENIX, Arizona, July 28
(IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Former heavyweight boxing champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson was under investigation by police in California in connection with a sexual assault allegation.
A woman told police in Big Bear, California, that she was raped July 16 by the fighter in a house Tyson was renting while training at the high-altitude gymnasium there.
Tyson, who converted to Islam, was there preparing for a planned September 8 fight against Brian Nielsen of Denmark in Copenhagen. He has since returned to training here after spending about six weeks in the California mountains.
"I'm not familiar with any allegations," Tyson told reporters Friday.
A San Bernadino County sheriff's department spokesman said Tyson was not a suspect because police have yet to determine if a crime was committed. No names or details of victims are revealed under California law in such cases.
"The allegation is patently false," said Tyson attorney Darrow Soll. "We want to cooperate with police, but at the moment they're not telling us anything."
A preliminary report is expected to be sent to a district attorney next week. Because of the time needed to investigate and file charges, the Nielsen fight was not expected to be affected.
But legal proceedings could be a major roadblock to Tyson having a chance to reclaim his title next year in a big-money fight against one of several possible champions, including American Hasim Rahman and Britain's Lennox Lewis.
Tyson, 35, served three years in an Indiana prison after being convicted of raping an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant in 1991. He also served three months for assault in 1999 for punching and kicking two elderly men whose car struck Tyson's from behind.
When the 1990s began, Mike Tyson was the most feared fighter the sport of boxing had known. He was 23 years old, and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, having won the WBC version at 20, and destroyed the claimants of the other authorities just past his 21st birthday.
He had an awesome physique, including a phenomenal neck of 19 1/2 inches, as thick and strong as some men's thighs.
He lost his title to a no-hoper in the biggest shock in boxing history, when he was charged with rape in 1992. He was convicted and served half of a six-year prison sentence after he said he converted to Islam.
He later returned to the ring after a four-year absence, regained a world title, then scandalously bit off part of an opponent's ear during a contest and was banned for a year.
His outrageous behavior guaranteed he would remain boxing's biggest-ever box-office attraction.
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