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| |  Saturday, 3 August, 2002, 09:22 GMT 10:22 UK Tyson brawl sparks $56m lawsuit Lewis and Tyson had to be separated The president of the World Boxing Council has filed a $56m lawsuit against Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis for injuries he says he received in a pre-fight brawl. Jose Sulaiman is claiming he was knocked out, spat on and threatened in the incident at a news conference in New York in January.
In Manhattan Supreme Court papers made public on Friday, the 71-year-old said he was knocked unconscious when he hit his head on a table. The papers said as a result of the melee in which Tyson charged at his British rival, Sulaiman was "maliciously and violently assaulted...causing him to fall and inflicting serious bodily injury upon him". The WBC president said he suffered permanent physical and psychological injuries. Fists flew when Tyson tried to reach Lewis as they were brought together in the build-up to their big fight. Neither fighter hit the other, but people around them jumped in to keep them apart. Thomas Deas, Sulaiman's lawyer, said Tyson first knocked out and then threatened Sulaiman. "When he got up after being knocked out, Tyson spat on him and threatened to kill him," he said.
Tyson's boxing adviser, Shelly Finkel, said he was surprised by the lawsuit. "I will have a lawyer handle it," he said. Lewis was bitten on the thigh by Tyson during the brawl. The Nevada State Commission later revoked Tyson's boxing licence, putting the big fight in danger. When the two boxers finally met in the ring in Memphis on 8 June, Lewis defeated Tyson with a stoppage in the eighth round. Despite the previous acrimony, both boxers traded compliments after the match. | |
See also:  01 Aug 02 | Boxing 02 Aug 02 | Boxing Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Lewis v Tyson fight stories now: Links to more Lewis v Tyson fight stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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