Mike Tyson biography

Both boxers also received record purses for the match, making them the highest paid professional boxers in history until 2007.

The first and second rounds provided the typical crowd-pleasing action expected from the two champions. But the fight took an unexpected turn in the third round of the match. Tyson shocked fans and boxing officials when he grabbed Holyfield and bit both of the boxer's ears,

completely severing a piece of Holyfield's right ear. Tyson claimed the action was retaliation for Holyfield's illegal head butts from their previous match. Judges didn't agree with Tyson's reasoning, and disqualified the boxer from the match.

On July 9, 1997, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revoked Tyson's boxing license in a unanimous voice vote, and fined the boxer $3 million for biting Holyfield. No longer able to fight, Tyson was aimless and unmoored. Several months later, Tyson was dealt another blow when he was ordered to pay boxer Mitch Green $45,000 for his 1988 street fighting incident. Shortly after the court ruling, Tyson landed in the hospital after his motorcycle skidded out of control on a ride through Connecticut. The former boxer broke a rib and punctured a lung.

Don King Lawsuit, Lewis Fight and Retirement

Tyson landed in court yet again, this time in 1998 as a plaintiff. On March 5, 1998, the boxer filed a $100 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against Don King, accusing the promoter of cheating him out of millions of dollars. He also filed a lawsuit against his former managers Rory Holloway and John Horne, claiming they made King Tyson's exclusive promoter without the boxer's knowledge. King and Tyson settled out of court for $14 million. Tyson alledgedly lost unknown millions in the process.

In the wake of several more lawsuits, including another sexual harassment trial and a $22 million suit filed by Rooney for wrongful termination, Tyson struggled to reinstate his boxing license. In July of 1998, the boxer reapplied for his boxing license in New Jersey, but later withdrew his application before the board could meet to discuss his case. A few weeks later, in yet another outburst, Tyson assaulted two motorists after a car accident in Maryland dented his Mercedes.

In October of 1998, Tyson's boxing license was reinstated. Tyson was back in the ring only a few months before he plead no contest for his attack on the motorists in Maryland. The judge sentenced Tyson to two concurrent two-year sentences for the assault, but was given only one year of jail time, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service. He was released after serving nine months, and went straight back into the ring.

The next several years were marred with more accusations of physical assaults, sexual harassment, and public incidents. Then in 2000, a random drug test revealed that Tyson had been smoking marijuana. The results caused boxing officials to penalize Tyson by declaring his victory against boxer Andrew Golota a loss.

His next highly publicized fight would be in 2002 with WBC, IBF and IBO champion Lennox Lewis.