Mike Tyson arrested after L.A. airport scuffle

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Mike Tyson arrested after L.A. airport scuffle

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12 November,2009 01:15 pm

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested after brawling with a celebrity photographer at Los Angeles International Airport and injuring the man's head, police said. The photographer, who was not immediately identified, was also arrested. He suffered a cut to his forehead and was taken to a hospital. It was not known if Tyson was hurt. Shortly after four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Tyson was at the terminal seven United Airlines ticket counter. He was being followed by at least one paparazzi who was taking photographs of him. A scuffle ensued during which time it's alleged that Mr Tyson struck him one time on the forehead. The other individual did suffer a laceration to his forehead and did fall to the ground. LA City Fire Department transported him to a local area hospital where he was in satisfactory condition with minor injuries, Los Angeles Airport Police Sergeant Jim Holcomb said. The Los Angeles Times, citing an unnamed source, said Tyson told police the photographer struck him in an attempt to provoke him, and the photographer claimed Tyson punched him in the face and tried to take film from his camera. Tyson, 43, won his first championship title at age 20, and his reputation as a ferocious boxer in the ring earned him the nickname Iron Mike during his heyday in the 1980s. But he also has had a troubled history. As a boy, he was involved in criminal gang activity in Brooklyn, New York, and he eventually went to a school for troubled youth in upstate New York where he began boxing. In 1988, as his career soared, he married actress Robin Givens. The pair fought publicly, Givens claimed he physically hurt her, and eventually they divorced. In 1991, Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. He was convicted of sexual assault in 1992 and spent three years in prison. After he bit off a portion of boxer Evander Holyfield's ear during a 1997 championship bout, Tyson's career never regained the lustre of his early years and he eventually retired from boxing in 2005.