Celebrity Mound

Mike Tyson, whose role in “The Hangover” earned him an invite to the Golden Globes, yesterday learned he’s going to be voted into the Hall, which has previously inducted Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard.

A Tyson rep said, “Mike is so delighted. It has been an amazing year for him so far.” Boxers have to wait five years after retirement to be eligible for the Hall. Tyson retired from the ring in 2005.

Boxer Mike Tyson, his daughter Milan Tyson and wife Lakiha Spicer

Fighter Kimbo Slice and Mike Tyson

Alyssa Milano

With his head encased in a bandage, and a grim look on his face photographer Tony Echevarria certainly looks just like a man who has gone one round with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

The former heavyweight boxing champion was arrested at LAX airport after allegedly brawling with the photographer.

And there certainly is proof that the photographer was subject to a beating as a picture of him without a bandage shows the snapper’s head with what looks like an imprint of fingers on his dome.

Both Tyson, 43, and Echavarria were arrested after the scuffle which left the snapper with a cut to his head.

A source told the Los Angeles Times Tyson told police the photographer struck him in an attempt to provoke him, while the paparazzo claimed the boxer punched him in the face and tried to take film from his camera.

But LA police have yet to clarify the exact details of the incident.

‘There’s a lot of different versions to the story,’ Los Angeles Airport Police Sergeant Jim Holcomb said.

‘That’s all going to come out later. But in this particular case, both individuals are going to be pressing charges for battery.’

‘I’ve heard people were following him into the men’s room and trying to take his picture there,’ claimed Tyson’s defence attorney, David Chesnoff.

‘My advice to him is going to be to vigorously press charges against what everyone agrees are ridiculously aggressive photographers.’

Tyson has since been released on charges of misdemeanour battery on $20,000 bail, the photographer will be arrested on his release from hospital.

The boxer had been making his way back from the UK after his Coming Back To The Fans tour.

Fans were given the chance to gain first-hand insight into the boxer’s world during the tour, which took place in Wolverhampton, Belfast, Essex and Cardiff.

Tyson said of the tour: ‘I just want to meet and greet as many of the ordinary fans, the fans who rooted for me when I was up and rooted for me when I was down.’

Just last month he appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s chat show to discuss the death of his daughter, who died in a tragic accident in May this year.

Despite earning a reported $400million over the course of his 20-year boxing career, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

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Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who was arrested in a scuffle with a photographer, could be sent to jail if he’s found to have violated probation from a 2007 drug case, officials said Thursday.

The 43-year-old former heavyweight champion and a photographer, Tony Echeverria, made citizens’ arrests of each other following a confrontation at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport.

Each man claimed the other struck him, police said.

Airport police were called, and the men were taken away for booking on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. They were fingerprinted and photographed, then released without bail, Sgt. Jim Holcomb said.

The city attorney will decide whether to file criminal charges.

Tyson is on probation after pleading guilty in Arizona to cocaine possession and driving under the influence. He spent 24 hours in jail there.

Zach Dal Pra, deputy chief of the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department, said his office is still trying to get in touch with Los Angeles authorities to figure out exactly what transpired during the airport incident.

“Did Mr. Tyson’s actions constitute a violation of probation here? If so, we’ll start court proceedings,” he said. “Right now, we’re still in that investigative mode.”

Tyson could face jail time if a court finds that he violated his probation, Dal Pra said.

Tyson had stopped at LAX while traveling from Europe to Las Vegas when several photographers began snapping pictures of him near a ticket counter, Holcomb said.

Echeverria, 50, who described himself as a freelance photographer, told police that Tyson struck him once. The photographer fell to the ground and was treated for a cut to his forehead at a hospital.

Tyson’s spokeswoman, Tammy Brook, said the boxer was traveling with his wife and 10-month-old child when he was attacked by an overly aggressive paparazzo. She said Echeverria repeatedly refused to comply with orders from airport personnel to leave the family alone and at one point collided with the baby’s stroller.

“Mike acted in self defense as a father protecting his child,” Brook said.

Echeverria’s camera was booked as evidence, and police were checking if there was any surveillance video of the incident.

Tyson was cooperative as he waited in a holding cell at the airport police station, Holcomb said. Echeverria was treated at a hospital while Tyson continued his trip, Holcomb said.

Holcomb said both men were released without any restrictions and were free to go wherever they wanted.

Paparazzi often camp out at Los Angeles’ largest airport to get shots of celebrities in transit.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever in 1986 when he won his title as a 20-year-old. But his life since then has been marred by accusations of domestic violence, rape and cocaine use.

Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and served three years in prison. He was disqualified from a 1997 heavyweight title fight when he bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s right ear, and in 1999 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland.

In 2003, Tyson filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested on Wednesday 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, also was arrested. He suffered a cut to his forehead and was taken to a hospital. It was not known if Tyson was hurt.

“There’s a lot of different versions to the story,” Los Angeles Airport Police Sergeant Jim Holcomb said. “That’s all going to come out later. But in this particular case, both individuals are going to be pressing charges for battery.”

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.

The scuffle is the latest incident between celebrities and aggressive paparazzi at the Los Angeles airport. Last year, rapper Kanye West was in an altercation with a photographer. West was cleared of charges last month.

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 luster of his early years and he eventually retired from boxing in 2005.

No punches were thrown. And neither bit off the other’s ear.

Mutual praise and admiration dominated during a face-to-face meeting Friday between former world champion boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on a live episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

On June 28, 1997, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Tyson was disqualified after biting off part of Holyfield’s right ear during their WBA heavyweight title fight.

A respectful Tyson shook hands with his former rival several times during their encounter Friday – which he said was his first chance to speak at length with Holyfield since the ear chomp that made worldwide headlines. Tyson later met with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Tyson told Winfrey earlier that an initial apology after the incident was insincere. But when she asked what he wanted to say to Holyfield, Tyson stopped short of apologizing again. He instead poured on the praise.

“This is a beautiful guy,” he said, holding Holyfield’s arm affectionately for several seconds. “I just want you to know it’s just been a pleasure … being acquainted with you.”

Asked by Winfrey if he was still missing part of his ear, Holyfield pointed to it and said, “Just a little bit.”

Holyfield also had a confession of sorts to make: He himself has bitten others, during childhood roughhousing with his siblings as a way to get out of headlocks.

“You talk about biting,” he said. “I’m the person that bit every brother in my family.”

Holyfield said one reason he wanted to appear with Tyson on television was to demonstrate to youth caught up in violence that reconciliation is always possible.

“We can come together,” he said. “We know you can come together.”

After sitting down with Winfrey, Tyson spent about 25 minutes meeting with Daley at his City Hall office.

Tyson had asked for the meet-and-greet with Daley and a spokeswoman said the mayor was interested in the chance to talk to the boxer about the problem of youth violence.

Chicago has been in the national spotlight since a cell phone video captured the fatal beating of a high school honors student last month.

Tyson said he understands the pain some young people feel.

“I was one of them. I’m that guy,” he said.

Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson says he still has no idea how to handle the accidental death in May of his 4 year-old daughter, calling it a “dark moment in my life.”

But in his first public comments about his daughter’s death, Tyson told celebrity TV news show “Entertainment Tonight” that his new career as an actor was helping him. He is appearing as a guest star in the upcoming Fox comedy “Brothers”.

“I really was beating myself up over my daughter. I was staying in the house, depressed; it was a dark moment in my life. (Acting) keeps me functioning as a healthy human being,” he said in the interview broadcast on Thursday.

Tyson’s daughter Exodus died in May after choking on a cord attached to a treadmill at her mother’s Arizona home. She was one of six children Tyson has had with different girlfriends.

“I am working with dealing with it. I have spoken to a lot of people. I have become a member of an exclusive club no one wants to join,” Tyson said.

“I have been told the pain never stops but you get over it. I am going through a process, trying to heal. I am in denial, because I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t know what to do or say. I appreciate everybody who supported me.”

Shortly after the death of Exodus, Tyson, 43, married his current girlfriend, Lakiha Spicer, in Las Vegas. It was his third marriage.

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 after a career marked by controversy. He was the subject of a documentary film “Tyson” earlier this year and had a cameo role playing himself in the summer comedy “The Hangover”.

MIKE TYSON, in his first role following his memorable cameo in the hit film “The Hangover,” is confirmed to appear as a guest star on the new half-hour comedy series BROTHERS, which debuts with a special one-hour series premiere on Friday, September 25 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox. In an upcoming episode, Tyson shows up to collect money from MIKE (Michael Strahan) at his brother’s (Daryl Chill Mitchell) restaurant.

BROTHERS is a sitcom in which Michael Strahan (“FOX NFL Sunday”) plays a former NFL star dealing with post-gridiron life as he moves back home with his family, co-starring Daryl Chill Mitchell (“Ed,” “Veronica’s Closet”), CCH Pounder (“The Shield”) and Carl Weathers (“Rocky”).

Check out more on BROTHERS Here:
http://www.fox.com/programming/shows/?sh=brothers