Tyson sued by ‘unpaid’ psychiatrist

Embattled former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is being sued by his psychiatrist for allegedly failing to pay $29,000 in therapy bills.

Low point: Tyson is stripped of his boxing license

Analyst Mitchell Gibson alleges that Tyson failed to cough up for his costly forays into the controversial fighter’s mind, according to a filing in a court in the Los Angeles-area town of Santa Monica on Monday.
 
The boxer, also famous for biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear and for his many brushes with the law, began seeing Gibson following his release from a three-month jail stint for assault in 2000.
 
Gibson claims that he treated Tyson for a fee of $8,000 dollars a month and charged him an extra $6,000 for emergency cross-country visits. 

Brushes with authority

The psychiatrist, who is based in the western state of Arizona, entered Tyson’s life at one of its many low-points.

While in therapy, Tyson brawled with Lennox Lewis, threw glass ornaments at reporters in Havana, and was sued for divorce by his wife.
 
However, Gibson claims that he was instrumental in getting the boxer back in the ring after Tyson was stripped of his boxing licence for a year, following his attack on Holyfield during their championship rematch in 1997.

Gibson appeared before a Washington DC boxing commission that was considering whether to return Tyson’s boxing licence. 
 
“Mr Tyson, due in large part to the efforts of Dr Gibson and the testimony provided by Dr Gibson to the professional boxing authorities, was able to reacquire his licence,” the suit said.

Gibson claims he spent months trying to collect the debt from the boxer and was forced to file suit after Tyson’s representative refused to return his calls.

Wasted talent 
Wasted talent 

Wasted talent 

Tarnished career

Tyson’s once-glorious career in the ring has been tarnished by his personal behaviour which has ensured that he has never been far from the headlines.

He served three years in prison for the 1992 rape of beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room, a charge he denied.
 
An assault on two motorists who collided with his car briefly sent Tyson back to prison in 1999.
 
In January 2002, during a pre-fight press conference, Tyson and world champion Lennox Lewis got into a brawl with the would-be challenger biting his opponent in the leg. And last month he was arrested on assault charges outside a New York hotel.

A hearing in the case has been set for 9 October in Santa Monica.

Source: News Agencies