A look at the major events in the life and boxing career of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (by the Associated Press):
1978: Arrested for purse snatching as a 12-year-old in Brooklyn and sent to Tryon School for Boys.
1979: A boxing instructor at a New York State correction facility for boys brought Tyson to the attention of Cus D'Amato, who had guided Floyd Patterson to the heavyweight title.
1982: Expelled from Catskill High School for a series of transgressions.
1984: D'Amato becomes Tyson's legal guardian.
March 6, 1985: In his professional debut, Tyson defeats Hector Mercedes in one round.
Nov. 4, 1985: D'Amato dies of pneumonia.
Feb. 20, 1986: Tyson sexually propositions a sales clerk in an Albany, N.Y., shopping mall and becomes violent and abusive when she rebuffs him. Later the same night, he is ejected from a movie theater following a similar incident.
June 21, 1987: A parking lot attendant alleges Tyson tried to kiss a female employee and struck the male attendant. He is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and assault with a deadly weapon, and pays $105,000 to settle the case out of court.
Feb. 9, 1988: Actress Robin Givens and Tyson marry in a civil ceremony at New York.
March 25, 1988: Jim Jacobs, Tyson's co-manager, is buried in Los Angeles. Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, demand access to Tyson's money for a down payment on the $4.5 million home in Bernardsville, N.J.
May, 1988: Tyson dents his $183,000 Bentley convertible in a fender-bender in New York City and gives the slightly damaged car to two policemen, who later were suspended when their superiors found out.
June 17, 1988: Givens and her family go public with tales of beatings by Tyson.
July 11, 1988: Hires Donald Trump as an adviser.
July 27, 1988: Settles the Cayton suit out of court, reducing Cayton's managerial share from one-third to 20 percent of purses.
Aug. 23, 1988: Breaks a bone in his right hand in a 4 a.m. street brawl with professional fighter Mitch Green in Harlem.
Sept. 4, 1988: Knocked unconscious after driving his BMW into a tree. Three days later, the New York Daily News reports the accident was a "suicide attempt" caused by a "chemical imbalance" that made him violent and irrational.
Sept. 12, 1988: Sends tennis player Lori McNeil, an alleged victim of his violence, 1,000 roses to wish her luck in the U.S. Open.
Sept. 21, 1988: Threatens a TV reporter outside his Bernardsville, N.J. home and throws a Walkman at the camera crew.
Sept. 30, 1988: Givens says in a nationally televised interview that Tyson is a manic-depressive and that she is afraid of him. Tyson sits meekly next to her.
Oct. 2, 1988: Police go to Tyson's Bernardsville, N.J., home after he hurls furniture out the window and forces Givens and her mother to flee the house. Five days later, Givens files for divorce.
Oct. 26, 1988: Trump bills Tyson $2 million for services rendered in his role as adviser. Tyson becomes partners with Don King.
Nov. 16, 1988: Givens sues Tyson for $125 million, charging libel because of a New York Post story in which Tyson calls her and her mother, "the slime of the slime."
Dec. 12, 1988: Sandra Miller of New York sues Tyson for allegedly grabbing her, propositioning her and insulting her at a nightclub. A jury later finds Tyson guilty of battery, fining him only $100.
Dec. 15, 1988: Lori Davis of New York sues Tyson for allegedly grabbing her buttocks while she was dancing at the same nightclub on the same night as the incident with Miller.
Jan. 11, 1989: During a depositon in his lawsuit to oust Cayton as his manager, Tyson makes blatant sexual hand gestures and a sexually explicit statement to a female attorney.
Feb. 14, 1989: Tyson and Givens are divorced in the Dominican Republic.
March 27, 1989: Givens withdraws her $125 million libel suit against Tyson.
April 9, 1989: Accused of striking a parking attendant three times with an open hand outside a Los Angeles nightclub after the attendant asked Tyson to move his Mercedes-Benz out of a spot reserved for the club's owner. The charges are later dropped due to lack of witness cooperation.
Aug. 17, 1990: Phyllis Polaner, former aid to Givens, sues Tyson for sexual assault and harassment. The suit is still pending.
Nov. 1, 1990: A New York City civil jury finds Tyson committed battery in the Sandra Miller case, but Miller is awarded just $100 in damages because the jury decides Tyson's behavior was "not outrageous."
March 28, 1991: Tyson admits paternity of an 8-month-old girl born to Kimberly Scarborough of New York.
July 18, 1991: Tyson meets Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, at a pageant rehearsal. They go to the boxer's hotel room in the early morning hours.
July 22, 1991: Washington files a complaint with police alleging Tyson raped her.
Sept. 9, 1991: A special grand jury indicts Tyson on rape and three other charges. Two days later, he is booked in Indianapolis and released on $30,000 cash bond.
Oct. 2, 1991: Natalie Fears files a $12 million palimony and paternity lawsuit in Los Angeles.
Jan. 27, 1992: Rape trial begins with jury selection in Marion Superior Court.
Feb. 10, 1992: After nine hours of deliberation, Tyson is found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviate sexual conduct. The counts carry a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.
March 26, 1992: Superior Court Judge Patricia Gifford sentences Tyson to 10 years in prison, suspending four. She orders him to serve the term immediately.
March 1994: Tyson fails his high school equivalency test. Had he passed the two-day test, three months would have been deducted from his sentence.
Tyson is released from the Indiana Youth Center near Plainfield, Ind.
April 9, 1996: Accused by a 25-year-old beautician from Gary, Ind. of sexual battery in a nightclub on Chicago's South Side on April 7.
April 26, 1996: Chicago police say the accusations of sexual battery by the beautician were baseless.
Nov. 9, 1996: Loses to Evander Holyfield when referee Mitch Halpern stops the bout in the 11th round.
June 28, 1997: Tyson is disqualified after the third round of his rematch with Holyfield after he bites Holyfield twice, once on each ear. Tyson claims he was retaliating for a head butt inflicted by Holyfield that opened up a gash above his right eye. Referee Mills Lane ruled the butt was accidental.
July 9, 1997: The Nevada State Athletic Commission, in a unanimous voice vote, revoked Mike Tyson's boxing license and fined him $3 million for biting Holyfield in their June 28 WBA championship bout. Tyson, who also was ordered to pay legal costs, can apply for reinstatement of his license in one year.
Has this man been treated UNFAIRLY?
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