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Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson was saved by religion - literally. "They were discussing [how] Mike Tyson had to be murdered," gang member Shelby Henderson said yesterday about a conversation in 2000 among members of the vicious Cash Money Brothers. Henderson, testifying in Brooklyn federal court, said the gang even saw Tyson a few months later and was ready to start shooting. But Henderson said he talked his buddy out of the killing because Tyson was a fellow Muslim.

Mike Tyson chipped in $50,000 for a contract to kill members of a Brooklyn drug gang that murdered his bodyguard in 2000, a government witness testified Thursday. A former member of the violent Cash Money Brothers gang said the ex-heavyweight champ and another thug, Muhammad Nur, who was also close with the victim, each contributed $50,000 to the bounty on the heads of CMB leaders Damion (World) Hardy and Edward (Taz) Cooke. "Why would Mike Tyson put a hit out on Taz and World?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney James Loonam. Baum was suspected of pumping nine bullets into 50 Cent...

Nation of Islam - An Empty Legacy   By Adrian Morgan    Part Four of Four  Louis Farrakhan has made no public comments about who will succeed him as head of the Nation of Islam. His tenure as leader of the group has been marked by injudicious comments and actions. He reinstated the Fruit of Islam, the bow-tie wearing "soldiers" of NoI. The Fruit of Islam were initially charged to act as security during Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign. Farrakhan warned the Democratic Party that if Jesse Jackson's demands were not listened to, he would "lead an army of black men...

U.S. Senate candidate Michael S. Steele garnered support from an unlikely source Monday -- former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. At the news conference in Ohio, where he will return to the ring Friday night, Tyson wore a white-and-blue "Steele for U.S. Senate" T-shirt as he posed for photos with fans and signed autographs. Tyson said he used to believe black Republicans were "sellouts," but he said he changed his mind after researching the Maryland lieutenant governor. "We have to open our eyes more," Tyson said, as he pointed to his T-shirt. Tyson's appearance came on the same day that...

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - Mike Tyson says he may include bouts with women on his next tour, and mentioned professional boxer Ann Wolfe, who is 21-1 with 15 knockouts. "She's such a prominent, dominant woman in the boxing field," Tyson said. When asked if he was joking about fighting women, Tyson said, "I'm very serious." Russ Young, a promoter for Wolfe, said such a bout will never happen. "That's the first we've heard of it," Young said. "No state would sanction that. She would be outweighed by 60 to 70 pounds. Ann would never entertain the idea." The 40-year-old former heavyweight...

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Mike Tyson could be returning to the ring. The former heavyweight champion on Thursday will announce plans for "Mike Tyson's World Tour". Tyson, who hasn't been in the ring since losing to Kevin McBride in June 2005, will fight at the tour's opening next month in Youngstown, publicist Bob Trieger said. <-----SNIP--------> The tour will also feature former lightweight champion Paul Spadafora, who just completed a seven-month prison term for shooting his fiancee in 2003. Also on the card is former 2003 Pan-Am Games silver medalist Juan McPherson, who unsuccessfully fought in court to win a spot...

FORMER heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson visited Mao Zedong's mausoleum in a token of respect to add to the Mao tattoo on his arm and his personal book collection of the father of Chinese communism. A long-time admirer, Tyson confessed to feelings of inadequacy when gazing upon Mao's remains on Saturday. "I felt really insignificant next to the remains of Chairman Mao," the China Daily on Monday quoted Tyson as telling the Beijing News, adding that it was a great honour to visit the memorial hall. Tyson bought several books on Mao before shouting "I love you!" to Chinese onlookers...

Mike Tyson plans to leave the United States and seek happiness with missionary work. Tyson, who turns 39 on June 30, doubts he can ever escape his past while living in America.'I'll never be sucessful in this country. I have to go somewhere abroad,' Tyson said. 'I don't think I'm going to do too well in this country because I'm stigmatised. 'I just want to do something that helps someone. I just want to help somebody,' he said. 'I have to be helping. I have to be contributing to something. If I don't I'll be emotionally dead.' Asked about going...

Submissive Tyson takes plunge into retirement From Ron Lewis in Washington LESS than an hour after Mike Tyson had said “enough” in the ring at the MCI Centre, movements were already being made to try to flog one more payday out of the former world heavyweight champion. As humiliations go, Tyson’s retirement at the end of the sixth round against Kevin McBride was really as low as it could go in boxing terms, but shortly before Tyson took the stage at the post-bout press conference, Rock Newman, the promoter, spoke. “I hear there are rumblings about a rematch, perhaps someone...

Tyson to retire after 3rd loss in 4 bouts Reuters Jun. 12, 2005 - Mike Tyson, the self-styled "baddest guy on the planet," announced his retirement after losing to an unheralded Irishman on Saturday night. "This is it, I'm finished," Tyson, 38, told a news conference after failing to answer the bell for the seventh round of the non-title bout against Kevin McBride. "It's just not in my heart. I'm just not interested in fighting anymore." Tyson, a parody of the ferocious fighter who became the youngest undisputed world heavyweight champion at the age of 20, then bizarrely added...

I just heard Tyson quit after the sixth. Can anyone fill in the details?

WASHINGTON -- It was over already for Mike Tyson in the sixth round, even though he was winning. His career was down to fighting Kevin McBride, some big slow guy who should be fighting bouncers and barroom toughs. Tyson hit him with quick left body shots and big left hooks. But McBride wouldn't fall down, and Tyson was down to the last gasp for the night, for his career. He tried to grab and snap McBride's arm, but nothing. He head-butted McBride, opening a gash by his left eye. But nothing. He hit below the belt. Nothing. Talent gone, antics...

He's done. Mike Tyson is done. Oh, of course he'll step into a boxing ring again somewhere. He has to fight. It's how he earns a livelihood, the only way. But he's done as a big draw, done chasing championships, done as a threatening, frightening fighter.... No mas , no more. There were no extenuating circumstances, no excuses, no injured knee. In fact, Tyson fought with more energy, more skill and more determination than he had displayed in three or four years. He moved his head, threw those once-lethal left hooks and uppercuts, came out at the start of each...

A round-by-round account of Kevin McBride's victory over Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) in a heavyweight bout Saturday night at the MCI Center in Washington. McBride improved to 33-4-1, 27 KOs. Unofficial scorecard Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Tyson 10 9 10 10 9 8 56 McBride 9 10 9 9 10 9 56 McBride comes out throwing the first punches as both fighters take measure of each other. The taller McBride is able to keep his distance, throwing a diet of lefts. Tyson gets in several body shots in the final minute...

WASHINGTON – Mike Tyson's career might have ended in shocking fashion Saturday night when he quit on the stool after taking a beating in a foul-filled sixth round against unheralded Kevin McBride. Tyson lost for the third time in his last four fights, and once again he faded badly as the rounds went on before head butting McBride in a desperate attempt to end the fight in the sixth round. "I can still get in shape but I don't think I have the fight and guts anymore," former undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson told Showtime PPV after the bout, while a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mike Tyson will be facing a big man when he meets Kevin McBride in a heavyweight fight Saturday night. The 6-foot-5 McBride weighed in at 271 pounds Thursday to 233 for Tyson. It was the heaviest McBride has weighed for a fight. He was 270 when he was knocked out by Davarryl Williamson in January 2002. Tyson was the same weight he was last year when Danny Williams stopped him in the fourth round. Tyson has won only one of three fights when weighing over 230 pounds.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mike Tyson came to the nation's capital promising a train wreck. His fans -- and creditors -- can only hope Tyson is not strewn across the tracks when it occurs. Aging and deeply in debt, Tyson begins the latest version of his ongoing comeback Saturday night when he meets an Irish heavyweight of little note in a fight that's officially scheduled for 10 rounds but has little chance of lasting that long. If anyone is counting, it's Tyson's fifth comeback attempt of various sorts since getting out of prison in 1995. The opponent's name this time is...

Mike Tyson has vowed to destroy Irishman Kevin McBride when he returns to boxing in Washington DC on Saturday. Keen to put behind him last year's shock loss to Britain's Danny Williams, the American heavyweight is confident of winning a 10-round non-title fight. "I'm going to gut him like a fish," said Tyson, who will be 39 in June. "He's a tomato can. This is going to be a first-class education in humility. People may call this a circus, but I'm not a circus, I'm an icon." Williams told BBC Sport that the fight was just for show, a desperate...

By Steve Ginsburg 17 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former world champion Mike Tyson says he will gut Irishman Kevin McBride "like a fish" when the two heavyweights meet on Saturday night. ADVERTISEMENT Tyson, who is three weeks shy of his 39th birthday, hopes to redeem himself following the fourth-round knockout defeat by Briton Danny Williams in Louisville, Kentucky in July. Despite Tyson's age and declining skills, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound McBride, who has a 32-4-1 record including 27 knockouts, is rated the underdog. "I'll gut him like a fish," the American yelled during a news conference at Howard University on...

HE IS known as one of the toughest boxers ever to step into the ring, but Mike Tyson has revealed a softer side after emerging to champion the cause of pigeon fanciers.The former heavyweight champion of the world is fighting the corner of bird lovers in Phoenix, Arizona, in a dispute over the number of pigeons they are allowed to keep at their houses. Tyson, who keeps his own collection of 350 largely rare and exotic breeds at his home in the desert city, surprised everyone by turning up at a council meeting earlier this week to denounce a proposal...

Mike Tyson is making a comeback . . . again. Last Tuesday he announced that he would fight Kevin McBride at the MCI Center in Washington, DC on June 11. “I feel pretty well,” says Tyson. “My leg’s pretty much healed and I’m looking forward to the fight and starting my career again.” The title of the fight, “Redemption,” is nothing new, a tired retread of a tired retread. Only two things make this fight any different than the other gazillion chances boxing fans have given Tyson: 1) The bout will be held in the Capitol City and Tyson has...

Moves are under way to bring former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson here to learn Muay Thai. Officials from the newly formed WBC Muaythai organisation are flying to the United States next Thursday for talks with Tyson about making the switch to Muay Thai, and the early signs are that the former champion is keen to take up the Thai martial art to prolong his flagging boxing career. The chairman of WBC Muaythai, Pol General Kovid Bhakdibhumi, has been speaking to Tyson’s representatives and World Boxing Council (WBC) officials in the US. Secretary-general Patrick Cusick is scheduled to leave...

EXCLUSIVE: Despair of a fallen idol From Anthony Harwood at Gleason's Gym, Brooklyn, New York MEAN and menacing at just 14, the boy glowers from the old black-and-white photograph - a simmering volcano soon to erupt in the boxing ring. He was destined to conquer the world with his talented fists as one of the most fearsome heavyweights in history. This week, 38-year-old Mike Tyson was back at Gleason's Gym, where he used to train as a youngster - but the conquering days are over. This time, there is no fight to prepare for and no prospect of one. LEGEND:...

Man Allegedly Bites Officer, Police Dog 2 hours, 56 minutes ago Strange News - AP KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Police say a man bit an officer and his dog Friday after trying to stiff a cab driver on an early morning fare. Mark. A McClarty, 28, of Kansas City, Kansas, was charged Friday with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and stealing. Capt. Rich Lockhart said the suspect broke the skin on an officer's hand when he bit him. The man then nearly bit the ear off the police dog. Lockhart said a cab driver told a police officer at...

Ain’t No Jive Bro: GOP’s Inappropriate Soul Man November 2, 2004 By Debbie Schlussel Printer Friendly Why is the GOP using Don King, a convicted murderer, as its messenger to Black America? Recent polls show that Blacks may double their vote for George W. Bush over that of 2000. But if Election Day results in Black America match these polls, it will be because of the GOP’s message of opportunity, self-help, and opposition to gay marriage (on the ballots in many States). Not because of Don King, the sleazy boxing promoter. So, why are Republicans touting King as their ambassador...

One Fight Fan Does Not Gloat over Mike Tyson’s Loss by William R Alford - Aug. 1, 2004 It is somewhat understandable for some to revel in Tyson's latest defeat, but I see it as another signpost in a tragic life. There is no question that he once promised to be the greatest fighter of all time. What follows is not just boxing commentary; Tyson's story portends as a universal lesson about how potential, talent and ability are not as important as proper guidance and discipline.Mike Tyson is often portrayed as a monster and thug, carrying “more menace than...

Mike Tyson wasn't high on Kentucky bluegrass Friday night. He hadn't smoked any Panama Red either. At least that's what trainer Freddie Roach believes. Most others familiar with Tyson's act probably are a little more skeptical. Cheech and Chong are withholding comment. Tyson frequently broached the subject of his prolific marijuana usage during interviews in the days leading up to his crushing knockout defeat to Danny Williams in Louisville. I'm not blaming Tyson's loss on blunts as much as blunt trauma courtesy of his unheralded foe. No, his career was all but snuffed out for multiple reasons that might not...

Tyson loses!

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has been sleeping in homeless shelters and living like a 'street bum' since declaring himself bankrupt. The former heavyweight champion of the world, who once had more than 165million in the bank and regularly earned 5 million per fight, also said he has been accepting handouts from drug dealers. He added: 'For two years I have been a bum, truly a bum in the streets. broke Tyson 'I've got nowhere to live. I've been crashing with friends, literally sleeping in shelters. Unsavoury characters are giving me money and I'm taking it. I need it. The drug...

King Shows Tyson The Money Promoter agrees to pay $14 million to settle boxer's fraud lawsuit JUNE 24--Don King has agreed to pay $14 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Mike Tyson, who sued the oily promoter in 1998 for $100 million, claiming that the fright-haired hustler fleeced him of prize purses. Details of the King-Tyson agreement are contained in a proposed reorganization plan filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where the wreckage of the 37-year-old heavyweight's finances has been laid out in excruciating detail since Tyson's Chapter 11 filing last August. The eight-figure King payment is conditioned...

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has blown nearly all of the £160 million he earned in the ring, according to bankruptcy papers reported today.At the end of last year, the troubled champ had just £3,000 in cash left.He filed for bankruptcy in August, claiming that he owes £14.4 million, including £9.1 million in tax.The papers, seen by the New York Daily News and CNN, also suggest some unusual spending and earning records.In December, he earned £385,000 but spent just £45.The papers, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, also showed that in November he spent £11,800 but earned...

A couple of hours after Mike Tyson was denied a license to box in Nevada, heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who was planning on fighting 'Iron Mike' on April 6, issued his long awaited statement regarding the events of January 22 as well as the NSAC verdict. "Prior to today, I have made no public statements concerning the events of January 22," said Lewis in the statement. "I remained silent at the direct instruction and insistence of my attorneys, who advised me that revealing the truth about what occurred would have undoubtedly led to a lawsuit by Mike Tyson claiming that ...

<p>NEW YORK — Mike Tyson is no longer in the boxing ring, but he's still getting knocked out ... financially.</p> <p>Once the most feared man in boxing, Tyson has filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court (search), claiming that his finances are in disarray and he is unable to pay his bills.</p>

Two goofs tried to punch out Mike Tyson in a Brooklyn hotel lobby. All three were arrested, according to Fox & Friends.

Thu May 29, 4:57 PM ET Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson insists he never sexually assaulted the woman he was jailed for raping in 1991, but talking about her makes him so angry he wants to rape her now. In a Fox News interview to be broadcast May 29, 2003, Tyson calls former beauty queen Desiree Washington 'a lying, monstrous young lady' and says, 'I just hate her guts.' Tyson is shown at a news conference at the Grand Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, in this February 20, 2003 file photo. Photo by Peter Jones/Reuters

Mike Tyson hasn't lost his penchant for saying the outrageous. In a television interview scheduled for broadcast Thursday, Tyson again denied he raped Desiree Washington in 1991 in an Indianapolis hotel room. But he said the burden of being labeled a convicted rapist makes him want to do it now. "I just hate her guts. She put me in that state, where I don't know,'' Tyson said. "I really wish I did now. But now I really do want to rape her.'' Tyson made the comments during a recent interview in Miami Beach with Greta Van Susteren, who was taking...

"King of Pop" Michael Jackson was selected as the "most foolish American" in a poll out on Friday, ahead of April Fool's Day. Eighty per cent of those polled said Jackson, who has been in the media spotlight again since a British television documentary shed new light on his personal life, was the biggest fool in the country, public relations consultant Jeff Barge said, who has the survey taken every year. Jackson, 44, drew foolish reviews for, among other things, dangling his baby son out a window in Germany to show him to fans last year. Boxer Mike Tyson came...

Tyson to Lewis: Stay away from King By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer February 28, 2003 LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis won't fight right away. When they do, Tyson doesn't want Don King in the way. Tyson issued a statement Friday warning Lewis to stay away from King if he wants another bout with the former heavyweight champion. ``Lennox and I don't need Don King to conduct our business,'' Tyson said. The unusual statement from Tyson came as Lewis was in Las Vegas for Saturday's fight between Roy Jones Jr. and John Ruiz. King is promoting...

Lewis Crushes Tyson to Retain Heavyweight TitleSun Jun 9,12:56 AM ET MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Reuters) - Lennox Lewis pummeled Mike Tyson to defeat in the eighth round on Saturday to retain his world heavyweight title after an emphatic display. Photos Reuters Photo The British boxer knocked an increasingly dispirited Tyson down twice in the round to end the fight after cutting him around both eyes. The first knockdown was a left uppercut that staggered Tyson and left him almost defenseless. The second -- a right to the jaw -- left Tyson, also bleeding from his nose, motionless on his back on...

Fifty-four-ninety-five. That's the current market price for sleaze. For $54.95, the eager entrepreneurs will feed into your TV set the closest thing sports has these days to pornography. Mike Tyson. Sometime around midnight Saturday, maybe on the dark side of Sunday, Tyson will fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, and it will be on pay-per-view. His credentials for deserving such a lavish profitable opportunity: exactly 19 rounds of professional fistfights in the last five years. But of course, that ludicrously rare amount of actual competition is not the real reason, not the real qualification. The real qualification is...

The Champion and the Nag By Kerry Fox June 5, 2002 As long as I can remember, I've always loved two sports: Boxing and Horse Racing. I never bet on them. I just enjoy them immensely. When they are done with excellence, they can warm your heart with their memories. This weekend should be a huge day for both of these sports. But, alas, it will only be great for one of them. On Saturday, a wonderful animal named War Emblem will attempt to become only the 12th Triple Crown winner of all-time. Sweeping the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and...

Greed and amusement KO good judgment By Gerry Trzupek His story has all the makings of one of those deals with the devil; with the inevitable ironic and tragic outcome. "He" is George Edward Waddell, whose baseball talent earned him immortality in the Hall of Fame, but as his Cooperstown plaque forever attests, only under the undignified nickname of "Rube." Rube pitched in the big leagues right after the turn of the last century. He had a devastating fastball, and set strikeout records that survived a good bit longer than Rube, who was buried in 1914. He was one...

People often ask for an easy description of the District of Columbia, that area of converted swampland that serves as the capital of the United States. At its best, DC is a microcosm of all that can go wrong in a city where racism rules and political corruption is the norm. At worst, DC is a pathetic third-world country stuck right here in the good old USA. Case in point: A decision this week by the DC Boxing Commission to allow a convicted felon and known thug named Mike Tyson to stage one of his mayhem-filled boxing fiascos in...

Playing the race card in the nation's capitalWednesday, March 13, 2002 People often ask for an easy description of the District of Columbia, that area of converted swampland that serves as the capital of the United States. At its best, DC is a microcosm of all that can go wrong in a city where racism rules and political corruption is the norm. At worst, DC is a pathetic third-world country stuck right here in the good old USA. Case in point: A decision this week by the DC Boxing Commission to allow a convicted felon and known thug named Mike...