IT'S HIGHWAY BATTERY, SUIT VS. IRON MIKE
TRACY CONNOR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER With News Wire Services
New York Daily News
Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
All rights
reserved.
Sunday, July 13, 2003
NEWS
Mike Tyson has added another knockout to his record. Unfortunately,
it didn't
happen in the boxing ring.
A bodyguard for fight promoter Don King has filed a lawsuit against
Iron Mike,
claiming the ex-con ex-champ busted up his face during a scuffle.
Isadore Bolton, 44, of Boynton Beach, Fla., is seeking compensatory
damages of
at least $15,000 in the suit filed Friday in Palm Beach, lawyer
Bob Montgomery
said. Punitive damages could drive the suit's price tag far higher.
The security man says Tyson turned him into a human punching bag
on May 3 while
he was escorting him and his entourage on Interstate 95.
Loses it after getting lost
By Bolton's account, he lost track of Tyson's car on the highway,
doubled back
and found the "aggravated" boxer standing in the median.
The heavyweight headed
for the bodyguard's car, the suit charges.
"The next thing he knew, Tyson was at his open window, had
opened the door and
punched Mr. Bolton twice in the face," said John McGovern,
another attorney for
Bolton.
Bolton suffered a broken bone above his left eye, but didn't report
the
incident to police because he didn't want to embarrass King or Tyson,
the
lawyers said.
Tyson, who has racked up 44 legal KOs during his career, could not
be reached
for comment.
The fracas happened nearly two months before Tyson got into trouble
for another
unsanctioned fight, at a hotel in Brooklyn.
In that case, the Brooklyn-born pugilist is accused of knocking
out a
Pennsylvania man who was badgering him for an autograph and allegedly
pretended
to have a gun.
Tyson - who was imprisoned from 1992 to 1995 on a rape conviction
- was charged
with misdemeanor assault and was freed pending further court action.