Wednesday, Oct. 21, 1998 | 10:03 a.m.
The day after former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson won reinstatement of his license -- instantly making him a multi-million dollar entity -- the first lawsuit over how his future earnings will be split was filed in District Court.
The underlying issue in the lawsuit filed by John Horne against Shelly Finkel and several unnamed individuals is who will get to represent the troubled fighter.
Horne states in the legal action that his Aug. 16, 1994 contract makes him Tyson's co-manager. But Finkel persuaded Tyson in February to terminate the relationship and hire Finkel in his place.
"I'm not aware of it," Finkel told the Associated Press Tuesday when asked about the lawsuit.
The suit, filed Tuesday through attorney Joseph Kistler, claims Horne's original managerial contract is valid, as is a March 17, 1995 agreement between Tyson, Don King Productions and others for a 10-fight, pay-per-view deal on Showtime.
Only five matches took place before Tyson's license was yanked for more than a year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for biting off a chunk of heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield's ear.
The agreement, according to court documents, gave Horne and others 20 percent of the $43 million bonus provided by the Showtime agreement, 20 percent of Don King Productions' share of the Showtime deal and 20 percent of Tyson's purses for those 10 matches.
"He became the wealthiest, best-paid boxer in the game," said Horne's Los Angles lawyer Bernard LeSage. "He was paid more money than any other boxer in the game ... more than $100 million in less than 18 months. We just want him to fill out his contract, and then he's free to go on his way."
The lawsuit charges Finkel, a New York resident, with intentionally interfering in Horne's contractual and financial relationship with Tyson.
"(Finkel's) actions were done maliciously and with conscious disregard of the rights of (Horne)," justifying the awarding of punitive damages in addition to unspecified compensation, the lawsuit stated.
The case has been assigned to District Judge Myron Leavitt.
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