Friday, Sept. 18, 1998 | 11:03 a.m.
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.
Nov. 4, 1985 -- D'Amato dies of pneumonia.
March 6, 1985 -- In his professional debut, Tyson defeats Hector Mercedes in one round.
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.
Nov. 22, 1986 -- Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in the second round, winning the WBC heavyweight title to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20.
March 3, 1987 -- Tyson defeats James "Bonecrusher" Smith at Las Vegas to win the WBA heavyweight title.
May 30, 1987 -- Tyson knocks out Pinklon Thomas in the sixth round at Las Vegas to retain his WBA-WBC heavyweight titles.
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.
Aug. 1, 1987 -- Tyson decisions Tony Tucker to retain the WBA-WBC heavyweight titles and win the IBF heavyweight title.
Oct. 16, 1987 -- Knocks out Tyrell Biggs in the seventh round in Atlantic City to retain the world heavyweight title.
Jan. 22, 1988 -- Tyson knocks out Larry Holmes in the fourth round to retain the world heavyweight title.
Jan. 26, 1988 -- Named 1987 WBC Boxer of the Year.
Feb. 9, 1988 -- Actress Robin Givens and Tyson marry in a civil ceremony at New York.
March 20, 1988 -- Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs to retain the world heavyweight title.
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 -- 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.
June 27, 1988 -- Tyson sues manager Bill Cayton to break their contract, then knocks out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds to retain the world heavyweight title.
July 11, 1988 -- Tyson 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 -- Tyson is 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 -- Tyson 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 -- Tyson 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. 7, 1988 -- Givens files for divorce.
Oct. 14, 1988 -- Tyson countersues Givens for divorce and annulment.
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."
Nov. 23, 1988 -- Tyson again sues Cayton.
Nov. 30, 1988 -- Tyson is sued for $92,000 by a Manhattan furrier for a Russian sable coat the furrier claims Tyson and Givens bought as a birthday gift for Givens' mother.
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.
Feb. 25, 1989 -- Tyson knocks out Frank Bruno to retain the world heavyweight title.
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.
April 26, 1989 -- Gets a speeding ticket in downtown Albany for driving his 1989 Lamborghini 71 mph in a 30 mph zone while drag racing with a friend.
May 5, 1989 -- Gets another speeding ticket in downtown Albany for driving his Lamborghini at an unspecified speed above the 30 mph limit, again while drag racing.
June 1989 -- Tyson and Givens' divorce is finalized, and Tyson is fined $300 and sentenced to community service for speeding violations.
July 21, 1989 -- Tyson knocks out Carl "The Truth" Williams to retain the world heavyweight title.
Feb. 11, 1990 -- In a stunning upset, Tyson is knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas in the 10th round and loses his world heavyweight title.
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.
June 28, 1991 -- In what would be his last fight before his legal problems, Tyson defeats Razor Ruddock in 12 rounds.
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.
Oct. 18, 1991 -- A Nov. 8 fight between Tyson and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is postponed because of a rib injury Tyson sustained whyile training.
Jan. 7, 1992 -- Court ordered blood test shows that Tyson is not the father of Natalie Fears son.
Jan. 21, 1992 -- Judge denies motion to delay rape trial.
Jan. 27, 1992 -- Rape trial begins with jury selection in Marion Superior Court.
Jan. 30-31, 1992 -- Washington testifies.
Feb. 7-8, 1992 -- Tyson testifies.
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 31, 1992 -- Indiana Court of Appeals denies a motion to free Tyson pending an appeal; Tyson is disciplined for giving other inmates his autograph.
April 15, 1992 -- Tyson is ordered to serve his sentence at the Indiana Youth Center, a high-medium security facility of about 1,400 inmates west of Indianapolis.
May 8, 1992 -- Tyson is found guilty of threatening a guard and disorderly conduct in prison, adding 15 days to his sentence.
June 22, 1992 -- Washington files a civil suit seeking unspecified damages against Tyson.
June 25, 1992 -- The Rhode Island Supreme Court, ruling on a disciplinary question raised by Washington's former attorney, says she should have testified during Tyson's trial that she had hired an attorney to handle the civil case.
July 23, 1992 -- The Rev. T.J. Jemison, president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., the nation's largest black religious denomination, is indicted on a federal charge of perjury for telling a grand jury he did not offer Washington $1 million to drop charges against Tyson.
Oct. 28, 1992 -- Tyson's father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, dies in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tyson does not ask for a leave to attend the funeral.
Nov. 17, 1992 -- Washington's attorney, Deval Patrick, says she is undergoing treatment for a sexually transmitted disease she contracted from Tyson in Indianapolis. He won't say what the disease is.
Nov. 19, 1992 -- Chief Justice Randall Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court disqualifies himself from hearing the Tyson appeal in the event it reaches that court. He does not say why.
Dec. 3, 1992 -- Dershowitz files a second appeal, saying Washington and her parents withheld information they discussed book and movie rights with attorneys and had signed a contingency fee before Tyson's trial.
Jan. 22, 1993 -- Alan Dershowitz files an appeals brief with the Indiana Court of Appeals, informing the court that he will focus on alleged attempts by Desiree Washington to sell her story.
July 13, 1993 -- Noemi T. McKenzie, of Woburn, Mass., files a civil lawsuit in Marion Superior Court alleging Tyson committed battery against her on July 18, 1991, during a rehearsal for the Miss Black America beauty pageant.
Aug. 6, 1993 -- By a 2-1 vote, the Indiana Court of Appeals upholds Tyson's conviction.
Aug. 26, 1993 -- Attorneys for Tyson ask the Indiana Supreme Court to review his conviction.
Sept. 2, 1993 -- The Indiana Supreme Court denies Tyson's appeal without comment.
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.
June 13, 1994 -- Judge Patricia Gifford refuses to reduce Tyson's six-year sentence to the 26 months he has served, saying he has not completed the necessary educational or vocational programs.
Feb. 13, 1995 -- Tyson's release date is moved up from May 9 to March 25, his original release date, by the Indiana Department of Correction.
March 13, 1995 -- WBO heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe pays a 45-minute visit to the Indiana Youth Center to discuss a possible $120 million fight with Tyson after his release and says the boxer is "in excellent shape."
March 25, 1995 -- Tyson is released from the Indiana Youth Center near Plainfield, Ind.
August 19, 1995 -- Begins comeback with 89 seconds victory over Peter McNeeley in Las Vegas.
Dec. 16, 1995 -- Knocks out Buster Mathis, Jr. in third round in Philadelphia.
March 16, 1996 -- Knocks out Frank Bruno in third round to win the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
April 9, 1996 -- Mike Tyson was 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.
Sept. 7, 1996 -- Knocks out Bruce Selden in the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title.
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.
June 30, 1998 -- Nevada State Athletic Commission revokes Tyson's boxing license for one year and fines him $3 million for the Holyfield incident.
March, 1998 -- Tyson is accused of uttering slurs and overturning a table during a dispute with two women in a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
July 29, 1998 -- Tyson decides to re-apply for a boxing license in New Jersey but becomes frustrated during his hearing, uttering a profanity and showing anger.
Aug. 13, 1998 -- Tyson withdraws his license request in New Jersey, announces he'll apply for reinstatement in Nevada.
Aug. 31, 1998 -- Two men file charges against Tyson in suburban Washington, D.C., claiming he punched one in the chest and kneed the other in the groin following a traffic altercation involving Tyson's wife, Monica.
archive
