Warsaw - A Warsaw court has ordered former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to pay $68 000 after failing to show up at a promotional event in Poland last year, the Polish news agency PAP reported Wednesday.
PAP quoted Polish boxing promoter Tomasz Babilonski as saying he had won his lawsuit against the controversial star.
“According to the final ruling, Mike Tyson and his manager must pay me $48 000,” Babilonski said.
He said they had also been hit with court costs equivalent to $20 000, and had been given 14 days to pay the full sum.
Babilonski had sued Tyson and his manager Carl Holness after the boxer pulled out of a September 2011 gala in Warsaw.
While Tyson has retired from the ring, he still puts in personal appearances at events around the world, helping to draw fans to fights.
“At the last moment, Tyson didn't show up,” Babilonski said, noting that he had paid out $10 000 for plane tickets for the ex-boxer and his entourage.
He claimed that Tyson's agent and wife, who handle his business affairs, initially had said they would cover the loss, before proposing a new date and finally falling silent.
He alleged that he was asked to leave the room after trying to speak to Tyson when the latter was in Warsaw this year to promote an energy drink.
“I wanted this unpleasant saga to end amicably. Now I'm finally going to get back the money I invested,” he said.
Tyson, now 46, became the world's youngest heavyweight champion at the age of 20.
Out of the ring, his reputation is controversial.
In 1992 he was sentenced to six years in prison for raping an 18-year-old woman.
Sapa-AFP