Tyson: Where The Money Went

[gavpowell]

One of my Christmnas presents was The Little Book of Boxing by Graeme Kent - a couple of hundred pages of facts and trivia, a bit like a Schott's Miscellany of boxing.

 

One of the pieces describes Tyson's financial collapse and it;s the first time I've seen a breakdown of where the money went:

 

Accountants scrutinising the few documents Tyson had kept estimated that among his spending, of his £200million fortune, the following items were included:

 

 

Managers/Agents: £60 million

Gifts to Friends: £10million

IRS Tax Owed: £8million

State Tax Owed: £1million

Houses: £8million

Divorce Settlement (1): £7million

Divorce Settlement (2): £6million

Cars: £4million

Legal Fees and Fines: £3million

Wristwatch: £1million

Parties: £1million

Gambling: £1million

 

Tyson also owed child maintenance and unpaid salarties. His wage bill was immens: in one year, he paid Crocodile Fitch £150,000 to attend pre-fight press conferences and shout "Guerilla warfare" at intervals. "I'm not tight with a dollar." sighed the ex-champion when he retired in 2005.

[davemurphy]

Somehow the 50% that Don King stole isn't listed on the ledger grin//

[Meathead]

I remember Crocodile well.

 

After the Lewis/Tyson brawl at the press conference to announce the fight, Lewis was asked whether or not he was angry at Tyson for what he had done, Lewis replied that he was more angry at his cheerleader, referring to Crocodile.

 

Its no surprise that the entourages get so big when fighters are paying guys like him to literally just make noise.

 

The really surprising thing for me though is that the things I had expected Tyson to have blown his money on ie gambling, parties etc. is actually quite a small amount in the grand scheme of things.

[gavpowell]

Yeah, assuming those details are correct, Tyson seems to have been able to enjoy very little of the money for himself. Then again, 4 million on cars and a million on a watch you'd have to hope he's come away with a few chirpy memories.

[davemurphy]

I remember Crocodile well.

 

 

I wonder what he's doing now. The last thing I saw was this interview by Boxing's worst interviewer Elie Seckbach from 2009:

 

[WelshDevilRob]

For reference it would be Great to see how much DK actually made from Tyson. We will never know the true amount. Tyson when he fought in the UK spent a fortune at a jewellers in London. He also owned tigers. He blew alot of cash and has to blame himself for that. You can employ the best accountant in the World but he can do little if his client blows a million in an afternoon.

[Meathead]

Tyson blew a fortune in a jewelers in London, but it was Frank Warren who ended up with the bill.

 

The outstanding amount was actually used by Warren as evidence that he couldnt pay Calzaghe the amount owed to him when Calzaghe sued him and Warren ended up closing Sports Network.

 

I may be wrong but I am pretty sure Warren tried to sue Tyson in a US court for this but it got dropped by him when the outcome looked like going against him.

[iamasadlittleboy]

How long before Warren winds up his current promotional outfit lol...

[davemurphy]

For reference it would be Great to see how much DK actually made from Tyson. We will never know the true amount. Tyson when he fought in the UK spent a fortune at a jewellers in London. He also owned tigers. He blew alot of cash and has to blame himself for that. You can employ the best accountant in the World but he can do little if his client blows a million in an afternoon.

 

Don always had good accountants covering his tracks, but it's safe to say that during the time Mike was in Prison for Rape and his Managers were "King Plants" John Horne and Rory Halloway, quite a bit of Mike's fortune made it's way out of the Bank. Part of the reason Tyson fought McNeeley so soon after being released was that DKP wanted to replenish things, so nobody would see behind the house of cards they'd built covering the "personal loans".

[WelshDevilRob]

Dave, I forgot about those guys (Horne). Kings son Carl probably would have been involved but I think some rule was that a promoter couldnt also be manager and I think that applied to relatives? If true who made those rules and why haven't they done more to regulate boxing.

[McBride]

DK did that to a good few Heavies at the time he was more or less controlling that division Rob. He would have Carl as the token manager, most of them never met Carl, they just paid him ( Don ) the percentage.

 

The best example was Witherspoon / Bruno. Tim got a million to fight Frank, after ex's he almost owed DK money.

[WelshDevilRob]

Yeah I remember the control he had and how Carl was a token manager. Just wonder who put a stop to it. Might just have been monopoly laws that came into national laws.

[gavpowell]

It's a provision of the Ali Act, same as everything good in boxing., Unfortunately, nobody's bothered to add to it since, though McCain keeps trying.

[davemurphy]

Dave, I forgot about those guys (Horne). Kings son Carl probably would have been involved but I think some rule was that a promoter couldnt also be manager and I think that applied to relatives? If true who made those rules and why haven't they done more to regulate boxing.

 

Rob-

Yeah, it's like Gav just mentioned above, the Ali Act put a limit on the number of options you could get on a fighter here in the U.S.A. Thar effectively all but ruined Don King's monopoly on the Heavyweight Division, and it's no small accident that within the space of just two or three years, Don's power as a King the King Maker quickly dried up to a point where Corey Spinks was actually the Kingpin of his Stable once Trinidad faded away :) Those who'd been screwed by Don King over the years delighted in seeing him on the sidelines or watching him beg them for major fights.