Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has reportedly refractured his right hand, possibly putting a crimp in his scheduled title defense on Dec. 17 against Frank Bruno.
Bill Cayton, Tyson's manager, confirmed Tuesday that he had been called by promoter Don King from Cleveland with the news that may affect the champion's fight schedule.The latest revelations were contained in a story in Wednesday's edition of the New York Daily News.
According to reports, Tyson was hitting the heavy bag in a gym on King's farm in Orwell, Ohio, when the injury occurred. His hand was then re-set in a cast by a Cleveland doctor, the News reported.
Tyson originally had been scheduled to start training Monday in Catskill, N.Y.
Cayton said he could not be positive whether the apparent hairline fracture on the third metacarpal of the right hand, which Tyson injured in a Harlem street fight with Mitch Green in August, was new or old.
That original injury forced postponement of the fight with Bruno until October. Further problems moved the fight back two more times, to December.
According to the News, Cayton said he spoke to the doctor who treated Tyson in Cleveland and was told the injury was "minor." Cayton said it is still possible for Tyson to keep his four-times postponed date with Bruno.
"I think they want to keep him (Tyson) in Cleveland because they're afraid of papers being served on him," Cayton was quoted as saying.
Tyson reportedly has been huddling with King and other advisers in King's home concerning the divorce action his wife, Robin Givens, filed in California last Friday. It was expected that Tyson would file for divorce himself in New Jersey, where the couple had been residing, or seek an annulment of the eight-month marriage.
Givens' lawyers, already in New York, said Tuesday they will seek an out-of-court property settlement with Tyson, but also hinted there is a chance to save their rocky marriage.
Givens hired divorce lawyer Raoul Felder and his California associate Neal Raymond Hersh on Sunday, the lawyers said. She was originally represented by celebrity divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson.
Asked about a possible reconciliation, Felder said: "It's not unthinkable."