Lawsuit seeks ticket, pay-per-view refunds

      Mike Tyson should put his prize money where his mouth was and reimburse fight fans whose pricey evening entertainment was cut short by an act of bloody mayhem, a lawsuit charges.
      The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Clark County District Court, seeks class-action status on behalf of everyone who bought a ticket or pay-per-view hookup for Saturday's fight between Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
      All those fans deserve to be reimbursed, and the money to pay them back should come from Tyson's $30 million purse, according to the suit filed by Las Vegas attorney Donald Campbell and attorneys from Washington and Idaho. Two of the plaintiffs are from Henderson and one is from Las Vegas.
      "Mr. Tyson said he was sorry to the world," Campbell said. "We intend to plumb the depths of his sincerity."
      Tyson was disqualified by referee Mills Lane after he bit both of Holyfield's ears during the third round of the World Boxing Association's heavyweight championship fight at the MGM Grand Garden.
      The Nevada Athletic Commission voted Tuesday to suspend Tyson and hold his paycheck, pending a formal hearing next week.
      Tyson, 31, could be fined up to 10 percent of the promised money.
      He should be forced to give up the rest of the cash because he knowingly and wrongfully misrepresented himself to the public and then blatantly broke the rules of his sport, Campbell argues in the lawsuit.
      Tyson's Las Vegas attorneys could not be reached for comment.
      Class-action lawsuits, based on many of the same claims, were also filed this week in Texas and Florida.
      "Based upon the promotional efforts of Tyson, his agents, employees and representatives, fans expected to witness a serious fight between two professionals who would comply by the rules established by the Nevada State Athletic Commission," the Nevada lawsuit reads.
      Such promotions included interviews in which Tyson proclaimed himself to be "the best fighter in the world," and promised, "I'm not emotional. I'm a professional. I don't get involved emotionally with anything," the lawsuit notes.
      "Instead of the scheduled boxing match, however, plaintiffs and the class paid tens of millions of dollars to view an event that was abruptly and prematurely halted," the lawsuit continues.
      Tyson himself is liable for the halting of the match because he had been warned, after biting off a chunk of Holyfield's ear early in the round, that he would be disqualified if he did it again.
      "But then, in flagrant disregard of the referee's warning, Tyson again spat out his mouthpiece and intentionally bit Holyfield on that latter's left ear," the lawsuit explains.
      That act amounted to Tyson's having "breached his duty to fulfill his contractual obligations in a manner consistent with the covenant of good faith and fair dealing," the lawsuit says.