Tyson Fractures Hand in New York Street Fight

Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand early Tuesday in a street fight in New York with former boxer Mitch Green, who once lost a 10-round decision to Tyson.

Tyson, who spoke at a news conference Tuesday evening with his arm in a cast extending to the elbow, said he was shopping with San Antonio Spurs forward Walter Berry and Berry’s cousin, Tom Smalls, at an all-night clothing boutique in Harlem called Dapper Dan’s at about 4:30 a.m. Tyson said Green attacked him outside the store.

Green, 31, of Queens, contradicted Tyson’s story, saying Tyson “popped him” on the nose during an argument outside an after-hours nightclub in Harlem, according to police. Green, who lost a 1986 non-title bout to Tyson, told police he needed five stitches above his nose to close the wound.

Berry and Smalls appeared with Tyson at the news conference to corroborate the 22-year-old champion’s story.

“I’m a victim,” Tyson said. “I guess I hit him over the eye. I was nervous. I hadn’t had a street fight in seven years. I had no choice but to defend myself. He hit me in the chest.”

Tyson’s manager, Bill Cayton, said the cast will be removed in three weeks, when it will be determined whether Tyson can defend his title Oct. 8, as scheduled, against Frank Bruno in London.