GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A jury has ordered the former manager for Buster Mathis Jr. to pay $837,000 in damages to the retired heavyweight boxer.

"The whole jury felt strongly about the old story of a boxer being ripped off by his manager," jury foreman Roger Horton said after the verdict Thursday ended a two-month.

Brian Lee Baumchen sued Mathis in 1996, and the boxer countersued. Each accused the other of wrongdoing during Mathis' five-year professional career, which peaked in 1995 when he earned $700,000 for fighting Mike Tyson.

Tyson knocked out Mathis in the third round in Philadelphia.

Mathis is the son of Buster Mathis Sr., who fought Joe Frazier and Muhammed Ali. Until his death in 1995, the elder Mathis trained his son.

The 30-year-old Mathis held the USBA heavyweight title from February 1994 until May 1996, when he was stripped of the belt for fighting Tyson in a non-sanctioned match instead of defending his title against No. 1-ranked USBA contender Lou Savarese.

Mathis fought Savarese on Nov. 2, 1996, for the vacated USBA. Savarese stopped Mathis in the seventh round.