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Sunday, April 7
 
No visible signs of injuries seen on dancer, boyfriend

Associated Press

PHOENIX -- An exotic dancer alleges that Mike Tyson punched her Sunday during a confrontation at a strip club, but his lawyer denies the former boxing champion touched her.

Police were investigating a complaint that Tyson assaulted the 25-year-old woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend shortly before 1 a.m. at the Hiliter Club.

"There were no visible injuries to either victim," according to a brief police statement.

Tyson had left the club by the time officers arrived and was not arrested, police said.

A man who answered the phone at the bar Sunday afternoon said he knew nothing about the alleged incident.

"The allegations are patently false" and recorded statements by several witnesses confirmed that Tyson never struck anyone at the club, said his attorney, Darrow Soll.

"The complaint against Mr. Tyson is without merit," Soll said in a statement. "Numerous eyewitnesses interviewed by the Phoenix Police Department confirmed that Mr. Tyson did nothing wrong. Our officer also conducted several interviews and will provide them to the investigators. Mr. Tyson made himself available to the appropriate authorities and will file a counter-complaint in the next few days."

Tyson, who was in town for a few days on unspecified business, had been in the club and "may have been hit or nudged" by someone there, but he left "before there was a confrontation," Soll said in a telephone interview.

Tyson will cooperate with police investigating the incident, Soll added.

Tyson has a history of violence outside the ring as well as in it. Several women have filed criminal or civil complaints accusing him of groping them or making unwanted sexual advances.

He was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant in Indiana in 1992 and was in prison for three years of a 10-year sentence.

He spent three months in a Maryland prison in 1999 for fighting with two motorists following a traffic accident. He was suspended from boxing in 1997 for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a bout in Las Vegas.




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