NEW YORK -- Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, hurt in a car accident Sunday, reportedly had threatened to kill himself just prior to the accident, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.
The paper said that Tyson completed a workout Sunday morning in Catskill, N.Y., then called his wife, actress Robin Givens, at her Manhattan apartment.
'I'm going to go out and kill myself,' Tyson reportedly said. 'I'm going to crash my car.'
According to Catskill doctors, it was pouring rain when Tyson left in his BMW. Earlier reports were that the 22-year old went out to get a Sunday paper. He pulled out quickly, the tires began spinning and his car slammed into a tree.
He was not wearing a seat belt.
Tyson was unconscious with minor injuries to the head and chest when he was rushed to Catskill Hospital. Dr. Carolyn Britton, a neurologist at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan where Tyson currently is an inpatient, said Tyson regained consciousness during the ambulance ride and has been alert since.
According to the Daily News, Tyson aimed his car at the tree. The paper reported that Tyson and Givens had been fighting for weeks. Individuals close to the couple told the paper that last Thursday Tyson threatened to kill his wife.
'I'll kill you and then me,' Tyson reportedly told Givens.
Howard Rubinstein, Tyson's spokesman, said he has not read the article, but told UPI 'from what I'm told it goes well beyond anything I have knowledge about. I found Mike Tyson to be a gentleman and easy to deal with.'
The News said that Rubinstein and real estate developer Donald Trump have knowledge of Tyson's problems.
After the accident, Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, rushed to meet Tyson at Catskill Hospital and used the limousine phone to call aides and the fighter's manager, Bill Cayton.
'Michael just tried to kill himself,' Givens reportedly told them.
According to The Daily News, when Givens entered Tyson's hospital room Sunday, Tyson was sitting up.
'I told you I'd do it,' Tyson reportedly told Givens. 'And as soon as I get out of here, I'll do it again.'
The champ later was moved to Columbia-Greene Medical Center in Catskill, about 20 miles south of Albany, before being transferred to New York.
Tyson, who may have been knocked out for as long as 30 minutes from the accident, has postponed his Oct. 22 championship bout with Frank Bruno in England. Britton said Tuesday she has advised the undefeated champion not to train for 30 to 60 days.
Britton said Tyson suffered amnesia from the accident near the home where he was raised in Catskill. At first he did not remember the accident at all, but later recalled the car skidding but no memory of the mishap beyond that, the doctor said Tuesday.
'He had a concussion,' Britton said. 'And, while there is no external cranial injury, he was out longer than most fighters would have had they been in the ring.'
Cayton said he agreed with Britton on postponing the Oct. 22 Bruno bout. The manager said Tyson is contractually bound to fight Bruno next, but he would not speculate when the fight would take place.
Because the bout is likely to take place in winter, it must be moved from London's Wembley Stadium, which would seat 55,000, to Wembley Arena, which will seat about 11,000. Cayton estimated the smaller gate will drop Tyson's cut from $6 million to about $4.5 million.
This marks the second time the fight with the Englishman has been delayed.
It was originally set for Oct. 8 but was pushed back when Tyson suffered a fractured hand Aug. 23 during a street fight with former opponent Mitch Green outside an all-night Harlem clothing store.
Dr. Dennis Reison, a New York cardiologist, after 48 hours of observation concluded the champion's heart is medically sound. Doctors thought Tyson may have bruised his heart in the accident after he tested abnormally.
Tyson is scheduled to be released in the next day or two but will not go to the Soviet Union as planned with Givens, who is to film two shows of her weekly television series, 'Head of the Class.'
A native of Brooklyn, Tyson lives in Bernardsville, N.J., with Givens, but has been training upstate since last week.
The car accident is the latest trouble for the champion. Last month, he brawled with Green and sustained a hairline fracture of his right hand. On July 25, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Cayton in a dispute over the manager's cut of Tyson's purses.
On June 27, Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds to retain his undisputed heavyweight title. In May, he sideswiped a car with his Bentley convertible in lower Manhattan. He then tried to give the car away to police officers at the scene of the accident.
