Mike Tyson… sued again!
The law and athletes do not always get along well together but the cardinal rule, or what should be the cardinal rule for all athletes, is to have the law on their side. It is a win-win situation, the law has less mischief makers and the athletes have more time to be “real” athletes. Let us cut the sportspersons slack though, with all those games and all that pressure there have to be some repercussions. So the first lawsuit is considered null and void, until you get another one filed against you and then another one and so on.
Mike “Iron Mike” Tyson is not new to scrimmages with the law. This former heavy-weight boxing champion is not new to lawsuits either, no matter how anachronistic they may seem. In 1997 he was ordered to pay $45,000 to a pro boxer Mitch Green, for a brawl the two had NINE years earlier! Petty is not so petty when you are running with the big guns now is it?
So here it is again, another lawsuit against Mike, 25 long years after the alleged incident itself. This time it is not about any physical damage like Mike’s many previous stints with the law. This time it is about nicknames.
Mike Landrum is a former professional boxer who turned pro in 1983, two years before Tyson’s professional career began. Landrum fought a total of ten matches in his career, four of which he lost. Now that it should all be dirt under the rug, Landrum has decided it is about time to get his lost career back, or at least the money he could have made from it.
Mike Landrum is suing Mike Tyson for, now here is the really tricky part, stealing his nickname. Landrum claims that he trademarked “Iron Mike” in 1983 and that Tyson took it once he began. Landrum believes that when Tyson used the moniker it hindered Landrum’s chances of getting any major fights or sponsorships because of all the name confusion. This is when we salute the terms “intellectual property”, “copyrights “,“trademarks” and various others coined by lawyers of late.
Landrum has asked Tyson to pay $115 million for his former namesake. Tyson’s representative, Tammy Brook, said that this case holds no merit.
Mike Tyson is one of the most phenomenal boxers in history and has had a total of 58 career fights. He has three titles to his name and won his first when he was only 20 years old. Tyson made a “name” for himself not through his clever marketing gimmicks but through his skill which he showed in almost every match.
Though Mike Tyson has repeatedly been on the wrong side of the law, this time the tables may have turned a little, landing Tyson somewhere in between. Then again the art of conflict resolution lies in how persuasive and convincing the arguer is. Sometimes a little bit of salt can make the whole dish bitter. Though this case seems somewhat flippant, the thing about courts is, sometimes they can be very unpredictable!
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