NEW YORK, Aug 3: Jose Sulaiman, the president of the World Boxing Council, has filed a $56 million lawsuit against Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, saying he was knocked out, spat on and threatened when a brawl broke out between the two heavyweights at a New York City news conference in January.

In Manhattan Supreme Court papers made public Friday, Sulaiman, 71, from Mexico, said he was knocked unconscious when he hit his head on a table.

The papers said that as a result of the melee in which Tyson charged at his British rival, Sulaiman was “maliciously and violently assaulted ... causing him to fall and inflicting serious bodily injury upon him.”

The WBC president said he suffered permanent physical and psychological injuries. He had to undergo dental surgery after having some teeth knocked out and now suffered from ringing in his ears.

Others named in the lawsuit include Lewis’ American promoter, Main Events, Dan Klores, the public relations firm that represented Tyson at the time, Showtime Networks, Home Box Office Marketing, Inc., HBO Direct and the Millennium Hotel in New York City where the news conference took place.—Reuters