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ormer heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson was arrested on Wednesday after a scrap with paparazzi at Los Angeles International airport that his rep is calling “self defense.”

The Los Angeles Times, citing an unnamed source, said Tyson told police the photographer struck him in an attempt to provoke him, while the photographer claimed Tyson punched him in the face and tried to take film from his camera.

LAX police Sgt. Jim Holcomb also got conflicting stories from each party. Holcomb says Tyson allegedly hit photographer Tony Echevarria, 50, once in the face with one hand, causing a laceration on the forehead. But Echevarria claims Tyson, 43, hit him at least four times – causing him to receive five stitches.

“When you’re getting hit by Mike Tyson, it’s the worst thing in the world you can imagine,” Echevarria told Reuters.

Tyson’s spokeswoman Tammy Brook said her client was merely defending his wife and 10-month-old child from an overaggressive photographer.

“Mike acted in self-defense as a father protecting his child,” she told People.com.

But, Echevarria said in video interview posted on TMZ.com that he “wasn’t aggressive, I was shooting from a distance, and I was respectful.” He indicated that his videotape should back up his story.

Both men made citizen’s arrests on each other, were booked on misdemeanor battery, and were released without bail.

Tyson is currently serving a three-probation term from a drug arrest in Arizona, but it remains to be seen if the airport incident would be considered a violation of those terms.