‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ Mike Tyson is undoubtedly one of the most feared names in the sport of boxing. However, this repertoire was not limited to the ring. In fact, Tyson once channeled his inner Bruce Lee to take down a former gang leader in a street fight.
Tyson faced Mitch Green at Madison Square Garden in New York on May 20, 1986. Green, who was involved with street gangs during his youth, was a leader of the New York-based Black Spades. The fight went the distance, with Tyson being declared the winner by decision. While the fight wasn’t a particularly memorable one, its aftermath sent waves across the boxing world.
Green confronted Tyson outside a clothing store called Dapper Dan’s in Harlem in 1988 and proceeded to accuse Tyson’s promoter, Don King, of underpaying him. ‘Iron’ Mike, who had been out drinking the night before, actively tried to avoid an altercation.
However, things quickly got out of hand. As Tyson mentions in his autobiography ‘Undisputed Truth,’ Green ripped his shirt pocket, which sent the former world champion into a frenzy. What followed was a brutal beatdown in the streets of Harlem at 4 AM. Tyson said that he was drunk and did not realize that Green was high on angel dust at that time.
“I was throwing punches and crunching this guy, and he was weaving and wobbling from side to side like he was going to fall. But he didn’t go down,” he said. “So, I did a Bruce Lee ‘Enter the Dragon’ roundhouse kick on his a**, and he went down.”
But the fight did not end there. As Tyson made his way to his Rolls Royce, Green got back up “like Jason from Friday the 13th” and attacked him once again. Moreover, he even broke one of the car’s side-view mirrors. In an attempt to end the fight, an angry Tyson hit Green with a brutal right uppercut.“Boom! Mitch went flying into the air and came down like a ragdoll, right on his head,” Tyson said.
Mike Tyson was worried after the street fight
In the aftermath, Tyson revealed that he was terrified that he might have accidentally killed Green in the brawl. “I got scared because he didn’t move anymore when his head hit the concrete,” he said. “That’s when I just ran and got in the car and thought, ‘Let’s get the f**k out of here.”
Green, however, made it out alive with a swollen eye and facial bruising. Meanwhile, Tyson suffered a hairline fracture on his right hand. This led to his then upcoming title defense against Frank Bruno being postponed for a year.
‘Blood’ Green later sued the champ for $25 million in 1997 for alleged ‘assault and battery.’ But, ended up only getting $45,000.
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