Mike Tyson has made plenty of enemies in and out of the ring. Which celebrities still harbor ill
will towards the former heavyweight champ? From a former promoter to a one hit wonder,
these are the celebs that can't stand Mike Tyson.
You might expect two boxers who dominated their eras to have a healthy respect for one another.
Not so with Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. The pair have an ongoing feud dating back
to when Tyson's career was nearing its end and Mayweather was collecting championship belts.
Their beef started in 2001 when a woman accused Tyson of kidnapping and sexual assault,
eventually leading to a police raid at his Las Vegas home. The accusation later
proved to be false, and though he admits he had no hard evidence to back up his claim,
Tyson remains convinced that Mayweather was behind the whole thing.
Tyson told Boxing Junkie:
"Some serious people said it. I'm good with it now ... You can forgive, but you have to remember."
In 2018, Tyson finally got the chance to throw some verbal jabs after Mayweather
called himself the greatest boxer in history. Tyson told Undisputed Champion Network:
"Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people.
Greatness is being accepted by the people. He can't take his kids alone to school by himself."
Will Mayweather and Tyson ever see eye to eye again? Probably not in this lifetime!
Tyson first met Don King in 1986, but it wasn't until 1988
that the famed promoter started working for the champ.
In the years that followed, Tyson became more successful in the ring and famous outside of it,
and his wealth soared. This was good news for Tyson but even better news for King,
who, at the time, was allegedly ripping the boxer off.
In 1998, Tyson filed a $100 million lawsuit against King accusing him of
cheating the boxer out of millions in the years that they worked together.
Things escalated in 2003 when Tyson
physically assaulted King during a failed attempt to patch things up.
Tyson wrote in his 2013 autobiography, "Undisputed Truth,"
"Don said some innocuous thing,
and all that jealousy and rage spilled out of me and I kicked him in his f—--- head."
However, despite getting a $14 million out of court settlement,
Tyson was not able to let the grudge go.
During the 2018 Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Tyson threw a glass
of water at King after the promoter tried to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
But even though he later admitted that he could have handled the situation better,
Tyson made it known that there was no love lost between him and King.
In 2020, Tyson admitted publicly that he smoked cannabis before his famous
exhibition match with Roy Jones Jr. in November of that year. This didn't sit
well with many people, including former self-proclaimed UFC bad guy Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen slammed Tyson on his YouTube channel, saying:
"He then came out after the fact to let the world know he was high
prior to the fight. I don't know what that is; that's disappointing to me."
A year later, Sonnen reiterated this, referring to Tyson as a drug addict on Twitter and
saying he would never be a guest on Tyson's podcast.
In another YouTube video from February 2022,
Sonnen revealed that he still has a lot of resentment towards Tyson over his staged
rivalry with Lennox Lewis and the cost of their disappointing pay-per-view broadcast.
"You defrauded me and the rest of the public out of $50, so give me my money back."
While Sonnen's beef with Tyson may not be as charged as Mayweather's,
don't expect any of them to meet for tea anytime soon.
Though Tyson and MMA superstar Conor McGregor were never the best of friends,
they were never exactly enemies either. That is, until July 2017 when Tyson predicted the outcome
of an upcoming boxing match between McGregor and, of all people, Floyd Mayweather.
Tyson made it clear he thought the rules of the match greatly favored Mayweather,
and on the "Pardon my Take" podcast, he said:
"McGregor is going to get killed boxing … [he] can't kick or grab and stuff;
he's not gonna stand much of a chance."
As expected, the cocky and savage McGregor assured Tyson he would win, tweeting:
"That's nice Mike, but you're looking at the new Don King here, son. Money is mine."
It didn't help their relationship when Tyson supported Khabib Nurmagomedov
against McGregor during the UFC 229 tournament in 2018.
Just like Tyson predicted, McGregor fell to the undefeated Russian legend.
But even though Tyson and McGregor claim to have squashed their beef,
it's likely there is still some lingering resentment — at least on McGregor's part.
Although he might be the last person you'd expect to be caught up in a feud with a rapper,
Tyson has always been full of surprises. In 2017, Tyson was asked to train Chris
Brown in preparation for his boxing match against Soulja Boy.
As they prepared for the match, Soulja Boy took things up a notch by releasing a track
dissing Brown and his ally 50 Cent.
Even though Brown is the one with the musical talents, Tyson decided to fight back with a diss
track, "If You Show Up," including a video with various women lip-syncing the forgettable lyrics.
Though Brown and Soulja Boy eventually canceled the boxing match after calling a truce, it would
be no surprise if today, years later, the rapper still holds a grudge towards the boxing legend.
Tyson's 1988 street brawl with Mitch "Blood" Green remains one of the most
notorious outside-the-ring fights in boxing history. It came two years after Green took
Tyson the full 15 rounds inside the ring, becoming just the second fighter to do so.
On an episode of his "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" podcast,
Tyson explained that he was having a good time with some friends at Dapper Dan's
clothing store in August 1988 when Green and his entourage walked in.
"All of a sudden everybody stopped laughing."
Mayhem broke out immediately, but Tyson had less trouble with Green than he did
during their earlier meeting. He said, to guest Michael Rappaport's great amusement,
"I dropped him a couple times, but he was high on angel dust so he kept getting up."
Green later sued Tyson for $25 million, but a New York court awarded him just $45,000.
Given how their last encounter turned out,
it's no surprise that Green and Tyson have yet to end their beef after more than 30 years.
Tyson's feud with trainer and broadcaster Teddy Atlas dates back to the '80s,
when they were both still working with legendary Cus D'Amato.
Atlas trained Tyson through some of his early-career success, but their good relationship
came to a quick end after the young fighter made advances toward Atlas's 11-year-old sister-in-law.
A furious Atlas confronted Tyson with a gun, but opted to make a point instead of killing him.
"I stuck the gun in his ear, I started to pull the trigger, and at the last second
I pulled it out of his ear."
Tyson later admitted fault in the incident in "Undisputed Truth," writing,
"It was a stupid thing to do … As soon as I did it, I immediately regretted it."
Atlas and Tyson reportedly reconciled in 2013, but given Tyson's unpredictable
behavior and Atlas' quick temper, there's no guarantee they will stay friendly forever.
Michael Jordan's feud with Mike Tyson started in 1988 at a birthday dinner.
Rory Holloway, another guest at the dinner,
revealed in his book "Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson,"
that Tyson accused Jordan of having a relationship with his wife at the time, Robin Givens.
Holloway thought Tyson was intent on beating Jordan up, writing:
"It was a circus, for real, that night … Mike telling everyone he's going to bust Jordan's ass.
Jordan's dressed sharp as always and he can't get out of there fast enough."
Jordan had apparently dated Givens during his earliest days as an NBA star,
but the relationship didn't last long and they both moved on.
Though the famed basketballer has been married to his wife Yvette Prieto since 2013,
it isn't so farfetched to assume that Jordan still feels some sort of resentment towards Tyson.
Tyson has been married to his third wife Kiki Spicer since 2009,
but his first marriage to Givens in 1988 was short and dramatic.
Givens accused Tyson of hitting her often, something the boxer has since confessed to.
In a televised interview, Givens told Barbara Walters – with Tyson sitting right next to her,
"It's been torture. It's been pure hell. It's been worse than anything I could possibly imagine."
Since their divorce in 1989, Tyson has continued to speak about their failed marriage — so much so
that in 2020 Givens filed a cease and desist order against Tyson, asking him to stop defaming her.
It seems to have worked for now, but plenty of bitterness still remains on both sides.
Tyson's rocky relationship with Givens made him more enemies than just his ex-wife
and her friends. In 1988, Tyson suddenly fired his long-time trainer Kevin Rooney
after comments Rooney made about Tyson's marriage to Givens.
Tyson told the Associated Press,
"I thought that was betrayal. I would never get on television and talk about
his drinking problem or fights with his wife. Where's his sensitivity?"
Rooney filed a $49 million lawsuit against the famed boxer, accusing him
of unjust termination of employment. In 1998, Rooney won his case against Tyson,
with the jury awarding him a $4.4 million settlement. Though it's a fraction of what
Rooney sought, it should be enough to keep Tyson away from him from now on.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse,
you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
You can also find more information, resources and support at their website.