Mike Tyson once tried to fight Michael Jordan at a party, says former manager

Mike Tyson once tried to start a fight with NBA legend Michael Jordan, according to the boxer’s former manager Rory Holloway.

Holloway claims the two sports icons nearly came to blows at a 1988 birthday party for Chicago Bears player Richard Dent. Boxing promoter Don King and Bears coach Mike Ditka were also in attendance.

Tyson allegedly took issue with the fact that Jordan previously dated Robin Givens, to whom the boxer was married at the time. As you probably guessed, there was alcohol involved.

“Mike Tyson’s sitting there with his drink of choice, a Long Island Tea, and when he drinks his real feelings come out,” Holloway wrote in his book Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Team Tyson (h/t Boxing Scene).

“I’m telling the server to water his drinks down because I see where this is going.

“Mike stares across the table at Michael Jordan. He says: ‘Hey man, you think I’m stupid? I know you f**ked with my b**ch.’

“Jordan looks like he just seen a ghost. ‘I know you messed with her,’ Mike says. ‘You can tell me.’

“Jordan, it’s obvious he just wants to get up and run. He wants no part of this. Mike turns to Ditka. ‘Man, you think somebody scared of you, all that racist s**t you been talking?’

“He says to Dent, ‘Y’all scared of this damn white man, Richard? He ain’t nobody. You gonna let him talk that way?’

“It was a circus, for real, that night. Don King trying to change the subject. Me and John trying to hold Mike down.

“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.”

What do you think of this wild story involving Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/14/2020.