Mike Tyson and Mitch Green were boxing rivals in the ring and on the street. The champ famously threw a ‘Bruce Lee roundhouse kick’ to knock his Green out during a brawl
Tyson claims Green possessed alien-like strength from drugs he had taken earlier in the night(Image: Getty Images)
Mike Tyson is infamous for his devastating left hook knockouts but one of Tyson’s most bizarre knock-outs was delivered by a “Bruce Lee roundhouse kick” putting to sleep a foe he claims possessed drug induced “alien-like strength”.
The New York gang leader Mitch Green had previously faced Tyson in the ring during the boxer’s meteoric rise to stardom. He managed to go the distance across 10 rounds with Tyson in 1986 at Madison Square Garden, six months before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history by demolishing Trevor Berbick.
The towering Green survived until the final bell by grappling and clinching with the 5ft 11in Tyson at close quarters. However, their rematch on Harlem’s streets at 4am proved to be a brief and brutal encounter. Green was already furious with Tyson claiming boxing promoter Don King had short-changed him.
Green was gagging for a rematch against Tyson(Image: Getty Images)
Green craved a profitable rematch with Tyson, a reality which seemed unlikely to materialise within the boxing ring. Whether inside or outside of the ring, Green was gagging for another confrontation with Tyson and this led to them coming face-to-face on a night out in August, 23, in 1988.
On the fateful night, Tyson had ventured to Harlem to visit Dapper Dan’s clothing boutique to collect an $850 white leather jacket featuring “Don’t Believe the Hype” – the name of a Public Enemy song – printed across the back. Green had been informed of Tyson’s arrival in Harlem, leading to the now NYC gangster bursting into the shop shirtless and hurling abuse at his bitter rival.
Tyson retold the tale in a previous comedy set titled Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth
Pulling back the cover on his retelling of the scrap in a previous comedy set titled Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Tyson recounted the wild incident. Despite the set being dubbed “Undisputed Truth” many have questioned if it is an accurate retelling of the incident as Tyson may have told a few porkies to make some of the events more spectacular.
Tyson had been out on the town drinking and clubbing earlier in the evening of the street brawl. Before the chaos ensued, Tyson claimed he was attempting to portray himself as a corporate, sponsor-friendly champion during that period. Tyson explained: “I’m there feeling good – all of a sudden my cool is interrupted when this uncouth mother****** walks in.”
Tyson came to blows with Green outside the ring in 1988(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
According to Tyson, he told Green: “Now, Mitch, you must consider what you are doing. I do not think that this course of action in the long run is advantageous for your health. You’ll remember that I already vanquished you when we met in the ring. You need to proceed to the nearest exit immediately.”
Tyson joked Mitch ran towards him yelling “f*** you f*****” at the heavyweight champ, leading to Tyson’s hand to “slip” blasting the New York gangster in the face with a devastating overhand right. Iron Mike claimed a devastating punch sent Green hurtling back, but the bout was far from over.
Mitch Green throwing a punch at Iron Mike in their match on May 20, 1986 at Madison Square Garden(Image: Getty Images)
Tyson added: “I broke my hand on this c***sucker’s face, right.”
He explained after Mitch was knocked down the New York gangster seemingly rose from the dead due to some alleged powerful substances he had taken before the confrontation.
Tyson said: “This is one thing you never knew – you all know about the altercation, but this is what you didn’t know. Mitch was high on some powerful s*** that gave him alien-like strength.”
Tyson claimed he hit Mitch with an ‘Enter the Dragon’ roundhouse kick’ on him sending him down
“I was drunk and didn’t realise that he was high on angel dust [PCP] so he wasn’t going to hit me back.
“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. So I did a Bruce Lee ‘Enter the Dragon’ roundhouse kick on his ass and he went down.”
Tyson suffered a hairline fracture from the mayhem leading to his forthcoming title defence against Britain’s Frank Bruno to be delayed – eventually taking place the following year.
Despite Tyson’s retelling of the event Green claimed that Tyson “sucker-punched” him leaving him on the floor of the boutique.