Mike Tyson vs. Mitch Green, billed as “New York Is Busting Out” due to both fighters being from NYC….was a professional boxing match contested on May 20, 1986….as Mike Tyson entered the ring as an undefeated 19 years old…who had won all his 20 previous fights by way of knockout….would face Mitch “Blood” Green….who was ranked one spot ahead of Tyson on the WBC heavyweight standings….as this fight would take place at Madison Square Garden.
Despite Green being higher than Tyson in the rankings….there was a huge dispartity in the fighter’s purse with Tyson being guaranteed $250,000….while Green was due to make only $30,000….so, because of this….Green threatened to pull out of the fight only one day before it was to take place unless his purse was increased. However, after HBO executive Ross Greenberg informed Green that a shot at the WBC heavyweight title was on the line….Green chose to continue on with the fight.
Though the two fighters would never again face each other in a boxing ring….Tyson and Green were involved in a high-profile street fight two years later….by which time Tyson was the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion….when on August 24, 1988….Green confronted Tyson at Dapper Dan’s in Harlem, claiming that Tyson’s promoter Don King owed him money….and as the argument escalated into a physical confrontation….to which Tyson landed a straight right hand across Green’s face….completely shutting Green’s left eye and opening a cut across his nose that required five stitches. Tyson, however, would not walk away unscathed, as his right hand was fractured during the melee….and causing his scheduled October fight against Frank Bruno to be pushed back.
Any way you cut the pie….this HBO prefight special featuring HBO’s outstanding boxing broadcast crew of Barry Tomkins, Sugar Ray Leonard and Larry Merchant….clearly highlighted the bad blood that would eventually spill-over at Dapper Dan’s….which makes this video well worth watching.
