Share
Sports

Watch: Boxing Hall of Fame event goes awry after Mike Tyson hurls water in Don King's face

Share

Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King made a lot of money together during Tyson’s heyday, but their relationship turned ugly in the years that followed.

Tyson filed a $100 million lawsuit against King in 1998 claiming the promoter had cheated him out of tens of millions of dollars.

The boxer claimed he had been subjected to a “pattern of fraudulent conduct” by King that had been “financially devastating” to him.

They reached a settlement in 2014 under which King agreed to pay Tyson $14 million, but that didn’t smooth things over.

In the 2008 documentary “Tyson,” the boxer called King “a wretched, slimy, reptilian motherf—er. This is supposed to be my ‘black brother’, right? He’s just a bad man, a real bad man. He would kill his own mother for a dollar. He’s ruthless, he’s deplorable, he’s greedy … and he doesn’t know how to love anybody.”

Trending:
Federal Judge Has Bad News for Hunter Biden, Says There's Zero Evidence His Charges Are Politically Motivated

Ten years later, Tyson still apparently holds a grudge against the promoter.

The two men appeared together during the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction Saturday in Canastota, New York.

When King walked past Tyson, he gave the former champ a friendly tap on the shoulder. Tyson responded by tossing water at King.

Afterward, the 51-year-old Tyson said he let his emotions get the best of him.

“That was me being immature,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have done that. But, you know, he touched me, he tapped me on my shoulder. It’s just, I don’t know.

“He talked in there like he was my friend and that was just bullcrap.”

Tyson said he regretted doing it “because I’m getting rid of my bitterness today. I let all of that go. Today’s the day I let all of that go.”

Related:
Heated Moment Between UFC's Sean Strickland and 'Vampire Man' Machine Gun Kelly Goes Viral; Stars Have to Be Separated

King, 86, hasn’t commented on the incident.

The two men were on hand for the Hall of Fame enshrinement of boxers Vitali Klitschko, Erik Morales, Winky Wright and Sid Terris, ring announcer Johnny Addie, promoters Lorraine Chargin and Klaus-Peter Kohl and broadcasters Steve Albert and Jim Gray.

Tyson was inducted in 2011, and King was enshrined in 1997.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, ,
Share
Todd Windsor is a senior story editor at The Western Journal. He has worked as an editor or reporter in news and sports for more than 30 years.
Todd Windsor is a senior story editor at The Western Journal. He was born in Baltimore and grew up in Maryland. He graduated from the University of Miami (he dreams of wearing the turnover chain) and has worked as an editor and reporter in news and sports for more than 30 years. Todd started at The Miami News (defunct) and went on to work at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., the St. Petersburg (now Tampa Bay) Times, The Baltimore Sun and Space News before joining Liftable Media in 2016. He and his beautiful wife have two amazing daughters and a very old Beagle.
Birthplace
Baltimore
Education
Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Media, Sports




Conversation