Donald Trump and Mike Tyson during Annual March of Dimes Gourmet Gala at Plaza Hotel in New York in November, 1989. (Photo: Getty Images)
Mike Tyson was quite possibly the scariest man on the planet in 1988.
Long before Donald Trump called the White House home he was a business mogul on the brink of getting knocked out by Iron Mike himself.
For context, by the summer of ’88, Tyson was 35-0, he was the youngest heavyweight champion of all-time (and still is) on top of being the undisputed heavyweight champion.
He was a 21-year-old wrecking ball. He was also in a tumultuous marriage with actress Robin Givens at that exact same time.
The pair wed in 1988 and divorced one year later with Givens citing spousal abuse stemming from Tyson’s jealousy and temper.
According to Tim O’Brien, author of the book TrumpNation, Tyson confronted Trump after hearing rumours he had been having an affair with Givens.
"Could I ask you, are you f****** my wife?” Tyson reportedly asked Trump.
O’Brien has since quoted Trump’s first-words after the meeting : “Now, if I froze, I’m dead… you would have zero chance. Here’s the heavyweight champion of the world, and he’s a solid piece of fu***** armour.”
Trump did not disclose what he said to placate Tyson in that instance, but what we do know if nothing turned violent and Trump is alive and well to tell the tale.
Tyson and Trump had worked fairly closely in the years leading up to that point. In the summer of that same year, Tyson fought in a huge bout with Michael Spinks which Trump bid a bumper $11million to stage at the Atlantic City Convention Hall near to his New Jersey HQ.
Incredibly, Trump became president of the U.S. 28 years later and their relationship must have remained strong because Tyson was one of the most famous names to endorse Trump.
Tyson said in a 2016 interview with The Daily Caller : “That sh** is the real deal. Listen: I’m a black mother***** from the poorest town in the country. I’ve been through a lot in life.
“And I know him. When I see him, he shakes my hand and respects my family. None of them- Barack, whoever- nobody else does that. They’re gonna be who they are and disregard me, my family.”
"So I’m voting for him. If I can get 200,000 people or more to vote for him, I’m gonna do it.”
Source: Talkspot.com
You probably know the story of the great irony of the Titanic. The ship hailed as “unsinkable” sank after it struck an iceberg on its very first trip across the Atlantic Ocean.