Mike Tyson is one of the biggest stars from the boxing industry, with his influence transcending boxing across all realms of sports. At the peak of his stardom, there were only a few who could come close to Tyson in terms of sheer fan following and stardom. Michael Jackson was defiantly one of those celebrities who could compete with Tyson in terms of popularity. Moreover, Jackson would probably edge Tyson when it came to a popularity contest. Evidently, upon meeting The Pop star for the first time, the former WBC Heavyweight Champion received a brutal reality check which broke Tyson’s ego.
‘Baddest Man on the Planet‘ was on great terms with ‘King of Pop’, the duo often met publicly. However, it wasn’t such smooth sailing to begin with. There was a time when Jackson and Tyson had not met. What’s more one incident left quite a bitter taste in Tyson’s mouth.
This was until the pair officially started to hang out together and Tyson learned to grow fond of Jackson and began to respect him more.
Mike Tyson was left dumbfounded by his first Michael Jackson meeting
Tyson once appeared on T.I’s expediTiously podcast. During the podcast, the duo discussed various topics such as opening up about Tyson’s early years as an ego-driven young boxer. During, the discussion Tyson revealed how his ego got crushed by Michael Jackson.
Tyson said, “I met Mike one day, I think he was at a concert in Cleveland, I’m with Don King… And then I go over to meet Mike, … and he goes like this, ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere? Where I know you from? He broke my ego, he crushed me. I said ‘No, I’m just a fan, pleasure to meet you, sir. He said, ‘OK’, and then he got out and went in the car.“
Tyson even went on to claim that he held a grudge towards Jackson due to this incident till the time they eventually started hanging out together. He felt as if Jackson had played him in some sort of way and Tyson’s ego could not handle it.
Tyson revealed his grudge against Jackson
Even when Tyson left along with Don King after the encounter with Jackson he felt the bitter taste in his mouth for quite a while. This was until Jackson finally asked Tyson to come over to his place and they hung around together. According to a report from the Sun Tyson revealed his grudge with Jackson.
Tyson said, “I said ‘OK I’m coming, I’ll be over there’, right? So I got on a plane, went over there, hung out, and we just started hanging out together. And I said ‘F*** man, he’s a good guy.“
Even after getting to know Jackson personally Tyson still kept questioning himself asking why would Jackson behave in such a strange way during their first meeting. This speaks volumes about the ego Tyson had earlier in his career.
