Despite Mike Tyson’s $100M Robbery, Former Middleweight Champion Claims “I Got Nothing Bad to Say About Don King”

The tumultuous relationship between Mike Tyson and Don King is a well-known tale. However, not everyone shares the same issues ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ had with his former promoter. The legendary promotor started working with Tyson in the 1970s, eventually splitting in the late 1990s when Tyson sued King, claiming King cheated him out of $100 million that he was owed.

King ended up settling the issue out of court, paying Tyson $14 million. In dire straits at the time, Tyson used the money to pay off his massive debt that had sent him into bankruptcy. The relationship between the two had gotten so rocky that there was a time when Tyson was so frustrated about running out of money that he actually beat up King. During an episode of his podcast in 2020, Tyson revealed, “We’re driving, and next thing I know I freaked out and I kicked the guy.”

“As soon as I kicked him in the back of the head he put on the breaks. As soon as we stop, I’m beating him in the car,” Tyson said. “I’m trying to get the girl in the front seat to hold him so he can’t run because I couldn’t [hit] him the way I wanted to.” King eventually managed to get out of the car, but Tyson was determined—only King’s smarts saved him that day.

“I tried to run across and he did a little back turn and got back in the front, drove off, and left me on the highway,” Tyson continued. Years after Tyson unearthed this story in his podcast, DJ Vlad brought it up in an interview with former middleweight champion Michael Nunn, who also worked with King during his glorious run in boxing, which saw him retire with an impressive record of 54-4.

Regardless, when told about what happened between Tyson and King, Nunn quickly defended King while adding, “I got nothing bad to say about Don King, to be honest.” The 61-year-old suggested he was completely content with King’s role in his professional career, adding, “He always gave me my money so I never had [any] problem with Don.”

Nunn even claimed that King would give him money whenever he asked, a stark contrast to the allegations Tyson made against King. Regardless, after Nunn said this, he suddenly remembered one issue he had with the veteran promoter—but it wasn’t about money.

Unlike Mike Tyson, Nunn blames Don King for this one thing

Before Nunn moved on to the light heavyweight division in the mid-1990s, he wanted to go to London and fight Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr. “Only problem I think I might have had [with King was] not [getting] me the Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank fight,” Nunn said. Benn and Eubank, of course, were the biggest names in the UK back then. 

“I think if I could have [gone] over to London and fought him, I think it would have been a big fight,” Nunn said. There were Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler in the States, of course, but Nunn wanted to tackle the legends in the UK. Benn and Eubank would eventually fight each other twice, creating history. However, Nunn never got the chance to fight either of them.

That being said, Don King and Mike Tyson might have their issues, but that seems to have been confined to them. As far as Nunn is concerned, King was a blessing for his career. What do you think about Nunn’s statement?