# Mike Tyson vs Mitch 'Blood Green Street Brawl



## scribbs (Dec 8, 2012)

The guys squared off before Tyson won the title but are more well known for the street brawl afterward






*Tyson Hurts Right Hand In Scuffle With a Boxer*

By PHIL BERGER
Published: August 24, 1988

Mike Tyson's Oct. 8 title defense against Frank Bruno was in jeopardy yesterday after the heavyweight champion sustained a hairline fracture of the right hand when he and another heavyweight, Mitch Green, scuffled in an early morning street brawl in Harlem.

Tyson appeared at a news conference last night with his right hand in a cast. His manager, Bill Cayton, said that Tyson's hand specialist, Dr. David Chiu, had flown in from a vacation in Toronto to examine the hand and had determined there was a fracture of the third metacarpal.

''It is not of a serious nature,'' said Cayton, ''but it will be kept in a cast to make sure nothing happens to it. Dr. Chiu has said the cast will come off in three weeks, at which time he will determine if the Bruno fight can take place.''

Tyson was supposed to have begun training yesterday in Catskill, N.Y., for the Bruno bout, which is scheduled to be in London.

But according to a police spokeswoman, Sgt. Diane Kubler, the incident with Green happened first, at 5 A.M. at 41 East 125th Street. All-Night Clothing Store

The Manhattan phone directory lists that location as a business called Dapper Dan, which Tyson described as an all-night clothing store that caters to performers. Tyson said he had gone there with two friends, Walter Berry of the San Antonio Spurs, and Berry's cousin, Thomas Smalls, to pick up an $850 garment. He showed off that item - a white leather jacket with gold and black trim and the words ''Don't Believe the Hype'' on the back of it - at the news conference.

As he was leaving Dapper Dan, Tyson said, he encountered Green. The fighters had different versions of what happened next.

Green said in a telephone interview that the incident started with a conversation about their May 1986 fight, which Tyson won on a unanimous decision.

''I was telling him,'' said Green, '' 'You know I didn't really fight you 'cause Don King done took my money.' Tyson says, 'You tellin' me I didn't beat you? O.K. We could do it again now.' I says, 'Do what?'

''I seen him fixing the rings on his fingers, but I didn't think he'd stoop that low. But he did. He sucker punched me. And ran. And his boys that he was with held me, like they were breaking up a fight, while I was trying to get to him. They hit me cheap shots too. I was trying to get to my car and get a jack. But him and his buddies ran to their car and drove away. Mike Tyson. Heavyweight champion of the world. A cheap shot like that.''

According to Sgt. Kubler, Green required five stitches to close a cut above his nose and then filed a complaint against Tyson at the 25th precinct stationhouse.

Det. Harold Dice of the 25th precinct said that Tyson was expected to appear there today to receive a summons charging him with simple assault, a misdemeanor.

Green's attorney, Richard Emery, said: ''As Mitch described it to me, Tyson was moving the rings on his fingers around so they'd be there as part of the punch, to rip up his face.''

But Tyson and his two companions described different circumstances.

''We were sitting in the store,'' said Berry, a former St. John's forward, ''when Mitch Green came around and began harassing Mike about how Don King owed him money. When we got outside, Mike was going to the car. Mitch Green grabbed his shirt and ripped it. Mike shoved him down to the ground. Mitch come up swinging. Mike told him: 'I don't want to fight you.' '' Tyson 'Was Scared'

Tyson said that Green threw a punch at him and he felt ''nervous.''

''I haven't been in a street fight in seven years,'' said Tyson. ''I was scared. He hit me in the chest. I hit him over the eye or something. He came back again. I had no other choice but to defend myself. He was not in a good state of mind. He was upset.''

Smalls said that as Tyson left the scene by car, Green chased after the vehicle, beating on it with his hands.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/24/sports/tyson-hurts-right-hand-in-scuffle-with-a-boxer.html


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## scribbs (Dec 8, 2012)

*Tyson still makes Green's blood boil*

Mitch Green is one of the few pugs to go the distance in Iron Mike's '80s heyday. Today, a destitute Green wants another shot.

Updated: June 7, 2005, 11:47 AM ET
By Tim Graham | Special to ESPN.com

They go by many labels. The polite terms are trial horses, steppingstones, gatekeepers, B-sides. Others would dare to call them palookas, bums, stiffs, pugs, cadavers, cannon fodder - though maybe not to their faces.

These are the sort of men, practically anonymous to all but the staunchest fight fans, who compose the early portion of every champion's career. They build up confidence. They build up a record. And then when their usefulness has been exhausted, they usually fade away.

Mike Tyson had the most prominent career launch of any non-Olympic fighter. The buzz generated by his early fights - the relentlessness, the explosive power, the don't-blink knockouts - made Kid Dynamite a crossover sensation.

Even so, a quick glance at those early bouts will conjure up memories of &#8230; well, not much. Most of the names won't register.

Who are these guys? Where are they now?

Some, like Tyson's first professional foe Hector Mercedes, are tough to locate. Some, like Mitch "Blood" Green, are easier. Joe Ribalta won't do interviews without getting paid. Reggie Gross was imprisoned on murder charges.

Tyson will try to patch up his sagging career against Kevin McBride on Saturday night in Washington, D.C. This will mark Tyson's first appearance since losing to Danny Williams last summer.

So the time seems fitting - since McBride is about the same caliber of fighter upon which a 19-year-old Tyson feasted regularly back in the day - to track down some of those men who gamely stepped into the ring to face a skyrocketing phenom and helped create a legend.

Tyson Foil I: Mitch Green

A weak, raspy voice, barely audible over the blaring television in the background, picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm looking for Mitch Green. Is this him?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm calling from ESPN.com. I'm working on a story on some of Mike Tyson's early opponents, and &#8230;"

"Tyson's a knucklehead!" Green shouted, instantly evolving into a Chris Rock character from "Saturday Night Live." The TV quickly was muted. "Come on, man! He's getting knocked out by bums. That's all I can say about that because you're not giving me any money for this. I can't talk about that knucklehead. &#8230; But I got a lot to say."

Mitch "Blood" Green is flat broke. He's not afraid to admit it because if he doesn't let you know, you wouldn't think to offer him some money.

But if charisma were currency, Green would be watching "Judge Judy" while sitting on a beanbag chair stuffed with large bills.

Green, 48, lives alone in Queens and has no apparent means of income aside from receiving $5 for every autograph he sells on a Web page constructed in his honor. Benefactors apparently help him pay his bills.

Fans are still drawn to Green and his wacky tales, his hilarious one-liners and outrageous statements.

"I'm like a politician in Harlem," Green said. "Every time I go out it's "What's up, Mitch? Mitch, Mitch, Mitch! Bop, bop, bop! Blood, Blood, Blood!"

He does magic tricks for kids on the streets, and he's still famous enough to bail himself out of trouble with the law - sometimes - with a funny story or an autograph. He has been in and out of jail more often than Sideshow Bob and reportedly has had his driver's license suspended 54 times. But he recently avoided a ticket for turnstile jumping on the subway when two undercover cops accepted a signature instead.

Green fought Tyson twice. The first time was in May 1986. Green dropped a lopsided 10-round decision but became only the second opponent to last that long with Kid Dynamite, who rose to 21-0.

The second time, two years later, Tyson infamously brawled Green in front of a Harlem clothing store just before dawn.

Green is still begging to complete the trilogy, even though he hasn't fought since 2002, when he picked up a title from something known as the World Boxing Syndicate by beating Danny Wofford, a pug who came into the fight with a record of 17-94-2.

"Tyson's a punk. That boy is scared to death of me," said Green, who went 18-6 but fought only seven times in 16 years after losing to Tyson. "It's a damn shame Tyson's scared of me like that. We could make a lot of money. Aw, man!

"I could tattoo all these chumps. I could beat both them bums. Tyson's fighting a bride. Ha! It's like they're getting married. &#8230; They'll be hugging and kissing.

"You know, you asking me a lot of questions. I should get paid for this."

Toward the end of the uncompensated interview, Green started to feel antsy. All that boxing talk was giving him ideas, awakening dormant desires.

"I haven't been to the gym lately, but I'm going," he said. "I might just get me a fight.

"Sure you can't give me a couple dollars for this? I'm tapped."

Tim Graham covers boxing for The Buffalo News and is a contributor to ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=graham_tim&id=2075395


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## ThinBlack (Jun 5, 2013)

Mike was lucky Mitch was on Angel Dust.


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## Johnstown (Jun 4, 2013)

Oddly enough in both versions Tyson kinda sounds like a bitch :lol:


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## Johnstown (Jun 4, 2013)

in truth I suspect neither is true..Tyson was likely a bit more aggressive but Mitch was likely talking allot of shit...


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## Laughing Bruno (Jun 13, 2012)

heh heh heh


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## NoMas (Jun 7, 2012)

Dapper Dan's is a legendary shop, all the gangsta's and celebrities used to go down to Harlem and cop clothes from him...

Mitch got battered either way, I always thought he was a mouthy cunt lol

I didnt realize that Mitch was in American Gangster though...


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## ThinBlack (Jun 5, 2013)

NoMas said:


> Dapper Dan's is a legendary shop, all the gangsta's and celebrities used to go down to Harlem and cop clothes from him...
> 
> Mitch got battered either way, I always thought he was a mouthy cunt lol
> 
> I didnt realize that Mitch was in American Gangster though...


Iran Barkely was in the Black Spades with Mitch, gives him a paragraph in his autobiography.


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