Michael Jordan Almost Got Pounded By Mike Tyson Over Robin Givens In 1988

Michael Jordan is the talk of the town these days thanks to the 10-part documentary, "The Last Dance." This series narrates the story of Jordan, one that includes his last moments with the Chicago Bulls. But somewhere along the way, there are now claims that Jordan would have been served his last meal in 1988 courtesy of Iron Mike Tyson.

Jordan and Tyson crossed paths on Dec. 13, 1998, when both were among the select guest of a birthday party for Hall of Famer and former Chicago Bears Richard Dent. It was Dent's 28th birthday at the time. Jordan had just come from a Chicago Bulls game against the Atlanta Hawks. Other notable names present at the time included Bears coach Mike Ditka, Don King, and Tyson's co-manager Rory Holloway, Boxingscene reported.

Worth noting at the time is that Tyson was still an undefeated boxer. He manhandled anyone who dared face him in the ring but had his share of outside personal issues. That included his marriage being on the rocks Both would officially break up on Valentine's Day of 1989.

It turns out that Jordan, who is only four months older than Tyson, dated Givens as he was rising to fame with the Bulls. Iron Mike knew about it and things allegedly just went a bit ugly when the heavyweight boxer had too much to drink. There are claims that it came to a point where Tyson aimed at the Chicago Bulls star, telling him he knew that something went on between Jordan and Givens.

There were different versions of what went down that night. Holloway said that Jordan tensed up, not knowing what to do as he was trying to figure out if it was a joke or something serious. The tone of the conversation is unknown, made even harder to comprehend because Tyson may have consumed a bit too much than what he could handle, The Chicago Tribune reported.

However, Ditka had a different take on the Jordan-Tyson conversation. He said that he could not recall anything like that happening. And even if it did, he knows Jordan is not the type of guy who would be drawn into an altercation - especially against Tyson, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

And contrary to reports that Ditka was there, Holloway said that it was all a lie since the Bears coach was not. And if there was any jawing going on, the topic was not about Givens or Jordan but Evander Holyfield. However, Dent did admit that Tyson and Jordan mentioned Givens in a conversation but chose not to elaborate further.