Mike Tyson once punched Frank Warren in a hotel room and left him with bloodied eye over unpaid £2m jewellery bill
FRANK WARREN has revealed how a £2million jewellery bill led to Mike Tyson PUNCHING him.While helping the American get this career back on track with a pair of UK-based fights at the turn of the century, Warren came into very close contact with Tyson.
Frank Warren was unimpressed by the ‘petulant’ Mike Tyson on his visit in June 2000Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Tyson developed a bad reputation for his actions outside of the ring
The promoter encountered ‘The Baddest Man On The Planet’ at the height of his infamy, with an unpaid jewellery bill coming back to haunt the fighter.
And Warren has opened up on the ‘pandemonium’ the ‘petulant’ Tyson caused when flooring him inside a Park Lane hotel.
Speaking on Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis Podcast, the 70-year-old recalled: “First time he came over, no problems, he was great.
“And then he went into a jewellers and walked out with an invoice for, I can’t remember the exact amount, £1.5m, £2m something like that.”
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He continued: “They never paid the bill and the jewellers, quite rightly, wanted to get paid and they kept ringing me.
“And I was ringing the States. They’re telling me, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to do another fight here let’s pay it out of that’.
“When he came back the second time he was just awful. Beyond awful.
“He was petulant, aggressive, totally different scenario.”
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Warren continued: “The bill hadn’t been paid still and he’d gone into the jewellers – because there was a girl in there that he had met and he was basically showing off to her.
“And to cut a long story short, he got p***ed about it.
“I get a call. Someone tells me, ‘Mike’s not happy’.
“I go up to the hotel. Next minute, you stand there talking and he’s taken a swing at me. He actually caught me. There’s a lot of commotion. I didn’t expect it.
“It was a cheap shot. I got up and it’s pandemonium, madness in the room.
“When I say it’s my fault, I should have known. I should have pulled out of that situation from the start.”
Warren, who released his ‘Frank And Fearless’ book detailing his 40-years in the sport in December 2019, insists he exacted revenge on the ‘bully’ Tyson.
Fortunately for the London-born promoter, the blow from one of boxing’s all-time hardest hitters left him with just a bloodied eye.
He added: “I was fuming. The lawyer at Showtime wanted to call the police, I told them not to.
“All the newspapers said my jaw was broken, ribs were broken, it was all b******s, nothing was broken. My eye had a burst blood vessel, that was it.
“I made sure that he paid for what he did, hit him where it hurt.
“And he went berserk after the fight, the police actually ran him out of town. After the fight he went straight to Gatwick and they left the country.”
Warren had the last laugh, helping to set the New York bruiser up for a memorable defeat to Danny Williams four years later.
He said: “Years later, they wanted to put a fight on against Kevin McBride, Irish guy, and they wanted to sell the rights to Sky.
“I told them to put him against Danny Williams, an English guy, and I could do a better deal.
“I said to [Danny], ‘For two or three rounds this will be World War Two. Get through it and you’ll knock him out’. And that’s what he did.”
Tyson is currently in training for his second comeback fight – following his draw with fellow veteran Roy Jones Jr.
Iron Mike is expected to take on Evander Holyfield – who beat him twice in their prime – with Lennox Lewis also interested. More
