Mike Tyson was a truly volatile character when he came to fight in the UK in 2000.

Britain’s Hall of Fame boxing promoter Frank Warren agreed to host the American heavyweight icon for two bouts just after the turn of the millennium, but ended up being punched by Tyson himself in a furious rage.

Tyson was a wild character for much of his fighting careerCredit: AFP
At this point, Iron Mike had been beaten by Evander Holyfield twice, was far past his prime and looked to be hurtling towards the end of his career.

However, he still had his eyes firmly fixed on one last title shot against Lennox Lewis, who had dethroned Holyfield in 1999.

Tyson built back up by beating Julius Francis in Manchester in January 2000, then Lou Savarese in Glasgow five months later.

Outside of the ring, though, utter chaos was going on behind the scenes.

As British boxing’s premier promoter, Warren was the man to host these spectacles.

For a long time, he did not reveal his side of the story from the altercation, however speaking in 2020, Warren told all on the Crisis, What Crisis Podcast.

“First of all, it’s my fault what happened as I shouldn’t have got involved in the Mike Tyson business,” he recalled.

“First time he came over, no problems, he was great.

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Francis was stopped in two rounds by TysonCredit: AFP – Getty

Savarese only lasted one round, and it was before this fight that Tyson punched WarrenCredit: AFP – Getty
“And then he went into a jewellers and walked out with an invoice for, I can’t remember the exact amount – £2million or something like that.

“They never paid the bill and, quite rightly, the jewellers wanted to get paid and they kept ringing me.

“I was ringing the States, and they’re telling me, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to do another fight here, let’s pay it out of the next fee.’

“When he came back the second time he was just awful, beyond awful. He was petulant, just aggressive, a totally different scenario.

Warren has been promoting boxing for over 40 yearsCredit: Getty
“The bill hadn’t been paid still and he’d gone into the jewellers – the reason he went into the jewellers was because there was a girl in the jewellers that he’d met and he was basically showing off to her the first time.

“And, cut a long story short, he got p***ed about it. But I didn’t know this at the time.

“I get a call. Someone says to me, ‘Mike’s not happy.’

“I say, ‘I’ll come up and see him, what’s the problem?’

Tyson racked up a huge bill and span into a rage when the jewellers pursued legal actionCredit: Getty Images
“I go up to the hotel, next minute [I’m] standing there talking and he’s took a swing at me.

“Well, he didn’t take a swing, he actually caught me. I didn’t expect it by the way.

“It was a cheap shot. I got up. And it was all pandemonium, crazy, 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. I shouldn’t have got involved.”

When asked about the aftermath, Warren continued: “I was absolutely fuming as you can imagine. Fuming with everybody involved.

“The lawyer at Showtime wanted to call the police, I said, ‘No, no, no.’ I don’t want to do that. I’ll sort it out, don’t worry.

“All the newspapers said I had my jaw broken, my ribs were broken. That was all bulls***, nothing was broken at all. My eye just had a burst blood vessel, a red eye, that was it.

“He fought, had his fight and I made sure that he paid for what he did, hit him where it hurt.”

Warren’s bloodied eye was visible when he attended the fight a few days after the altercationCredit: AFP – Getty
The promoter concluded: “He was mad – Mike Tyson was a terrible bully. He was the bully who got beaten by bullies.

“Evander Holyfield and Buster Douglas, they beat him because he couldn’t intimidate them.

“And years later he was fighting again, they wanted to put a fight on against Kevin McBride, Irish guy, and they wanted to sell the rights to Sky.

“I talked to people and said, ‘Don’t do that, put him in with Danny Williams,’ that’s an English guy and I could do a better deal for the TV – that’d appeal more to them.

Warren suggested Danny Williams as an opponent for Tyson a few years later, and Williams won by knockoutCredit: Rex Features
“I said to Danny Williams, ‘For two or three rounds this will be World War II. You’re gonna get everything thrown at you. Get through it and you’ll knock him out’. And that’s what he did.”

Since making these comments, Warren actually reunited with Tyson for the first time since 2000.

In late 2023, Warren promoted Tyson Fury’s fight with Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Iron Mike attended as a special guest.

They spoke, settled their differences and buried the hatched, with Tyson now a much different man to the one he was in his fighting prime.

Regardless of his character change, he will still be stepping back into the ring for a crossover bout with Jake Paul on July 20 – though hopefully won’t be visiting any jewellery shops beforehand.