In an interview with Ring Magazine, Mike Tyson revealed that the late Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kerkorian quietly came to his rescue following a physical confrontation that put the heavyweight legend in serious legal jeopardy, sending his private jet so Tyson could avoid arrest.
Tyson, now 60 and focused on reviving amateur boxing through his Mike Tyson Invitational series, opened up about the previously unpublicized story while reflecting on his relationship with the MGM Resorts founder during the MGM era of his career.
“One time I got in some legal problem,” Tyson told Ring Magazine. “I had attacked some guy. I think he came into the bathroom with a camera to look at me and I attacked him. So I got him arrested, but Kirk gave me his plane so I wouldn’t get arrested and I had took off.”
The moment had never seen the light of day, which came as no surprise to those familiar with Kerkorian’s famously private nature. The Armenian-American real estate and entertainment mogul, who won the bidding war to host Tyson’s comeback matches at the MGM Grand in the 1990s, was known for his generosity as much as his aversion to publicity.
Tyson made clear just how far Kerkorian went to protect him.
“This plane is big as two houses, but he sent his plane for me and my family,” Tyson said. “My daughter was 17. She was just a baby. She wasn’t even a couple of months old.”
The story painted a vivid picture of a powerful friendship between two larger-than-life figures, and Tyson was clearly moved recounting it.
“That was my man,” he said of Kerkorian, before adding that the late billionaire was no pushover either. “Kirk didn’t take no s**t either,” Tyson said.
Kerkorian, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 98, had a storied history of his own. A former amateur boxer in his youth, he built one of the largest fortunes in Las Vegas history and was a revered figure in the Armenian community worldwide.
