Mike Tyson has quite a lot going on. Not only is he set to return to the ring to box that exhibition with Roy Jones Jr, not only is he busy running his cannabis ranch, not only is he looking to help worhty charities, and not only is he busy with his ‘Hotboxin” podcast, Tyson also has a new movie on his life coming out; with Jamie Foxx portraying the former heavyweight king.
Fans have been waiting some time for the film and Foxx and everyone involved have been working hard on the project. Fans are also wondering how much of Tyson’s life the film will delve into – the good and the bad. One person who hopes she will not featured in the film is Robin Givens, who was of course married to Tyson for eight turbulent months in 1988.
Fans of a certain age will remember the surreal interview a seemingly drugged Tyson gave on the Barbara Walters show that year. With Givens by his side, referring to her husband as a “manic depressive,” and stating how being married to Tyson had been “torture” and “pure hell,” a dazed and passive Tyson said next to nothing. A short time later, Givens filed for divorce. Soon dubbed a “gold digger,” and later “the most hated women in America,” Givens was reported to have been awarded a substantial sum of money.
Givens all but vanished from view after the messy divorce, one that captured the attention of the entire world. Now, speaking briefly about the upcoming Tyson film with Andy Cohen on his radio show SiriusXM, the actress said she is hoping she is not featured in the movie.
Givens says there were many lies written about her in the 1989 book “Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson.”
“There were so many things..that are not true that it’s hard not to feel deeply disturbed by it,” Givens said this week. “In a way, I hope I’m stronger because of this, or going through this process, but it’s really, it’s a little upsetting. Of course (I’m hoping I’m not in the forthcoming movie). The absolute truth would be yes.”
There is, however, a good chance the Givens episode of Tyson’s at times hectic life WILL be focused on in the film, if only briefly. It was massive news back in 1988, and even now Tyson fans say the outside the ring grief and strife Tyson had to go through affected his ability and desire to fight (Tyson having no fights in 1988 after his “peak performance” against Michael Spinks in June of ’88).
But who might portray Givens if she is featured in the film?