I've heard they have not seen each other since Tyson fired him. I've also heard Mike hates him for some reason. Maybe because he refuses to blame himself for being average after he left. Anybody know if there back on good terms?
Tyson royally screwed up by firing Rooney. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. They were a winning team. You never tinker with a winning team. But Tyson got mad at Rooney for taking Bill Cayton's side in the dispute with Don King and the Givens/Roper women, and fired him. Then when Rooney sued him for breach of contract, Tyson got even more angry and said he never would reconcile with Rooney. Ironically, Tyson wound up getting divorced, and later sued Don King. Tyson should have listened to Rooney and Cayton all along. But Bill was not Mr. Personality, and King and the women were able to woo him successfully, for a time. By the time Mike realized his big mistakes (if he realized, or ever would be willing to admit), it was too late. He already had badly damaged his life and career.
Yeah most people aren't going to admit they're wrong, especially after being sued by the same person who proved them wrong. I'm sure Tyson's bitter. He hates thinking about this part of his life and I don't even blame him since he had a poor upbringing and was manipulated by greedy individuals.
Oh please. Kevin Rooney was a degenerate gambler and drunk. He told Tyson, before the last fight they worked together (Spinks), that he Rooney had gambled BOTH their purses on a first round knockout. And Tyson believed him, because Rooney was a "degenerate gambler." And Rooney never guided anyone to the title or had a champ ever again. And Rooney has nothing now, because he's a degenerate gambler. Also Bill Cayton was an old queen. So was Jim Jacobs. So was Cus. And Steve Lott was Jacobs' boyfriend who Jacobs left everything too. Mike Tyson was in his early 20s, the age most people go off to college. It was the height of the booming hip-hop culture. Tyson was a big star. And he wanted to get laid, party with black celebs like Tyra Banks and Bobby Brown, live it up in New York. He didn't want to sit around reviewing sparring tapes or watching grainy old movies of boxers with a room full of old homos. He wanted to GO OUT. Just like any college-age black man would want to do. So anyone thinking THAT SITUATION was ever going to last needs to forget about it. It lasted as long as it was going to last. Cayton and Jacobs had Tyson sign contracts when he was underrage without a lawyer. They were ripping him off. That's why Tyson dumped Cayton and to this day doesn't have anything nice to say about Jacobs anymore (a guy he cried over when he died). Tyson was only making a couple million when he was fighting on HBO. I think he got $2.5 million to fight Tony Tucker to unify all the belts. Later, with King, he was making $30 million fighting guys like Peter McNeeley. So Tyson did fine. Old guys tend to go "if only Tyson stayed with the old gay dudes, everything would've been fine." Tyson lived his life. He certainly doesn't regret dumping Bill Cayton or Rooney.
