ROLLS ROYCE Mike Tyson was challenged to DEATHMATCH by UFC legend Royce Gracie – but boxer refused as ‘there was no way I’d win’ In a memoir by sports writer Fiaz Rafiq,' To The Top: Enter the Octagon, the Ring and Entertainment', it is revealed: “[Tyson] was challenged by the Gracie Brothers, in particular Royce, back in the early 1990s. Was Mike right to decline this match-up? https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/14805404/mike-tyson-royce-gracie-fight-challenge-deathmatch/
Can't imagine why the most famous fighter on earth would decline a 'Death Match' by some no name Brazilian guy for what probably would have been chump change compared to his average payday. Royce's dad, Helio Gracie, tried the same stunt calling out Joe Louis back in the day. A big chunk of the Helio side of the family are/were more marketing oriented than fighting oriented (except Rolls, Rickson, and Royler). I may be a bit biased since I earned my purple belt from the Carlson branch, but I really don't think anything I'm saying is controversial. None of this is to say Royce and Helio weren't awesome fighters and legends. But they were just relatively ordinary guys with amazing technique. By comparison, Mike Tyson was arguably the greatest physical talent in the history of combat sports. The gap in size, strength, speed, explosiveness etc. would be unfathomable. Joe Louis would have knocked Helio's block off and Tyson would have left Royce on a ventilator. Jiu Jitsu is the greatest martial art on earth, but physics is a real thing.
More Gracie bullshido bullsheet. Tyson was in prison from 1991 to summer 95!! Gracie himself disappeared for 5 years after the competition heated up in the UFC around UFC 6. The Gracies challenged Mike alright during 1995...but they challenged everyone from old kung fu masters to movie stars...but tyson was the instant lottery and fame and attention they craved.. there were like freaking 100 gracie brothers,cousins,uncles,nephews....they had a lot of mouths to feed.....Mike didn't have grappling but would have knocked Gracie out anyway.....but gracie was a non entity financially and nhb was looked on as a bar brawl and unskilled yobs at that time by mainstream sports media
Tyson went to prison in '92. He was supposed to fight Holyfield in the fall of '91, but the fight was cancelled due to Tyson's upcoming trial. Holyfield fought Bert Cooper, in Atlanta, instead. The Gracies were an affluent family. Money has never been an issue for them. Mike only had one punch, literally, to defeat any of the Gracie family. It would end just as it did for everyone else at that point if he missed.
