Tyson wrote in "The Undisputed Truth" that he asked his agent to set up a meeting between him and Robin Givens after he spotted her on an episode of "Soul Train" in 1987. The pair got married in 1988, though their tumultuous marriage didn't last long.
Eight months after tying the knot, the "Ambitions" actress filed for divorce from Tyson, claiming he physically abused her throughout their marriage. In the 1989 Mike Tyson biography "Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson" written by Tyson's former friend Jose Torres, Torres claims Tyson once said Givens took the best punch he ever threw (via Los Angeles Times). Tyson, however, denies the allegations he abused Givens, claiming in his memoir that Givens was a "manipulative shrew" who tried to control him.
Despite the title of Tyson's memoir being "The Undisputed Truth," Givens heavily disputes Tyson's implications she was a golddigger. "First of all, I was a young woman at the time," Givens said in a 2020 interview on the "Bevalations" radio show (via Essence). "I was 22 years old. By the time I met my ex-husband and not to go through my things on paper, but I had graduated from high school at 15. I went to college at 19. I was a Harvard grad. I had my own TV show. I had my own home by the time I met [him]. I don't think a lot of 22-year-olds can say that."
She continued, "I only say that, not to applaud myself, but it's amazing that when people do tell lies, it kind of takes away your truth. And I think it's very important not to let somebody do that, not to let somebody rewrite history because you have a louder voice."
