Mike Tyson’s marriage to his first ex-wife, Robin Givens, was short-lived. His marriage failed twice before he found his home with his current wife, Lakiha Spicer.
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City.
He is an American former professional boxer who reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990.
Moreover, Tyson claimed his first belt at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, holding the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title.
Mike Tyson Was Married To His Ex-Wife, Robin Givens For Only A Year!
The legendary professional boxer Mike Tyson has had a tumultuous romantic journey marked by high-profile relationships and personal distress, with three marriages and six children.
His first wife was Robin Givens. They tied the knot on February 7, 1988, at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Chicago.
Following her miscarriage in June 1988, their marriage began to fall apart. They divorced barely a year later, on Valentine’s Day in 1989.
Tyson and Givens’ relationship was very turbulent and messy, with several accusations of abuse and financial disputes flung at each other.
Moreover, during a joint interview with Tyson on ABC’s 20/20, Givens told Barbara Walters about her messy relationship with Tyson and his volatile temper.
“torture, pure hell, worse than anything I [Givens] could possibly imagine. There are times when I thought I could handle it, and just recently, I’ve become afraid. I mean very, very much afraid.”
Robin Givens
After a month of giving that interview, Givens filed for a divorce in October 1988. The judge granted her a restraining order based on her claims of spousal abuse during their divorce.
Then, Tyson accused his ex-wife of stealing his possessions and also took a dig at Givens’ mother, Ruth Roper.
Following this, Givens became infamous and faced several insults from Tyson’s followers and the media.
Many individuals allegedly called her a gold digger, accusing her of marrying Tyson only for his wealth.
Givens filed a $125 million lawsuit against Tyson, citing his words and charges caused her public scrutiny and disgrace. The court finally approved their divorce in February 1989.
While Givens eventually found solace in motherhood and subsequent relationship, Tyson reignited the controversy after claiming the alleged reason for their divorce in his 2013 memoir Undisputed Truth.
According to his memoir, Givens had an extramarital affair with actor Brad Pitt, causing their separation. However, Givens has denied all of these claims.
He recalled driving into Givens’ driveway and spotting her in a car with Brad, subsequently discovering them in bed together on another occasion.
Tyson went as far as to claim that Pitt pleaded with him not to hurt him.
“You had to see the look on his face. He looked like he was ready to receive his last rites. He also looked stoned out of his gourd.”
“I was going to…you should have seen his face when he saw me. I was due a divorce but every day I would go to her house.”
“This particular day, someone beat me to the punch. I guess Brad Pitt got there earlier than I did.”
Mike Tyson
Although Givens and Pitt dated in the 1980s, she refuted being unfaithful to Tyson.
“Pulling up in the driveway? That part’s true. I thought he said he caught us in bed. I didn’t read the book, but I was told he said he caught us in bed, which never happened. Never, ever, ever happened.”
“Does that sound like Brad? Brad’s got swag, you know what I mean. No, never.”
Robin Givens
She was dubbed “the Most Hated Woman in America” and depicted as a “gold digger who married Tyson solely for his millions.”
Robin Givens Thrived in Hollywood Despite All the Public Shame and Scandal!
While most people recognize Robin Givens for her acrimonious divorce from Mike Tyson, she is also an actress and director.
In 1986, Givens played Darlene Merriman in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class. Givens remained on the series for its five-year duration.
The actress eventually served as a spokeswoman for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for many years afterwards.
Givens was unstoppable as she continued her career with film and television roles such as The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and Boomerang (1992).
She co-starred in the sitcom Sparks in 1996, which ran on UPN for two seasons.
Furthermore, Givens hosted the syndicated talk show Forgive or Forget in 2000.
Then, she published her autobiography Grace Will Lead Me Home in 2007. She has since appeared in recurring roles on The Game, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Chuck, Riverdale, and its spinoff Katy Keene.
Givens was also the main cast of Batwoman. Eventually, she began directing television and films in 2020.
Additionally, she enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College as a pre-medical major at 15, becoming one of the youngest to attend the school.
Givens said she dropped out of Harvard Medical School to pursue an acting career, although the registrar’s office confirmed that she never enrolled.
“First of all, I was a young woman at the time. 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.”
Robin Givens
In 1997, she married her tennis instructor, Svetozar Marinković, but filed for divorce months later.
After divorcing Robin Givens, Tyson remarried twice. Monica Turner, a pediatrician, became Tyson‘s second wife after a chance encounter at a party.
However, they divorced in 2002 due to infidelity and lifestyle differences.
Tyson then married Lakiha Spicer, an entrepreneur who owns her clothing boutique, in 2009. Despite their significant age difference, their union brought forth children and enduring love.
Spicer supported Tyson‘s endeavors while also making her career. She told The New York Post in 2012:
“I could never really get him out of my system. He’s the only person I was ever able to fall back in love with several times. Usually when I’m done with someone I’m over it. I’d think I’d have him out of my system and then we’d start talking again and it was just on again.”
After a series of turbulent relationships, Mike Tyson is finally at peace with his current and third wife, Lakiha Spicer.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Mike Tyson has an older brother, Rodney, and an older sister, Denise, who died of a heart attack at age 24 in 1990.
- Tyson met his current wife, Lakiha, while attending a boxing match with her father at age 18.
- In 1993, Robin Givens adopted her first son, Michael “Buddy” Givens. Then, she had a biological son, William “Billy” Jensen, with ex-boyfriend, tennis player Murphy Jensen.
