The man who became the first to defeat boxing knockout artist Butterbean had a street brawl with Mike Tyson several years later.
Mitchell Rose finished his career with two wins against eleven losses. One of which ended Butterbean’s undefeated streak with his second and final victory in 1995. Before his most significant night, Rose had been knocked out four times and only beat a 0-3 Edgar Turpin a year earlier.
Despite his lack of victories, the Butterbean win and one other famous encounter will live long in fans’ memory. This infamous duet was not only for the KO but also for Rose, stating he was offered a bribe to dive and turned it down.
Rose, known as ‘The Cigarette Man,’ died in 2021 when he was only 51. But during those years, he made the most out of his two fights with boxing royalty.
Not content with beating the living daylights out of Butterbean, real name Eric Esch, Rose traded blows with Tyson at Brooklyn’s Sugar Hill Club on December 16, 2001.
“I wasn’t in a boxing state of mind. He was very, very strong,” The Golden Gloves boxer stated in a book he wrote about his career. “I slipped backward on the concrete. But I wasn’t scared. I should have been, but I wasn’t.
“I think Mike expected me to fold and surrender. Either way, I can say I got to fight Mike Tyson. It wasn’t in the ring where I would have liked to get the payday. It was the Brooklyn way, in the street.”
Rose stunned the boxing world when filing a 2002 lawsuit against Tyson, claiming he damaged his spine during the incident. Rose wanted $66 million in compensation.
Claiming his injuries and that Tyson ‘ripped his mink coat with his bare hands,’ Rose wanted punitive damages of $50 million, according to his attorney. However, it was later claimed that Rose started the argument by calling Tyson’s female companions ‘chicken heads’ before getting Mike’s reaction.
The file coincided with the announcement that Tyson would fight Lennox Lewis in June of that year, and “The Baddest Man on the Planet” was already in trouble for biting the leg of his British opponent.
Seven years after his failed attempt to get a big payout from Tyson, Rose turned his attention to Jay-Z. Outside of his pugilistic career, Rose wanted to be a rapper and dabbled in recording his own material.
He once got close enough to Jay-Z at the Felix Trinidad vs. William Joppy fight in 2001 to hand one of his demos to the multi-millionaire superstar. Years later, he launched an $88 million action against the recording artist.
Although he never got what we wanted, Rose revealed his boxing career earnings in his book ‘Mike Tyson Tried to Kill My Daddy.’ He said: “I never made a lot of money in the ring. My biggest paydays were $2,500 for the Nobles fight and $1,500 for Butterbean, but I got a lot of experiences that I measured as wealth.
“I’ve been up, I’ve been down, but I’m still here kicking and hopefully punching again. Life works in funny ways. You never know what’s around the corner. Some people don’t want to know. Me, I can’t wait to find out.”
Rose ended his career in 2006 and never managed to get that elusive third win.
Read all articles and learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor Phil Jay.
Follow WBN: X.com, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Threads.
