BLOOD SELL
the boxing business gets elevated to new heights (or lows) with Green involved. You almost feel sorry for Farrell as he consistently puts his charge in position to make a comeback and get a big fight, only to see those plans fall apart. Green, oddly enough, for all his faults and self-sabotage, comes off as the person you wouldn’t mind sharing a beer with, which makes him a sympathetic figure for his inability to get that big opportunity. Farrell apparently feels the same way, as he tells The Ring that he’s working with the 68-year-old again, though not for a comeback. Well, not that kind of comeback. “I’m going to play out the string,” he chuckles. “I’m going to see what happens with it. We’ve got this book event, and we’ve already been in Hollywood together a couple of
Nearly two decades after his last professional fight, and even longer since he was a relevant heavyweight contender, people are still fascinated with Mitch “Blood” Green. Why? BEEFS, MITCH “BLOOD” GREEN IS READY FOR HIS CLOSEUP (AGAIN) By Thomas Gerbasi WITH A BOXING BUSINESS THAT IS INCREASINGLY SEARCHING FOR PROVOCATIVE CHARACTERS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA-FRIENDLY
months ago to see what might happen there. So I’m testing the water. And Mitch Green is being Mitch Green.” Does that mean he still wants that “official” rematch with Tyson, who, at 58, is coming off a November 2024 loss to Jake Paul? “He’s still looking for Tyson, in a way,” said Farrell. “The funny thing is, I’m thinking Tyson is probably more amenable to doing something with him now than he has ever been. It wouldn’t be fighting, but, at this stage, even if they’re burying the hatchet publicly, it would probably do everybody a lot of good and it certainly would sell a lot of books.” It would, but Farrell shouldn’t need a
“I think there are legitimate reasons to be fascinated with Mitch Green,” said Charles Farrell, author of The Legend of Mitch “Blood” Green and Other Boxing Essays. “Mitch Green was prescient, at least in terms of things like hip-hop culture. And so I think that what we’re seeing in that particular culture now is stuff that Mitch Green thought about 40 years ago. The way he presented himself, the way he looked, the kind of boastful stuff he did. Whatever you want to say about him as a fighter, his street credibility is real, and that’s a very important thing in a number of parts of our culture
these days. He’s also a very striking-looking guy, and that has something to do with it. And he kept himself sort of in the public eye for a long time. He’s only really dropped out, I’d say, in the past, maybe a decade or so, and I’m trying to bring him back as best I can, at least for the short term.” By now, you’ll realize that the book (published by Hamilcar Publications) is not a straight biography, and Farrell is not your typical author. A longtime manager and fight game insider, Farrell’s writing on boxing and his life in it were first collected in 2021’s (Low)life: A Memoir of Jazz, Fight-Fixing, and the Mob , and while the other essays here, which range from analysis of Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Conor McGregor to an examination of boxing’s “Black Code,” are must-reads in their own right, it’s the tale of Farrell’s relationship with Green as manager long after the New Yorker’s 1986 bout with Mike Tyson and his infamous street fight with “Iron Mike” in 1988 that’s the star of the show. In other words, every bizarre story you’ve heard about
Tyson vs. Green publicity stunt to sell copies of this one. Like his previous book, he removes the romance of the boxing business and gives it to readers straight, whether we want it or not. That may be a turn-off to some, but to those who want the warts-and-all stories of what happens far from the bright lights, you’ve got it. As for Green, the former gang member and amateur standout who had the size and talent to become a world champion, he is the cautionary tale of cautionary tales. It’s an entertaining tale, to say the least, but a sad one as well, because he could have been in a much different place today than he is. “Other than Mike Tyson and Trevor Berbick, Mitch Green faced no really threatening opponents during his career,” writes Farrell. “As a member of Don King’s stable of dazzlingly talented indentured prizefighters, however, he did spar extensively with the cream of the 1980s heavyweight crop. “The world may not have gotten to see it as often as it should have, but Mitch ‘Blood’ Green could fight his ass off when he felt like it. Far less accomplished fighters have won versions of the heavyweight title. It took a mystifying concatenation of fuckups by everyone involved – especially Mitch himself – to have somehow kept a championship from his grasp.”
Mitch Green speaks to the media shortly after his notorious scrap with Mike Tyson.
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