When Michael Jordan thought better than to accept a $25 million offer to fight a boxer

Michael Jordan is without a question one of the most competitive humans to ever play professional sports. While many competitive athletes would take things easy on their teammates, MJ's teammates were no exception. The brash competitor never shied away from confrontation with teammates. The way he saw things, in addition to winning, he wanted his teammates to win.

His trash talk and the competitive fire extended far beyond the boundaries of a basketball court. MJ was frequently seen golfing and gambling, which fueled some friendly rivalry among friends. Despite this, he did not make the transition to boxing during his infamous retirement following his father's death.

At the time, Jordan had just announced his intentions to step away from the game and pursue baseball as a tribute of sorts to his father. Before that, however, Jordan turned down an offer of $25 million to box Evander Holyfield. The event would have been quite ahead of its time given the recent surge in celebrity boxing matches, however, it wasn't for MJ.

As he so eloquently stated to media members at the time, he would never step into the ring with Evander Holyfield or Michael Moorer.

“I wouldn’t fight those guys if I had a gun in my hand.”

Interestingly enough, at the time, Jordan had already narrowly avoided a beatdown at the hands of a heavyweight champ.

When Michael Jordan nearly got beat up by Mike Tyson

As the story goes, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Mike Ditka, Richard Dent, and Don King were all out for dinner. While this may sound like the setup to a bad joke, there were a few laughs to be had that night.

According to Mike Tyson's former manager and best friend, Rory Holloway, who recalled the incident in his book, things got heated pretty quick. The Boxing champion knew that Jordan had been involved with his ex-wife, Robin Givens. Needless to say, Tyson wasn't happy.

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“Mike Tyson’s sitting there with his drink of choice, a Long Island tea, and when he drinks, his real feelings come out. ... I’m telling the server to water his drinks down, 'cause I see where this is going. Mike stares across the table at Michael Jordan. He says, ‘Hey, man, you think I’m stupid? I know you f****d with my b***h.’"

“Jordan looks like he just seen a ghost. ‘I know you messed with her,’ Mike says. ‘You can tell me.’ Jordan, it’s obvious he just wants to get up and run. He wants no part of this,"

Although Michael Jordan managed to escape the evening without a beatdown from the heavyweight champ, it likely left him pretty scared. When the opportunity to cross over to boxing to compete against Evander Holyfield or Michael Moorer came up, it's no wonder he declined.

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Although Jordan would have been much taller than Holyfield, the difference in experience and power would simply have been too much. While other professional athletes have attempted to cross over to boxing in recent years, let's be thankful Michael Jordan didn't.