The reason why The LOX almost fought Mike Tyson: “We in a fucked up position”
Mike Tyson may be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, but it didn’t stop The LOX from almost fighting him. Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch were once at an awards show with fellow Ruff Ryders artist Eve, best known for her 2001 hit ‘Let Me Blow Your Mind’ with Gwen Stefani.
Eve was hot property at the time. Her debut album, Let There Be Eve… Ruff Ryders’ First Lady reached number one on the Billboard 200 in 1999, becoming the first female rapper to achieve that feat. Her following two albums, Scorpion and Eve-Olution, reached number four and six, respectively.
Tyson allegedly approached Eve at the event and expressed an interest in her, prompting the hip-hop trio to enter protection mode. During an episode of the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast, Styles P recalled the incident and revealed he was carrying a knife at the time.
“Vegas or LA, it’s one of them awards,” he said. “We see Mike, we’re chilling. Eve is with us, though — us three, there’s nobody else there. And [Mike’s] on his bully, and we decided, ‘We gotta protect Eve.’ We was deciding who was gonna get knocked out. I was like, ‘I got a knife. Mike’s gonna kill us!’
“He just liked Eve for how she was looking. Eve was nervous. We with Eve so gotta be the protectors, so now we in a fucked up position. Now we deciding who’s gonna take the Mike blow. We decided Louch. Louch was like, ‘Fuck no!’ I’m like, ‘I’ma die! I’m little!’ Nobody can take this blow. We trying to come up with a strategy. What do you do?”
However, Styles said the situation never escalated to the point where any actions were taken. “Mike loves us,” he said. “We’re The LOX, we’re his little bros. We got rapport, we hang out, we chill, we smoke weed, all that. That’s big bro! He had genuine love for us, treated us, lined us up with a few bags, so it was awesome.”
As for Tyson, he claimed he cleared the air with Eve. “I didn’t mean that, Eve,” he said. “Me and Eve, we made amends. I said sorry. That’s all I care about.” In her memoir, Who’s That Girl, Eve admitted she was “noticeably uncomfortable” when Tyson was “talking to me crazy.”
Jadakiss once claimed Tyson was sexually explicit when he spoke to Eve. “Mike told Eve, ‘Eve, I’ll fuck the shit outta you,’” he said on Drink Champs. “Me personally, I was on the floor … A regular Joe Shmoe, his head would’ve been off. Mike? ‘Eve, you gotta hold that one.’”
The LOX and Eve have collaborated many times throughout their careers. The group featured on ‘Scenario 2000’ from Let There Be Eve… Ruff Ryders’ First Lady in 1999, followed by ‘Thug in the Street’ from 2001’s Scorpion. Eve also featured on several tracks from LOX’s 2000 album We Are the Streets, including ‘Recognize’, ‘Ryde or Die, Bitch’, ‘U Told Me’ and ‘If U Know’.