ranked #5 U.S. amateur heavyweight by the U.S. Amateur Boxers and Coaches Association. He has quit his job to spend full time preparing for the 1980 Olympics. "I'm really getting it together. I'm taking time out so I can just think about boxing," he said. In the beginning of 1980 he went to Tennessee, where he sparred with WBA world heavyweight champion John Tate, and Washington D.C., where he trained with Dave Jacobs, Sugar Ray Leonard's trainer. "I want to go pro right after the Gloves. I had wanted very much to go to the Olympics, you know, give those Russians a bit of New York. But now I'll just see if I can make a living at it," said Green. Professional career Green turned pro in 1980, signing a contract with the rock promoter Shelly Finkel, whom he met at the 1979 New York Golden Gloves. As a professional, Green was one of NBC's "Tomorrow's Champions" (a group of Finkel's young pros, which also included Alex Ramos, Tony Ayala Jr., Donald Curry and Johnny Bumphus) and was ranked as high as #7 by the World Boxing Council, and also in the top ten by the World Boxing Association. Green left Finkel after a year as a pro after a disagreement over payoffs. He was managed by Carl King, son of Don King, who was Green's promoter. Mitch was undefeated in his first sixteen bouts, which included a 1983 points win over the rugged Floyd "Jumbo" Cummings, and a draw with trial horse Robert Evans. His first loss was a twelve-round decision to future WBC champ Trevor Berbick in a bid for the United States Boxing Association title on August 10, 1985. In March 1985, Green violently interrupted a pre-fight press conference of the Larry Holmes vs David Bey championship fight, claiming that he was a way better contender than Bey, and seeking for a clash with Don King's people. Green vs. Tyson After a comeback win over Percell Davis he lost a ten-round decision to Mike Tyson in 1986 on HBO, in his most famous fight. In the buildup to the fight Green had complained bitterly of the disparity in purses between him and Tyson when a day before the fight, at weigh-ins, Green learned he was being paid $30,000 in comparison to Tyson's $200,000 for the fight alone, in addition to a $1 million deal with HBO for