ROBIN GIVENS RELATES TO RIHANNA'S ORDEAL': Actress says reports bring back memories of her relationship with Mike Tyson.

      *Robin Givens, who famously survived spousal abuse at the hands of boxer Mike Tyson, says Rihanna's situation with Chris Brown brings back lots of painful memories.

       Givens alleged Tyson -- who was never convicted of domestic abuse -- hit her for the first time before they married in 1988. The violence escalated: He once threw her up against the wall, punched her in the head, often swung at her and even threatened to kill her.       

       Despite this, she said she always found herself taking Tyson back.      

       "All of a sudden this person, this man that you love, that's claiming his love for you, is crying, you know?" she told CNN's Larry King this week. "And then you're consoling them. And it just becomes, 'I'll never, ever, ever do it again. ... I just love you so much. It's so hard for me to handle how much I love you.' And it just begins [again]."      

       Brown, 19, has been charged with two felonies in connection with the beating of Rihanna, yet the 21-year-old pop star has taken him back. Brown released a statement promising to seek counseling from his pastor and to take anger management classes – all sentiments that Givens has heard before.       

       Tyson, she said, also promised her "he was going to get help. And I loved him. I wanted to make it work. I was very bonded. And it's hard to be bonded and save yourself at the same time."      

       She divorced Tyson in 1989, but the 44-year-old actress said she continues to deal with residue from her abusive marriage.         

       "Even sitting now ... it shakes you up. You know, you begin to sweat. You begin to feel sad all over. ... It's hard to sit here," she told King. "I've spoken to women every[where] ... and what's amazing is that I find that my story is their story; their story is my story -- down to the details," she went on. "He dragged me down the hall by my hair. He pulled me out of bed by my panties. He would like to choke me. He would kick."      

       She added, "When I wrote my book [2007's 'Grace Will Lead Me Home'], I was somewhere talking about something. And a woman came up to me and she said I wanted you to stop talking because I felt like everybody would know that you were talking about me."