Michael Gerard Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2005, with a post-retirement fight in 2024. Nicknamed “Iron Mike“ and “Kid Dynamite” in his early career and later known as “the Baddest Man on the Planet“, Tyson is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.[6] He reigned as the undisputed[a] world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title.[7] He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round.[8] In 1990, Tyson lost the undisputed heavyweight championship when he was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas, making it one of the biggest upsets in boxing history
He returned to the ring that same year, defeating Henry Tillman via knockout in the first round. He would go on to win three fights, including two against Donovan Ruddock. In 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released on parole after three years.[10] After his release in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights, regaining the WBA and WBC titles in 1996 to join Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman as the only men in boxing history to have regained a heavyweight championship after losing it. After being stripped of the WBC title in the same year, Tyson lost the WBA title to Evander Holyfield by an eleventh-round stoppage. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ears. In 2002, Tyson fought for the world heavyweight title, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. In November 2024, his bout against Jake Paul, which he lost via unanimous decision, became the biggest boxing gate in US history outside of Las Vegas.
Tyson was known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring, which he explained was inspired by Sonny Liston, a boxer who is widely regarded as the most intimidating man in the history of boxing. With a knockout-to-win percentage of 88%, he was ranked 16th on The Ring magazine’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, and first on ESPN’s list of “The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History”. Sky Sports described him as “perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring “He has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Outside his boxing career, Tyson has appeared in various popular media. In movies and television, he appeared in the well-received Rocky Balboa (2006), The Hangover (2009), Mike Tyson Mysteries (2014–2020), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018). He appeared as the titular final boss in the video game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! (1987). His personal and professional exploits were recounted in the documentary Tyson, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. His memoirs Undisputed Truth (2013) and Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D’Amato (2017) were written with Larry Sloman.
Early life
Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City, on June 30, 1966.[20][21] He has an older brother named Rodney (born c. 1961) [22] and had an older sister named Denise, who died of a heart attack at age 24 in February 1990. Tyson’s mother, born in Charlottesville, Virginia,[24] was described as a promiscuous woman who might have been a prostitute. [25] Tyson’s biological father is listed as “Purcell Tyson”, a “humble cab driver” (who was from Jamaica) on his birth certificate, but the man Tyson had known as his father was a pimp named Jimmy Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was from Grier Town, North Carolina (a predominantly black neighborhood that was annexed by the city of Charlotte),[28] where he was one of the neighborhood’s top baseball players. Kirkpatrick married and had a son, Tyson’s half-brother Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick, who would help to integrate Charlotte high school football in 1965. In 1959, Jimmy Kirkpatrick left his family and moved to Brooklyn, where he met Tyson’s mother, Lorna Mae (Smith) Tyson. Kirkpatrick frequented pool halls gambled and hung out on the streets. “My father was just a regular street guy caught up in the street world,” Tyson said. Kirkpatrick abandoned the Tyson family around the time Mike was born, leaving Tyson’s mother to care for the children on her own.[29] Kirkpatrick died in 1992.[30]
The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old.[31] Throughout his childhood, Tyson lived in and around neighborhoods with a high rate of crime. According to an interview in Details, his first fight was with a bigger youth who had pulled the head off one of Tyson’s pigeons.[32] Tyson was repeatedly caught committing petty crimes and fighting those who ridiculed his high-pitched voice and lisp. By the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times.[33] He ended up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, New York. Tyson’s emerging boxing ability was discovered there by Bobby Stewart, a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer. Stewart considered Tyson to be an outstanding fighter and trained him for a few months before introducing him to boxing manager and trainer Cuss D’Amato.[29] Tyson dropped out of high school as a junior.[34] He was later awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in 1989.[35] Kevin Rooney also trained Tyson, and he was occasionally assisted by Teddy Atlas, although Atlas was dismissed by D’Amato when Tyson was 15. Rooney eventually took over all training duties for the young fighter.[36]
Tyson’s mother died when he was 16, leaving him in the care of D’Amato, who would become his legal guardian. Tyson later said, “I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something: she only knew me as being a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew I didn’t pay for. I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it’s crushing emotionally and personally.
Amateur career
As an amateur, Tyson won gold medals at the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympic Games, defeating Joe Cortez in 1981 and beating Kelton Brown in 1982. Brown’s corner threw in the towel in the first round. In 1984 Tyson won the gold medal at the Nation Golden Gloves held in New York, beating Jonathan Littles.[38] He fought Henry Tillman twice as an amateur, losing both bouts by decision. Tillman went on to win heavyweight gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Tyson vs. Lewis
Tyson once again had the opportunity to fight for a heavyweight championship in 2002. Lennox Lewis held the WBC, IBF, IBO and Lineal titles at the time. As promising fighters, Tyson and Lewis had sparred at a training camp in a meeting arranged by Cus D’Amato in 1984.[121] Tyson sought to fight Lewis in Nevada for a more lucrative box-office venue, but the Nevada Boxing Commission refused him a license to box as he was facing possible sexual
assault charges at the time.[122]
Two years prior to the bout, Tyson had made several inflammatory remarks to Lewis in an interview following the Savarese fight. The remarks included the statement “I want your heart, I want to eat your children.”[123] On January 22, 2002, the two boxers and their entourages were involved in a brawl at a New York press conference to publicize the planned event.[124] A few weeks later, the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to grant Tyson a license for the fight, and the promoters had to make alternative arrangements. After multiple states balked at granting Tyson a license, the fight eventually occurred on June 8 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis dominated the fight and knocked out Tyson with a right hand in the eighth round. Tyson was respectful after the fight and praised Lewis on his victory.[125] This fight was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history at that time, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the US.
In another Memphis fight on February 22, 2003, Tyson beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne 49 seconds into round one. The pre-fight was marred by rumors of Tyson’s lack of fitness. Some said that he took time out from training to party in Las Vegas and get a new facial tattoo.[126] This eventually proved to be Tyson’s final professional victory in the ring.
In August 2003, after years of financial struggles, Tyson finally filed for bankruptcy. Tyson earned over $30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. At the time, the media reported that he had approximately $23 million in debt.[130]
On August 13, 2003, Tyson entered the ring for a face-to-face confrontation against K-1 fighter Bob Sapp immediately after Sapp’s win against Kimo Leopoldo in Las Vegas. K-1 signed Tyson to a contract with the hopes of making a fight happen between the two, but Tyson’s felony history made it impossible for him to obtain a visa to enter Japan, where the fight would have been most profitable. Alternative locations were discussed, but the fight ultimately did not take place.[131]
On July 30, 2004, Tyson had a match against British boxer Danny Williams in another comeback fight, and this time, staged in Louisville, Kentucky. Tyson dominated the opening two rounds. The third round was even, with Williams getting in some clean blows and also a few illegal ones, for which he was penalized. In the fourth round, Tyson was unexpectedly knocked out. After the fight, it was revealed that Tyson was trying to fight on one leg, having tore a ligament in his other knee in the first round. This was Tyson’s fifth career defeat.[132] He underwent surgery for the ligament four days after the fight. His manager, Shelly Finkel, claimed that Tyson was unable to throw significant right-hand punches since he had a knee injury
Legacy
Tyson was The Ring magazine’s Fighter of the Year in 1986 and 1988.[161] A 1998 ranking of “The Greatest Heavyweights of All-Time” by The Ring magazine placed Tyson at number 14 on the list.[162] Despite criticism of facing underwhelming competition during his run as champion, Tyson’s knockout power and intimidation factor made him the sport’s most dynamic box-office draw.[163] According to Douglas Quenqua of The New York Times, “The [1990s] began with Mike Tyson, considered by many to be the last great heavyweight champion, losing his title to the little-known Buster Douglas. Seven years later, Mr. Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear in a heavyweight champion bout—hardly a proud moment for the sport.”[164]
He is remembered for his attire of black trunks, black shoes with no socks, and a plain white towel fit around his neck in place of a traditional robe, as well as his habit of rapidly pacing the ring before the start of a fight.[163][165] In his prime, Tyson rarely took a step back and had never been knocked down or seriously challenged.[165] According to Martial Arts World Report, it gave Tyson an Honorable Mention in its Ten Greatest Heavyweights of All Time rather than a ranking because longevity is a factor and the peak period of Tyson’s career lasted only about 5 years.[166]
BoxRec currently ranks Tyson at number 20 among the greatest boxers that had their last fight at heavyweight.[167] In the Ring magazine’s list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years, released in 2002, Tyson was ranked at number 72. [168] He is ranked number 16 on The Ring magazine’s 2003 list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.[169][170] Tyson has defeated 11 boxers for the world heavyweight title, the seventh-most in history.
On June 12, 2011, Tyson was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame alongside legendary Mexican champion Julio César Chávez, light welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, and actor/screenwriter Sylvester Stallone.[171] In 2011, Bleacher Report omitted Tyson from its list of top 10 heavyweights, saying that “Mike Tyson is not a top 10 heavyweight. He killed the fighters he was supposed to beat, but when he fought another elite fighter, he always lost. I’m not talking about some of those B-level fighters he took a belt from. I’m talking about the handful of good boxers he fought throughout his career.”[172]
In 2013, Tyson was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame and headlined the induction ceremony.[173][174] Tyson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Hall of Fame in 2015 along with four other inductees with ties to Southern Nevada. [175][176]
Tyson reflected on his strongest opponents in ten categories for a 2014 interview with The Ring magazine, including best jab, best defense, fastest hands, fastest feet, best chin, smartest, strongest, best puncher, best boxer, and best overall.[177]
In 2017, The Ring magazine ranked Tyson as number 9 of 20 heavyweight champions based on a poll of panelists that included trainers, matchmakers, media, historians, and boxers, including:[178]
- Trainers: Teddy Atlas, Pat Burns, Virgil Hunter, and Don Turner
- Matchmakers: Eric Bottjer, Don Chargin, Don Elbaum, Bobby Goodman, Ron Katz, Mike Marchionte, Russell Peltz, and Bruce Trampler.
- Media: Al Bernstein, Ron Borges, Gareth A Davies, Norm Frauenheim, Jerry Izenberg, Harold Lederman, Paulie Malignaggi, Dan Rafael, and Michael Rosenthal
- Historians: Craig Hamilton, Steve Lott, Don McRae, Bob Mee, Clay Moyle, Adam Pollack, and Randy Roberts
- Boxers: Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson participated in the poll, but neither fighter ranked himself. Instead, a weighted average from the other panelists was assigned to their respective slots on their ballots.
In 2020, Bill Caplan of The Ring magazine listed Tyson as number 17 of the 20 greatest heavyweights of all time.[179] Tyson spoke with The Ring magazine in 2020 about his six greatest victories, those over Trevor Berbick, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tucker, Tyrell Biggs, Larry Holmes, and Michael Spinks.[180] In 2020, CBS Sports boxing experts Brian Campbell and Brent Brookhouse ranked the top 10 heavyweights of the last 50 years and Tyson was ranked number
Marriages and children
Tyson resides in Seven Hills, Nevada.[222] He has been married three times, and has seven children, one deceased, with three women; in addition to his biological children, Tyson includes his second wife’s oldest daughter as one of his own.[223]
Tyson married actress Robin Givens on February 7, 1988, at Holy Angels Catholic Church during a traditional ceremony in Chicago.[64][224] Givens was known at the time for her role on the sitcom Head of the Class. Tyson’s marriage to Givens was especially tumultuous, with allegations of violence, spousal abuse, and mental instability on Tyson’s part.[225]
Matters came to a head when Tyson and Givens gave a joint interview with Barbara Walters on the ABC TV news magazine show 20/20 in September 1988, in which Givens described life with Tyson as “torture, pure hell, worse than anything I could possibly imagine.”[226] Givens also described Tyson as “manic depressive” – which was later confirmed by doctors [227] – on national television while Tyson looked on with an intent and calm expression. [225] A month later, Givens announced that she was seeking a divorce from the allegedly abusive Tyson,[225] with the two officially separating on February 14, 1989. [64]
According to the book Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson, Tyson admitted that he punched Givens and stated, “that was the best punch I’ve ever thrown in my entire life.”[228] Tyson claimed that the book was “filled with inaccuracies.”[229] Tyson and Givens had no children, but she reported having had a miscarriage; Tyson claimed that she was never pregnant and only used that to get him to marry her. [225][230] During their marriage, the couple lived in a mansion in Bernardsville, New Jersey.[231][232]
Tyson’s second marriage was to Monica Turner from April 19, 1997, to January 14, 2003.[233] At the time of the divorce filing, Turner worked as a pediatric resident at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. [234] She is the sister of Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and former Republican National Committee chairman. [235] Turner filed for divorce from Tyson in January 2002, claiming that he committed adultery during their five-year marriage, an act that “has neither been forgiven nor condoned.”[234] The couple had two children.[236]
On May 25, 2009, Tyson’s four-year-old daughter, Exodus, was found by her seven-year-old brother, unconscious and tangled in a cord, dangling from an exercise treadmill. The child’s mother untangled her, administered CPR and called for medical attention. Tyson, who was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident, traveled back to Phoenix to be with her. She died of her injuries on May 26, 2009.
Eleven days after his daughter’s death, Tyson wed for the third time, to longtime girlfriend Lakiha “Kiki” Spicer, age 32, exchanging vows on June 6, 2009, in a short, private ceremony at the La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Las Vegas Hilton.They have two childre
Religious beliefs
Raised as a Catholic,[21] Tyson has stated that he converted to Islam before entering prison and that he made no efforts to correct what was reported in the media,[241] although it was falsely reported that he converted to Islam during his time in prison and adopted the Muslim name Malik Abdul Aziz;[242] some sources report it as Malik Shabazz.[243] Tyson never changed his given name to an Islamic one, despite the rumors.[244]
In November 2013, Tyson stated “the more I look into the churches and mosques for god, the more I start seeing the devil”.[245] But, just a month later, in a December 2013 interview with Fox News, Tyson said that he is very grateful to be a Muslim and that he needs Allah in his life. In the same interview Tyson talked about his progress with sobriety and how being in the company of good people has made him want to be a better and humbler person.
He first completed the Islamic pilgrimage Umrah in July 2010[247] and more recently in December 2022 accompanied by DJ Khaled, a Palestinian American Muslim.