Michael Gerard Tyson, also known as ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, is one of the greatest legends of all time in boxing. A man who was unbeatable in his prime and who was mainly a victim of his own demons, who gained fame at a very young age and with serious demons in his emotional life, which led him to lose everything, to the point of going to jail and who has now redeemed himself, in a Hollywood-style story.
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He is now universally recognised as a great former world heavyweight champion, is a businessman and since his retirement in 2005, has only been involved in two exhibition fights, in 2001, against Roy Jones Jr. whom he defeated showing that he still has that dynamite in his fists that took him to glory and this Saturday in a media event against the YouTuber Jake Paul, whom he is twice his age and yet could send him to sleep at any moment of the fight.
Among his achievements, Tyson became the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title on November 22, 1986, when he knocked out Trevor Berbick in the second round at just 20 years, four months and 21 days old to win the WBC title.
This is Mike Tyson’s profile
- Record: 50-6, 44 knockouts
- Date of birth: June 30, 1966
- Age: 58 years
- Stance: Orthodox
- Wingspan: 71 inches
- Height: 5 ft 10 in
- Professional debut: March 6, 1985 against Puerto Rican Hector Mercedes
Curiosities in the life and career of Mike Tyson
Known as ‘The baddest man on the planet’, Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, in the first two rounds. Tyson was famous for his devastating power, which is why he swept aside his rivals. The furthest he went at that time was the sixth round against Jesse Ferguson in 1986.
His career began to falter in February 1992, when he was convicted of the rape of beauty contestant Desiree Washington, for which he served less than three years in prison, returning to the ring to resume his career.
On January 22, 1988, he knocked out Larry Holmes in the fourth round to retain his WBC and WBA titles. The fight was a beating and became relevant because Tyson was always said to be an admirer of Muhammad Ali. Holmes, Ali’s former sparring partner, had beaten up a decaying Ali in 1980, forcing his corner to stop the fight. Tyson’s knockout was a kind of revenge for ‘The Greatest’. For his 1987 fight against Tony Tucker, Tyson suffered from deep depression and the stress of the fight led him to give it all up. He left his training camp a month before the fight and started going out at night and only returned to training two weeks before the fight. Despite the indiscipline, Tyson won the fight by decision.
Tyson had a troubled childhood, abandoned by his father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, they did not see each other again until 1992, when he finally died. This caused Tyson to be a problem child with up to 30 arrests when he was only 12 years old. In 1992 he also lost his mother, Lorna Tyson, so he went to live with his trainer Cus D’Amato, who two years later became his legal guardian until 1985, when he died.
Tyson was unable to compete in the 1984 Olympic Games after losing twice to Jenry Tillman, who won Olympic gold. As professionals, Tyson defeated him in 1990 in one round.
In 1988, the press reported that he tried to commit suicide by crashing his luxury BMW into a car, although he was only knocked unconscious. In 1990, he surprised everyone by unexpectedly losing his unbeaten record to the unknown James ‘Buster’ Douglas, who knocked him out in 10 rounds. The odds that night were 40-1 in Tyson’s favor.
In 1996 he began his historic rivalry with Evander Holyfield, with whom he trained in the amateur era. Holyfield became an expert at mastering Tyson’s aggression and knocked him out in this first fight in 11 rounds. The following year, in the rematch, Tyson was disqualified for biting his opponent’s ear. Years later, both fighters launched a brand of gummies in the shape of a bitten ear.
In 2002, he fought his last world championship fight against Lennox Lewis, who knocked him out in eight rounds. He finally retired on June 1, 2005 against Kevin McBride, who also knocked him out in six rounds.