Mike Tyson’s Fight Against Jake Paul Is Back On for November 15
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1966-present
Mike Tyson News: Fight with Jake Paul Rescheduled
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s highly anticipated fight against Jake Paul is recheduled for November 15 in Arlington, Texas. The sanctioned eight-round match against Paul, 27, will stream on Netflix and mark Tyson’s first competitive bout since June 2005.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20, but postponed because of a recent ulcer flare-up for the 57-year-old Tyson. According to a representative, Tyson became dizzy and nauseated while flying from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26. Paramedics boarded the plane upon landing to assist him. Doctors subsequently advised Tyson to do minimal to no training in the coming weeks, upsetting the original timeline for the fight.
“My body is in better overall shape than it has been since the 1990s, and I will be back to my full training schedule soon,” Tyson said. “Jake Paul, this may have bought you some time, but in the end, you will still be knocked out and out of boxing for good.”
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Who Is Mike Tyson?
Retired professional boxer Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world in 1986, at age 20. He lost the title in 1990 and later served three years in prison after being convicted on rape charges. Tyson subsequently earned further notoriety by biting off part of opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear during a 1997 match. Since retiring from boxing in 2005, Tyson has appeared in several movies and TV shows, become a best-selling author, and launched a successful cannabis business.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Michael Gerard Tyson
BORN: June 30, 1966
BIRTHPLACE: Brooklyn, New York
SPOUSES: Robin Givens (1988-1989), Monica Turner (1997-2003), and Lakiha Spicer (2009-present)
CHILDREN: Mikey, Rayna, Amir, Miguel, Exodus, Milan, and Morocco
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer
Where Is Mike Tyson From?
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Lorna Tyson. When Michael was 2 years old, his father abandoned the family, leaving Lorna to care for Michael and his two siblings, Rodney and Denise.
Struggling financially, the Tyson family moved to Brownsville, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for its high crime. Small and shy, Tyson was often the target of bullying. To combat this, he began developing his own style of street fighting, which ultimately transitioned into criminal activity. His gang, known as the Jolly Stompers, assigned him to clean out cash registers while older members held victims at gunpoint. He was only 11 years old at the time.
Tyson frequently ran into trouble with police over his petty criminal activities, and by age 13, he had been arrested more than 30 times. His bad behavior landed him in the Tryon School for Boys, a reform school in upstate New York. At Tryon, Tyson met counselor Bob Stewart, who had been an amateur boxing champion. Tyson wanted Stewart to teach him how to use his fists. Stewart reluctantly agreed, on the condition that Tyson would stay out of trouble and work harder in school.
Previously classified as learning disabled, Tyson managed to raise his reading abilities to the seventh-grade level in a matter of months. He also became determined to learn everything he could about boxing, often slipping out of bed after curfew to practice punches in the dark.
Amateur Boxer with Trainer “Cus” D’Amato
In 1980, Bob Stewart felt he had taught Tyson all he knew. He introduced the aspiring boxer to legendary boxing manager Constantine “Cus” D’Amato, who had a gym in Catskill, New York. D’Amato was known for taking personal interest in promising fighters, even providing them room and board in the home he shared with partner Camille Ewald. He had handled the careers of several successful boxers, including Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres, and he immediately recognized Tyson’s promise as a contender, telling him, “If you want to stay here, and if you want to listen, you could be the world heavyweight champion someday.”
The relationship between D’Amato and Tyson was more than that of a professional trainer and a boxer—it was one akin to father and son. D’Amato took Tyson under his wing, and when the 14-year-old was paroled from Tryon in September 1980, he entered into D’Amato’s full-time custody. D’Amato set a rigorous training schedule for the young athlete, sending him to Catskill High School during the day and training in the ring every evening. D’Amato also entered Tyson in amateur boxing matches and “smokers,” non-sanctioned fights, to teach the teen how to deal with older opponents.
Tyson’s life seemed to be looking up, but in 1982, he suffered a couple personal losses. That year, Tyson’s mother died of cancer. “I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something,” he later told reporters. “She only knew of 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.” Around this same time, Tyson was expelled from Catskill High for his erratic, often violent behavior. He continued his education through private tutors while he trained for the 1984 Olympic trials.
Tyson’s showing in the trials didn’t make the cut. He lost to Henry Tillman, the eventual gold medalist, and failed to make the Olympic team. After that, D’Amato decided that it was time for his fighter to turn professional.
Professional Boxing Career
On March 6, 1985, Tyson made his professional boxing debut in Albany, New York, against Hector Mercedes. The 18-year-old knocked Mercedes out in one round. Tyson’s strength, quick fists, and notable defensive abilities intimidated his opponents, who were often afraid to hit the fighter. This gave Tyson the uncanny ability to level his opponents in only one round, and earned him the nickname “Iron Mike.”
The year was a successful one for Tyson, but it was not without its tragedies: On November 4, 1985, his trainer and surrogate father, Cus D’Amato, died of pneumonia. Kevin Rooney took over for D’Amato and, less than two weeks later, Tyson continued his climb up the heavyweight rankings. He recorded his thirteenth knockout in Houston and dedicated the fight to the man who had molded him into a professional. Those close to Tyson have said he never fully recovered from D’Amato’s passing.
Heavyweight Championship and First Loss
By 1986, Tyson had garnered a 22-0 record, winning 21 of the fights by knockout. November 22, 1986, was a particular auspicious day. Tyson faced Trevor Berbick in his first title fight for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by a knockout in the second round. At the age of 20 years and 4 months, he broke Floyd Patterson’s record to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
Tyson’s success in the ring didn’t stop there. He defended his title against James Smith on March 7, 1987, adding the World Boxing Association championship to his list of victories. On August 1, he became the first heavyweight to own all three major boxing belts when he seized the International Boxing Federation title from Tony Tucker.
But Tyson’s game seemed to be on the decline. Once known for his complicated offensive and defensive moves, the boxer seemed to continually rely on his one-punch knockout move to finish his bouts. He blamed his trainer for his struggles in the ring and fired Rooney in mid-1988.
Tyson defended his title twice more before his winning streak came to an end on February 11, 1990, when he lost his championship belt to Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson, the clear favorite, sent Douglas to the mat in the eighth round, but Douglas came back in the 10th, knocking Tyson out for the first time in his career.
Discouraged but not ready to give up, Tyson recovered by knocking out Olympic gold medalist Henry Tillman, who was his former amateur boxing adversary, later that year.
Evander Holyfield Fights
After several successful fights, Tyson came head-to-head with his next big challenger: Evander Holyfield. Holyfield had been promised a title shot against Tyson in 1990 before Douglas defeated Tyson. Instead, Holyfield fought Douglas for the heavyweight title on October 25, 1990, and beat his opponent by knockout to become the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
On November 9, 1996, Tyson faced Holyfield for the heavyweight title. The evening didn’t end successfully for Tyson, who lost to Holyfield by a knockout in the 11th round. Instead of Tyson’s anticipated victory, Holyfield made history by becoming the second person to win a heavyweight championship belt three times. Tyson claimed he was the victim of multiple illegal head butts by Holyfield and vowed to avenge his loss.
Tyson trained heavily for a rematch with Holyfield, and on June 28, 1997, the two boxers faced off again. The fight was televised on pay-per-view and entered nearly 2 million households, setting a record at the time for the highest number of paid television viewers. Both boxers also received record purses for the match, making them the highest-paid professional boxers in history until 2007.
The first and second rounds provided the typical crowd-pleasing action expected from the two champions. But the match took an unexpected turn in the third round. Tyson shocked fans and boxing officials when he grabbed Holyfield and bit both of the boxer’s ears, completely severing a piece of Holyfield’s right ear. Tyson claimed that the action was retaliation for Holyfield’s illegal head butts from their previous match. Judges didn’t agree with Tyson’s reasoning, however, and disqualified the boxer from the fight.
On July 9, 1997, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revoked Tyson’s boxing license in a unanimous vote and fined the boxer $3 million for biting Holyfield. Several months later, Tyson was dealt another blow when he was ordered to pay boxer Mitch Green $45,000 for a 1988 street-fighting incident.
Final Fights and Retirement
In October 1998, Tyson’s Nevada boxing license was reinstated and he returned to the ring the next year. The boxer four wins and two no contests before attempting to win back the heavyweight title in 2002. To do so, he would need to beat Lennox Lewis, the WBC, IBF, and International Boxing Organization champion.
The buildup to the highly-publicized fight was contentious. Two years prior, following his win over Lou Savarese, Tyson called out Lewis and morbidly threatened to “eat his children.” At a January 2002 press conference, the two boxers began a brawl that threatened to cancel the match, but the fight was eventually scheduled for that June. Tyson lost the fight by a knockout, a defeat that signaled the decline of the former champion’s career.
Tyson only fought three more times. After losing to Danny Williams via knockout in July 2004, he faced Kevin McBride just under a year later. A journeyman fighter from Ireland, McBride was considered a heavy underdog and offered only $150,000 for the bout. He responded to taunts from Tyson by saying “when I hit you on the chin, you’re going to take the whole of Ireland.” McBride backed up the talk by winning via technical knockout in the sixth round.
Tyson immediately announced his retirement. “I don’t have the stomach for this anymore,” he said. “I felt like I was 120 years old.”
In June 2011, Tyson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He began a stint as a boxing promoter in 2013 after forming Iron Mike Productions.
The former heavyweight champion is briefly stepping out of retirement for an eight-round sanctioned match against Jake Paul. The bout, which will stream live on Netflix, was originally scheduled for July 20, 2024, but later postponed to November 15 due to an ulcer flare-up Tyson experienced.
Boxing Record, Height, and Weight
In his prime, the 5-foot-10 Tyson generally competed at just under 220 pounds. His day-to-day weight became much higher after retirement. He revealed in November 2020 he had lost around 100 pounds, thanks to a new vegan diet and a lot of time on a treadmill, ahead of an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr.
According to Forbes, Tyson competed in 58 fights during his professional career. His official record is 50 wins and six losses, with two no-contests. Of his victories, 44 were via knockout. Tyson won his first 37 bouts before his memorable first loss to Buster Douglas in February 1990.
Wives and Kids
Tyson is currently married to his third wife, Lakiha “Kiki” Spicer. The couple wed in 2009. They have two children together: a daughter named Milan, born in 2008, and a son named Morocco, born in 2011.
Altogether, Tyson is a father to seven children, including three daughters, three sons, and a nonbinary child. His firstborn, a daughter named Mikey, arrived in 1990. Tyson had Mikey with Kimberly Scarborough. The boxer and his second wife, Monica Turner, welcomed Rayna, who is nonbinary, and Amir, their son, in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Next, Tyson had a son named Miguel in 2002 and a daughter named Exodus in 2005 with his former girlfriend Sol Xochitl. Milan and Morocco round out Tyson’s brood.
In March 2009, 4-year-old Exodus tragically died after accidentally strangling herself on a treadmill cord at her mother’s home in Phoenix. Tyson spoke about the incident later that year in a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey. “My first instinct was a lot of rage, and I am so happy I had the tools in life [from attending rehab] not to go in that direction,” he said. “There was no animosity. There was no anger towards anybody. I don’t know how she died, and I don’t want to know.”
First Marriage to Robin Givens
Tyson partied hard and stepped out with various Hollywood stars early in his career. In the 1980s, Tyson set his sights on actor Robin Givens. The couple began dating, and on February 7, 1988, they got married in New York.
However, allegations of spousal abuse began to surface in the media in June 1988, and Givens and her mother demanded access to Tyson’s money for a down payment on a $3 million home in New Jersey. That same year, police were called to Tyson’s home after he began throwing furniture out of a window and forced Givens and her mother to leave the home.
Tyson’s behavior during this time became increasingly violent and erratic. In August 1988, he broke a bone in his right hand in a street brawl. The next month, Tyson was knocked unconscious after driving his BMW into a tree at his late trainer Cus D’Amato’s home. Tabloids later claimed the accident was a suicide attempt brought on from excessive drug use. He was fined $200 and sentenced to community service for speeding.
Also in September 1988, Givens and Tyson appeared in an interview with Barbara Walters in which Givens described her marriage as “pure hell.” Shortly thereafter, she announced that she was filing for divorce. Tyson countersued for a divorce and an annulment, beginning an ugly court process. On February 14, 1989, their split became official.
Second Marriage to Monica Turner
In the early 1990s, Tyson briefly met Monica Turner. They stayed in touch with Turner regularly visiting Tyson while he imprisoned, and the relationship eventually grew romantic. In 1997, the couple got married in a Muslim ceremony.
Tyson and Turner had two kids together as Turner trained to become a pediatrician. But their marriage hit the rocks, and in 2002, she filed for divorce on grounds of his alleged adultery. It took a year to work out the dissolution of their marriage. A judge officially granted their divorce in early 2003.
Legal and Financial Troubles
Tyson’s massive success in the ring was often accompanied by controversy away from it. He has served time in prison and jail on multiple occasions after being convicted on sexual assault, physical assault, and drug charges.
1992 Rape Conviction
In July 1991, Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black American contestant. On March 26, 1992, after nearly a year of trial proceedings, Tyson was found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviant sexual conduct. Because of Indiana state laws, Tyson was ordered to serve six years in prison, effective immediately.
He initially handled his stint in prison poorly; he was found guilty of threatening a guard, adding 15 days to his sentence. That same year, Tyson’s father died. The boxer didn’t request leave to attend the funeral. While imprisoned, Tyson converted to Islam and adopted the name Malik Abdul Aziz. On March 25, 1995, after serving three years of his sentence, Tyson was released from the Indiana Youth Center near Plainfield.
Business Lawsuits
The beleaguered boxer was ensnared in more legal trouble, including a $49 million lawsuit filed by his former trainer Kevin Rooney for wrongful termination. A jury ordered the boxer to pay Rooney a little more than $4.4 million in October 1996.
Tyson landed in court again in 1998, this time as a plaintiff. On March 5, the boxer filed a $100 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against promoter Don King, accusing him of cheating him out of millions of dollars. He also filed a lawsuit against his former managers Rory Holloway and John Horne, claiming they had made King the boxer’s exclusive promoter without his knowledge. In 2004, King and Tyson settled out of court for $14 million, though Tyson used the award to pay off debt.
Days after Tyson filed his suit against King, two women sued the boxer after they said he verbally and physically assaulted them at a Washington restaurant. They sought $22.5 million in damages. The parties reached a confidential settlement in 2000.
1998 Road Rage Assault
In August 1998, in yet another outburst, Tyson assaulted two motorists after a car accident in Maryland dented his Mercedes. He pleaded no contest to second-degree assault for the attack. The judge sentenced Tyson to two concurrent two-year sentences, but he was given only one year of jail time, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service. He was released after serving nine months.
Drug Charges and Addiction
The next several years were marred with more accusations of physical assaults, sexual harassment, and public incidents. In 2000, a random drug test revealed that Tyson had been smoking marijuana. The results caused boxing officials to penalize Tyson by declaring his October 20 victory against Andrew Golota a loss.
In late 2006, Tyson was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, after nearly crashing into a police SUV. During a search of his car, police discovered cocaine and drug paraphernalia throughout the vehicle. On September 24, 2007, Tyson pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics and driving under the influence. He was sentenced to 24 hours in jail, 360 hours of community service, and three years’ probation.
Although his drug arrest was a one-off, Tyson has since discussed his alcohol and drug abuse and ongoing recovery. “I’m on the verge of dying because I’m a vicious alcoholic,” he said at a 2013 press conference, also admitting that he had been lying about his sobriety to family and friends. Tyson also admitted to abusing cocaine in his 2013 autobiography Undisputed Truth.
Over the years, he has attended rehab as well as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. His commitment to a sober life has been more successful recently. “For seven years, I didn’t get high, didn’t drink liquor,” Tyson said in 2023. He credits psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana for changing his life and curbing his reliance on alcohol and cocaine.
Bankruptcy
In 2003, the boxer filed for bankruptcy after his exorbitant spending, multiple trials, and bad investments caught up with him. To curb expenses, the boxer also sold his upscale mansion in Farmington, Connecticut, to rapper 50 Cent for a little more than $4 million. He crashed on friends’ couches and slept in shelters until he landed in Phoenix, where he bought a home in 2005.
Active Rape Case
Years later, in January 2023, a New York woman filed a lawsuit accusing Tyson of raping her outside a nightclub in March 1991 and seeking $5 million in damages. The case was moved to U.S. District Court in Albany later that year, and a trial date hasn’t been set.
Life Outside of Boxing: Movies and TV Shows
After leaving the ring, Tyson found a new level of celebrity through a number of notable movie anTV show appearances. In 2009, he had a memorable cameo in the hit comedy The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms. The positive reception to his appearance opened the door to more acting opportunities. Tyson soon landed guest spots on the TV series Entourage, How I Met Your Mother, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In 2012, Tyson made his Broadway debut in his one-man show Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth, directed by Spike Lee. Two years later, Tyson’s animated venture Mike Tyson Mysteries, a comical crime-fighting spoof, premiered on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
Tyson expanded into books, releasing in 2013 a tell-all memoir, Undisputed Truth, which became a New York Times bestseller. A second book followed in 2017’s Iron Ambition: My Life With Cus D’Amato, which looked back at his earliest training days.
Always open to promoting his brand, Tyson also launched a YouTube channel in 2017, which parodies comedy sketches and music videos. In January 2019, he kicked off his Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast.
Cannabis Business
In 2016, Tyson made a successful entry into the burgeoning cannabis industry with the launch of Tyson Holistic Holdings. The business includes the 407-acre Tyson Ranch in California, which the ex-champ reportedly aimed to transform into a bustling resort for marijuana enthusiasts. The boxer followed up in 2021 with a line of marijuana strains and gummies via his Tyson 2.0 brand.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mike Tyson’s net worth is estimated at $10 million as of March 2024. That same month, Sportico published a list of the 50 highest-paid athletes of all time. Tyson ranked No. 18 with $905 million in career earnings adjusted for inflation ($460 million non-adjusted).
Quotes
I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.
I’m a good guy, I’m a good brother. There’s nothing wrong with me. Just don’t push me too far, you know.
When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.
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