Tyson, Mike 1966–

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Mike Tyson 1966–

Professional boxer

Became Youngest Heavy Weight Champion

Professional Glory, Personal Problems

Went to Prison

Infamy in the Desert

Fighting for the Money

Sources

Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history, is perhaps one of the sport’s most notorious figures. His talent is undeniable. As Sports Illustrated observed, “He is the purest of fighters: He hits people and they fall down.” While some ponder the kinetic energy behind each punch, Tyson reminds us of the sheer simplicity of the sport. There are no goal lines or plays to call—just two men standing in a ring of physicality, each trying to demolish the other. Yet Tyson also reminds us of the more primal aspect of the sport. From his imprisonment for rape to the cannibalistic comments directed toward Lennox Lewis and his biting of Evander Holyfield’s ear, Tyson’s persona has evolved into that of the brutal aggressor.

Became Youngest Heavy Weight Champion

Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1966, to Lorna Tyson and Jimmy Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick left the family when his son was two years old. As a youth Tyson joined a street gang at a very early age and was in trouble with the law many times before he was 12 years old. After an arrest for armed robbery he was sent to the Tyron School in 1978, a correction center for juveniles in upstate New York. It was there that his life changed direction. The school’s physical education teacher saw potential in the young man and introduced him to legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato, who lived near the facility at the time. Tyson thrived under the new structure and discipline in his life. Tyson moved in with D’Amato and, when the boxer’s mother died when he was 16, D’Amato became his legal guardian. Tyson was sent back to the Tyron School for a time after he was threatened with a gun by his then-trainer Teddy Atlas. The trainer had heard that Tyson sexually abused a 12-year-old girl and was trying to frighten him. Tyson made stunning progress as an amateur and decided to try out for the Olympic team at the age of 17. After failing to make the 1984 Olympic team, D’Amato decided that it was time for his fighter to turn professional.

On March 4, 1985, Tyson stepped into the ring for his first professional fight. He had studied boxing history

At a Glance…

Born Michael Gerard Tyson on June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, NY; married Robin Givens, February 7, 1988 (divorced 1988); married Monica Turner, April of 1997; children: (first marriage) Michael, D’Amato Kilrane, (second marriage) Reina, Amir.

Career: Professional boxer, 1985–.

Awards: WBC title, heavyweight champion, 1986; WBA title, 1987; IBF championship, 1987; WBC championship, 1996; WBA championship, 1996.

Addresses: Office-c/o Jeff Wald Entertainment, Professional Boxer, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Ste. 2630, Los Angeles, California, United States 90067-5050

and watched old newsreel footage of the great fighters of the past and wanted to emulate them. He entered the ring without fanfare, without a robe, without socks, dressed in black with the most menacing and intimidating glare in boxing. Many of his opponents were beaten before Tyson even stepped through the ropes. Tyson went 15-0 in his first year as a professional boxer. Many boxing aficionados thought that D’Amato had created the perfect heavyweight fighter. But he would never live to see his man become champion. The 77-year-old trainer died in November of 1985.

Despite this loss, Tyson continued to storm through the heavyweight division. One year after D’Amato’s death, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he gained the World Boxing Council (WBC) championship belt after a two-round knockout of Trevor Berbick. Co-manager Jimmy Jacobs told Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated that everything was going according to plan: “Cus predicted that Mike would fight for the title before the end of 1986…. Cus said the only way to prepare Mike for this was to give him a speed education by a multiple of four. So there has been no R and R for Mike. There couldn’t be. And he has held up beautifully.” The next year Tyson united the heavyweight championship, defeating James “Bonecrusher” Smith for the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt in March and Tony Tucker for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt in August. Tyson was on top of the boxing world as the most ferocious boxer in the sport’s most glamorous division. But he soon learned that success often comes at a price.

Professional Glory, Personal Problems

In 1988 Jimmy Jacobs died, leaving Tyson without the co-manager who had been with him from the beginning of his career. Into the vacuum in Tyson’s life created by the deaths of D’Amato and Jacobs came Don King, boxing’s most notorious promoter, and Tyson’s new wife, actress Robin Givens, whom he had married after a two-week courtship.

In the ring the fighter was at the absolute pinnacle of his power, defeating former IBF champ Michael Spinks in 91 seconds. Outside the ring Tyson’s life was spinning out of control. He broke his hand in a street fight with a former opponent Mitch “Blood” Green. Then he crashed his BMW into a tree on D’Amato’s former estate. Some in the media reported that the crash was intentional and amounted to a failed suicide attempt. He was reported to have chased Givens and her mother through the streets of Moscow, where she was shooting a movie. And then there was the appearance with his wife on national television in a question-and-answer session with Barbara Walters. Tyson sat next to Givens looking half-awake as his wife talked about him as if he were not there. She said that he was a manic-depressive and claimed that he had abused her. Soon after the humiliating ordeal Givens and Tyson were divorced.

The exit of Givens left Don King firmly in control of Tyson. For five years Tyson had destroyed opponent after opponent, but that would soon change. On February 11, 1990, Tyson fought James “Buster” Douglas, a 42-1 underdog. From the very beginning of the fight, there was a different atmosphere. Tyson was sluggish—some claim from anti-depressant medication—and his journeyman opponent seemed to be different also, as if he were not afraid of the man so many others had feared to fight. Tyson knocked down Douglas, but the challenger recovered and ended up knocking out the champion in the tenth round.

Tyson recovered from his loss to win two more bouts in 1990. The next year he defeated Donovan “Razor” Ruddock twice. His next fight was for the heavyweight championship against Evander Holyfield, but that scheduled fight never happened.

Went to Prison

While attending the Miss Black America contest, Tyson met 18-year-old Desiree Washington. On July 19, 1991, Tyson took her back to his hotel room and allegedly raped the young pageant contestant. He was tried and convicted of rape and, in March of 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison. He spent three years of his six-year sentence in jail. Word leaked out that Tyson was a different man after spending time behind bars. He was said to be reading communist literature and Malcolm X, and had even converted to Islam.

The 28-year-old Tyson was released from prison on March 25, 1995. He emerged from prison with tattoos of tennis star Arthur Ashe and communist leader Mao Zedong on his arms. He went to a nearby mosque and met with boxing great Muhammad Ali immediately after he left the prison grounds. Though many boxing promoters and managers had courted the fighter in prison, it was Don King who negotiated a deal with Showtime on his fighter’s first day out of prison.

Tyson’s first post-prison opponent was Boston journeyman Peter McNeely, with a record of 36-1. On paper he seemed good enough, but his opponents’ combined records were 148-436. McNeely maintained a brave face throughout the pre-fight pomp and circumstance, though everyone suspected the fight would go to Tyson. Tyson knocked down McNeely twice and then McNeely’s manager threw in the towel after 89 seconds of the first round.

Over the next year Tyson beat up on lesser fighters and stirred controversy. King tried to schedule Tyson’s next fight on the same night and in the same city (Las Vegas) as a pay-per-view fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield, causing an uproar among boxing circles. The fight was rescheduled when Tyson broke his thumb, and Tyson knocked out Buster Mathis in the third round of their eventual fight on December 16th in Philadelphia.

Easy victories followed. On March 16, 1996, Tyson fought the tough talking but weak-chinned Englishman Frank Bruno. Clearly frightened in the ring, Bruno was repeatedly warned for clinching in the first two rounds of the fight. Tyson battered Bruno in the third, sending him sliding incoherently down the ropes 50 seconds into the round. On September 7, 1996, Tyson knocked out Bruce Seldon in 109 seconds. Many spectators and fans watching the pay-per-view event thought the fight was fixed because few saw Tyson punch Seldon, but Seldon’s trainer said that his man was so scared that he may have had a nervous breakdown. This string of fights earned Tyson some $65 million dollars.

The victory over Seldon gave Tyson the WBA championship and a legitimate claim to fighting Evander Holyfield, who he had been waiting to fight since 1991. Holyfield was seen as a washed-up fighter, in danger even of being killed in the ring by Tyson. Holyfield was a 25-1 underdog, but he would make $11 million to Tyson’s $30 million. Despite the long odds, Holyfield was the first man whom Tyson faced since he was released from prison who would fight back. In the sixth round, Holyfield opened a cut over Tyson’s left eye with a head butt and then dropped Tyson with a left hook. It was only the second time Tyson was knocked down in his whole career. At that point Holyfield said that he knew he had beaten Tyson and for the rest of the fight, he jabbed Tyson and stayed out of his rival’s reach. Tyson lost, but the fight grossed $100 million and a rematch was assured.

Infamy in the Desert

Anticipation for the Tyson-Holyfield rematch was so great that the MGM sold out its 16,000 tickets on the first day. The spectators and the millions viewing on pay-per-view expected to be part of another unforgettable moment in Tyson’s career. They were not disappointed. The first round seemed to pick up where the first match left off. Holyfield was the aggressor, sometimes leading with his head. In the second, Holyfield head-butted Tyson and cut him above his right eye. The fight became more brutal, with both fighters seeming to abandon the rules.

Then, in the third round, Tyson and Holyfield clinched in the middle of the ring. Tyson seemed to search for his opponent’s ear, find it, and then purposely chomped down on it. Holyfield propelled himself into the air and Tyson spit out his mouthpiece and a piece of Holyfield’s ear. Tyson then followed Holyfield back to his corner and pushed him with both hands. There was a two-minute delay, after which it was decided the fight could continue. The two clinched in the center of the ring and Tyson reached over and bit Holyfield’s other ear. The ring immediately filled with people and chaos ensued. As Tyson left the arena with empty beer cups raining down on him, it seemed that the youngest and most-feared heavyweight champion might be drummed out of boxing forever.

The Nevada State Commission withheld Tyson’s paycheck and suspended his license. Tyson appeared before the press on the Monday after the fight and apologized for his behavior, but the public was outraged—perhaps more so than when he was convicted for rape. “He realized he couldn’t whup me, and he got frustrated,” Holyfield explained to Time magazine’s Richard Lacayo. Reaction poured in from all over the world and Tyson quickly became a punch line on the late night comedy shows. At the Hollywood Wax Museum his likeness was moved from the sports section to the Chamber of Horrors next to Hannibal Lector, the cannibal from the movie Silence of the Lambs. In the end Tyson was banned from boxing for one year and fined $3 million.

Fighting for the Money

Tyson’s controversial defeat at the hands of the aging Holyfield led many to believe that his career was finished. But enduring financial troubles, including $13 million in debt from back taxes, lured Tyson back into the ring through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Tyson took steps to bring more discipline to his fighting and his life. He parted ways with Don King in a flurry of lawsuits. He married again, this time to a pediatrician. His training regimen became steadier and he returned to the ring, making mountains of cash against opponents who offered little opposition. Tyson scored easy victories over British champion Julius Francis in Manchester, England, in February of 2000 and Brian “Danish Pastry” Nielsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October of 2001. “I’m back,” Tyson said after the latter victory.

Despite these positive steps, Tyson’s public behavior became increasingly angry and irrational. In March of 1999 he spent a short time in jail after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a road rage incident. Following a 2000 match in which he defeated Lou Savarese in 38 seconds, Tyson told the assembled media, “I am the most ruthless, brutal champion ever. I am Sonny Liston and Jack Dempsey. There is no one who can match me.” He saved his most bizarre remarks for a future opponent, heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. “I want your heart. I want to eat your children,” Tyson proclaimed of Lewis.

Upon hearing of Tyson’s comments, Lewis remarked that “Mike Tyson is a train wreck waiting to happen.” His predication came true in January of 2002, when a press conference announcing a match between Tyson and Lewis became a fierce brawl between the entourages surrounding the two fighters, ending with Tyson biting Lewis on the leg. Boxing commentator Ferdie Pacheco told The Sporting News that “someone needs to put Tyson in a hospital for a year. He has no self-control and is filled with self-loathing.”

The Tyson-Lewis fight, scheduled for June of 2002 in Memphis, Tennessee, was given a huge build-up in the press, and the fighters were kept from seeing each other prior to the match. Though the fight set records with pay-per-view sales of $103 million, it hardly met expectations. Lewis took command early and appeared to toy with an overmatched Tyson for the early rounds. Then, in the eighth, he leveled Tyson with a hard right to the head.

Tyson was oddly tender after the fight. He hugged his opponent and then, noticing that he had left blood on the champion’s cheek, reached up and gently wiped his face. Tyson proclaimed that Lewis “was splendid, a masterful boxer, and I take my hat off to him.” Asked about a rematch, Tyson said, “I’d be crazy to ask for a rematch. He’s too big and too strong. I mean, for the right price, I’ll fight a lion. But I don’t think I can beat that guy.”

Though the Lewis match clearly showed Tyson to be past his prime, his reputation and ability to draw fans continue to draw fight promoters looking to cash in on the spectacle of a Tyson match. Late in 2003, speculation swirled that he might fight champion Roy Jones, perhaps in Eastern Europe or Russia. The bigger fight facing Tyson seemed to be in the courtroom, where he tried to fend off his many creditors. Despite earning approximately $20 million from the Lewis fight, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003.