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Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Net Worth

$10,000,000

Born in (City)

Brooklyn, New York

Born in (Country)

United States

Date of Birth

30th December, 1966

Date of Death

-

Mother

Father

Children

  • Miguel Leon Tyson
  • Exodus Tyson
  • Mikey Lorna Tyson
  • Amir Tyson
  • Rayna Tyson
  • Morocco Tyson
  • Milan Tyson

About

Michael Gerard Tyson who was born on June 30 of 1966 is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990 and was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to successfully unify them. Tyson was known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is considered one of the best heavyweights of all time. Tyson holds the third-longest unified championship reign in heavyweight history at eight consecutive defenses. He currently ranks No. 14 in BoxRec’s ranking of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history. He was ranked No. 16 on The Ring’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, and No. 1 in the ESPN.com 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. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title.

Early Life

Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1966. He has an older brother named Rodney and an older sister named Denise, who died of a heart attack at age 24 in February 1990. Tyson’s biological father is listed as "Purcell Tyson" on his birth certificate, but the man Tyson had known as his father was Jimmy Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was from Grier Town, North Carolina 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. He was just a regular street guy caught up in the street world. Kirkpatrick abandoned the Tyson family around the time Mike was born, leaving Tyson’s mother to care for the children on her own. Kirkpatrick died in 1992. The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. Tyson’s mother died six years later, leaving 16-year-old Tyson in the care of boxing manager and trainer Cus D’Amato, who would become his legal guardian. Tyson later said he never saw his mother happy and proud of him for doing something, she only knew him as a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew he didn’t pay for. He never got a chance to talk to his mother or know about her. Professionally, it does not affect him yet it’s crushing emotionally and personally. 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. 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. 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 Cus D’Amato. Tyson dropped out of high school as a junior. He would be awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in 1989. 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.

Road to Success

On March 6, 1985, Tyson made his professional 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. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after stopping Trevor Berbick in the second round and added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. He successfully defended his titles nine times, which included victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. In 1990, Tyson lost the titles to underdog Buster Douglas, who knocked him out in the tenth round. Attempting to regain the titles, Tyson defeated Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991 but pulled out of a fight with then-undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (who had defeated Douglas later in 1990) due to a rib injury. in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He won the WBC and WBA titles in 1996, after stopping Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon. With his defeat of Bruno, Tyson joined 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.

Challenges

Tyson's winning streak came to an end on February 11, 1990, when he lost his championship belt to boxer Buster Douglas in Tokyo, Japan. Tyson, the clear favorite, sent Douglas to the mat in the eighth round, but Douglas came back in the tenth, 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 — and former amateur boxing adversary — Henry Tillman later that year. In another bout, he defeated Alex Stewart by a knockout in the first round. In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison, although he was released on parole after three years. While in prison, he converted to Islam and adopted the Muslim name, Malik Abdul Aziz. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite having received 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.

Failures

After being stripped of the WBC title in the year 1996, on November 9, Tyson faced Holyfield for the heavyweight title. The evening would not 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 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 again at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2006, after being knocked out in consecutive matches against journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. After losing to Danny Williams in July 2004 and to Kevin McBride in June 2005, Tyson announced his retirement.

Achievements

1986 - WBC heavyweight championship winner|1987 - WBA heavyweight title winner|1987 - IBF heavyweight championship|Mike Tyson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Quotes

  • Confidence breeds success and success breeds confidence. Confidence applied properly surpasses genius.
  • 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.
  • In order to succeed greatly, you have to be prepared to fail greatly. If you can’t do both of them, you’ve got a problem.