Mike Tyson is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time (Image: Getty)
Mike Tyson is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, but he might be better known for his life outside the ring. Iron Mike had a modest start to life as his father abandoned the family when he was just two years old.
He bounced from one rough area to the next and it has been reported that Mike had been arrested over 30 times before he turned 13.
At the age of 16, Mike’s mother died and he was left to fend for himself until boxing manager and trainer Cus D’Amato became his legal guardian and set about training him to become a professional fighter.
He then rose to fame and was soon the most successful boxer in the world, but he then became known as ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’.
He bought himself a pet tiger, once bit off a rival’s ear, and would pay for wild orgies – earning him a reputation he would have to bear for life.
Tyson soon earned a reputation he would have to bear for life (Image: Getty)
Born in New York to Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Lorna Mae Smith, Mike struggled from a young age as his dad left the family and his mum raised him alone.
When talking about his childhood, Mike said: “I must’ve had three or four fights a day. From like age nine, I was 200lbs at age 12.
“I was fighting the kid, then fighting their fathers. They were crying, went home and got their father. Then I would fight the father.”
Mike’s mother passed away when he was ten and, in the years after, he found himself in constant trouble with the law until he was taken in by Constantine ‘Cus’ D’Amato.
Iron Mike won his first 19 professional fights by knockout (Image: Getty)
D’Amato was an amateur boxer but his career was cut short by an injury so he became a trainer instead, opening his first gym at the age of 22.
Mike soon went to live with D’Amato and soon the trainer became his legal guardian, and it’s been reported that he is the only person who could strike fear into Tyson, as Sports Casting reports.
Before his training, Mike was terrified of confrontation and only got into fighting after beating up a man who killed his pet pigeon.
Speaking on The Pivot podcast, Tyson revealed his early experiences of altercations and how the death of his pet pigeon introduced him to boxing.
The death of his pet pigeon introduced him to boxing (Image: Getty)
He said: “I was a baby and a guy would be picking on me. My right hand to god, I’d be like, ‘Stop’, I was so scared and didn’t know what to do.
“Then one guy said to me ‘You better f***ing fight him back’ and I started fighting. This guy killed my pigeon and it was a wrap. That was the first fight ever in my life because of a pigeon.”
D’Amato died when Mike was 19 years old, but he was already well on his way to becoming a professional boxer by that point.
He won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of which were in the first round and, in 1986, Mike claimed his first heavyweight title – becoming the youngest person ever to do so, at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old.
Mike claimed his first heavyweight title at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old (Image: Getty)
He tasted defeat only six times in his 20-year career, with 50 wins to his name and a remarkable 44 wins via knockout.
A few years later, in 1992, Mike’s life took a bitter turn as he was convicted of rape and sentenced to ten years behind bars, but the last four years of his sentence were suspended. He always protested his innocence and was freed in March 1995.
He then embarked on a comeback tour and fought some of the biggest names in the business, including Geroge Foreman, Muhammad Ali, and Evander Holyfield.
His fight with Holyfield would go down in history. Billed as ‘the Sound and the Fury’, it later became known as ‘The Bite Fight’, as Mike bit off part of his opponent’s ear and was disqualified from the match.
In 2005, the heavyweight stunned the boxing world by announcing his retirement.
Four years later, father-of-seven Tyson’s world was shattered when his four-year-old daughter, Exodus, died in a horrifying and tragic accident. The little girl’s body was found at their home in Phoenix, Arizona.
She was discovered on the treadmill and it appeared she had been strangled by a cord attached to the machine.
During his career, Mike earned almost £415m ($500m) – but admitted he blew it all in just 15 years.
Mike earned almost £415m – but admitted he blew it all in just 15 years (Image: Getty)
He earned the sum across two decades in the ring, but he admitted he used to do “crazy s***” with his fortunes and that he spent his last £830,000 ($1m) on rehab.
As of April 2022, Mike Tyson has an estimated net worth of about £8.3m ($10m), according to Celebrity Net Worth.
“When you’re making that much money it lasts for a long time,” he said on The Pivot podcast. “That didn’t die right away, it took like 15 or 16 years to go broke.
“I spent the last money that I had from fighting on rehab, around a million bucks. I had enough money left like two million dollars and I bought a house in Phoenix. The house was difficult to sell, but somebody loved it and boom they gave me the money. This is God working.”
Tyson is worth around £9m these days (Image: Getty)
And he admits that his problems with mental health stretched back to the 1980s when he was at the height of his fame.
Speaking on his popular Hotboxin’ podcast, the boxer explained: “Giving people money like f*** everybody, party with everybody and f*** their mothers, their sisters and their cousins… orgies. I was crazy.
“I didn’t know what to do once I got to the top. I’ve learned to live a boring life and love it. I’m too young for regrets.”
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