Mike Tyson is a larger-than-life legend-- both in and out of the ring. With nicknames such as “Iron” Mike, Kid Dynamite, and The Baddest Man on the Planet, it’s no surprise that Tyson’s legacy is the stuff of a legend.
Tyson was one of the most feared boxers in the ring, and one look at his resume proves he is one of boxing’s greats. Aside from having been the undisputed heavyweight champion, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles. He was the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles simultaneously.
Tyson’s enduring mass appeal owes not only to his incomparable athleticism, but to his huge personality and unrivaled showmanship. His ability to work a crowd extends far beyond the ring.
Tyson is currently retired from boxing and is based in Las Vegas - the city that he helped electrify on so many fight-nights over the past two decades.
Mike Tyson and Las Vegas were synonymous with each other for thirteen years from the moment the boxing legend made his pro debut in Sin City. “The Baddest Man on the Planet” debuted on the world-famous strip in 1986 when on the verge of becoming the youngest heavyweight champion ever. Unsurprisingly, Tyson scored an early knockout in a match with Alfonzo Ratliff at the Las Vegas Hilton.
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During the days of venue bidding wars for top division stars, the Hilton brand would secure Tyson’s services as he swooped to win the WBC title against Trevor Berbick. Tyson would stage his next three bouts under the Hilton banner in Las Vegas, culminating with his undisputed title triumph against Tony Tucker.
On the back of branching out to Tokyo via boxing’s second home of Atlantic City, Tyson headed back to Vegas for the sixth time in his career against Frank Bruno. The 1989 collision would be the New Yorker’s last in Nevada until a fateful night back in Japan saw his championship run end infamously against James ‘Buster’ Douglas.
After losing his belts and aura of invincibility, Tyson would make Las Vegas his home again. Apart from one bout in AC against Alex Stewart in late 1990, Tyson fought three more times on the strip before his career was stalled by incarceration.
Following four years out of action, Tyson returned to his spiritual home in 1995 against Peter McNeeley. From 1996 to 1999, he fought six more times in Vegas, taking his tally to 15. The sixteenth against Orlin Norris in October 1999 would prove to be his last.
A controversial fight with Norris was riddled with animosity during the build-up, and for the three minutes the fight lasted, it ended in a no-contest. Tyson was punished for hitting after the bell despite accusations that Norris was making the most of tasting the canvas.
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Norris defended himself and subsequently offered Tyson a rematch, which in the early stages was accepted. Tyson had his almost $9 million purse withheld for a week and seemed intent on keeping his word. However, he didn’t, and a sizeable paycheck to fight in Europe saw Tyson leave United States shores.
Two easy victories in the United Kingdom brought Tyson back to the USA via Copenhagen, Denmark. However, Mike Tyson never again graced those bright lights.
Tensions with the Nevada State Athletic Commission had been growing since the 1997 biting incident against Evander Holyfield, so when he was punished again so soon after, Tyson had obviously had enough.
In January 2002, he tried re-applying for a boxing license to face Lennox Lewis but was denied after a shocking incident at the press conference. Promises to change his lifestyle after the Norris fight and run-ins with Las Vegas police meant Tyson was rejected 4-1 by license regulators.
The disheartening ending meant a sad cut-off for Tyson’s affinity with Las Vegas. Tyson’s Nevada tenure lasted sixteen bouts over a decade and more.
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Here is a summary of Mike Tyson's fights in Las Vegas:
| Date | Opponent | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Alfonzo Ratliff | Win (KO) | Las Vegas Hilton |
| March 7, 1987 | James Smith | Win (UD) | Las Vegas Hilton |
| May 30, 1987 | Pinklon Thomas | Win (TKO) | Las Vegas Hilton |
| August 1, 1987 | Tony Tucker | Win (UD) | Las Vegas Hilton |
| February 25, 1989 | Frank Bruno | Win (TKO) | Las Vegas Hilton |
| March 18, 1991 | Donovan Ruddock | Win (TKO) | Las Vegas |
| August 19, 1995 | Peter McNeeley | Win (DQ) | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| March 16, 1996 | Frank Bruno | Win (TKO) | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| November 9, 1996 | Evander Holyfield | Loss (TKO) | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| June 28, 1997 | Evander Holyfield | Loss (DQ) | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| January 22, 1999 | Frans Botha | Win (KO) | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| February 5, 1999 | Orlin Norris | NC | Mandalay Bay Events Center |
Tyson’s career in entertainment spans everything from blockbuster movies (The Hangover and The Hangover 2), to documentaries. Most recently, Mike worked with director Bert Marcus on hotly-anticipated documentary, Champs that examines like lives in and out of the ring of the boxing greats.
Tyson is also making a major name for himself in television. He not only starred in his own docu-series on FOX Sports 1, “Being Mike Tyson” in the Fall of 2013-his most recent project, a Warner Brothers animated series, “Mike Tyson Mysteries” which airs on Adult Swim, was just picked up for a second season after its hugely successful debut.
Beyond film and television, the world of theater has also welcomed Tyson with open arms and monumental success: Over the past two years, he has been touring nationally and internationally with his critically acclaimed Broadway one-man show “Mike Tyson: UNDISPUTED TRUTH,” which also aired as an HBO special. After a successful run at the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theater, the show debuted on Broadway under famed director Spike Lee on July 31, 2012.
Undisputed Truth is the raw, no-holds barred life story of the legend himself - as it has never been told before. In the show, Tyson unveils never-before-told stories, peeling back layers of tragedy and public turmoil while unfolding his tale of triumph and survival. In an up-close-and-personal setting featuring images, music and video, Tyson shares the stories of his life and experiences as a professional athlete and controversies in and out of the ring. Theatrical, intimate, and unprecedented, this show reveals the man behind the myth.
Tyson's one-man show toured throughout the United States as well as internationally. Tyson’s memoir "Undisputed Truth was released in the fall of 2013 nationally and internationally. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller. Undisputed Truth was released in paperback Oct. 28, 2014.
Tyson is currently working on a new book about lessons he learned from his mentor Cus D'Amato.
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2005. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at the age of 20, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title.
He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession.
In 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released on parole after three years.
After his release in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights, regaining the WBA and WBC titles in 1996 to join 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.
After being stripped of the WBC title in the same year, 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, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis.
Outside his boxing career, Tyson has appeared in various popular media.
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966, at Cumberland Hospital in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City. He has an older brother named Rodney (born c. 1961) and had an older sister named Denise, who died of a heart attack at age 24 in February 1990. Tyson's mother, born in Charlottesville, Virginia, was described as a promiscuous woman who might have been a prostitute.
Tyson's biological father is listed as "Purcell Tyson", a "humble cab driver" (who was from Jamaica) on his birth certificate, but the man Tyson had known as his father was a pimp named Jimmy Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was from Grier Town, North Carolina (a predominantly black neighborhood that was annexed by the city of Charlotte), where he was one of the neighborhood's top baseball players.
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. "My father was just a regular street guy caught up in the street world," Tyson said.
The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. 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 noted that Tyson could bench press more than his weight, and through Stewart, Tyson met boxing manager and trainer Cus D'Amato.
Tyson dropped out of high school as a junior. He was later 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. Tyson's mother died when he was 16, leaving him in the care of D'Amato, who would become his legal guardian.
Tyson later said, "I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something: she only knew 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.
As an amateur, Tyson won gold medals at the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympic Games, defeating Joe Cortez in 1981 and beating Kelton Brown in 1982. Brown's corner threw in the towel in the first round. In 1984 Tyson won the gold medal at the Nation Golden Gloves held in New York, beating Jonathan Littles.
He fought Henry Tillman twice as an amateur, losing both bouts by decision. Tyson made his professional debut as an 18-year-old on March 6, 1985, in Albany, New York. He defeated Hector Mercedes via first-round TKO.
He had 15 bouts in his first year as a professional. Fighting frequently, Tyson won 26 of his first 28 fights by KO or TKO; 16 of those came in the first round.
The quality of his opponents gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders, like James Tillis, David Jaco, Jesse Ferguson, Mitch Green, and Marvis Frazier. His win streak attracted media attention and Tyson was billed as the next great heavyweight champion.
Tyson's first nationally televised bout took place on February 16, 1986, at Houston Field House in Troy, New York, against journeyman heavyweight Jesse Ferguson, and was carried by ABC Sports. Tyson knocked down Ferguson with an uppercut in the fifth round that broke Ferguson's nose.
During the sixth round, Ferguson began to hold and clinch Tyson in an apparent attempt to avoid further punishment. After admonishing Ferguson several times to obey his commands to box, the referee finally stopped the fight near the middle of the sixth round. The fight was initially ruled a win for Tyson by disqualification (DQ) of his opponent.
In July, after recording six more knockout victories, Tyson fought former world title challenger Marvis Frazier in Glens Falls, New York, on another ABC Sports broadcast. After his win over Frazier, Tyson was booked to fight José Ribalta at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1986.
Ribalta hit Tyson in the body throughout the fight. Tyson knocked down Ribalta three times, in the 2nd, 8th, and 10th round, and then the referee called the fight off. Tyson said Ribalta was his toughest fight: "I hit Jose Ribalta with everything, and he took everything and kept coming back for more. Jose Ribalta stood toe to toe with me. He was very strong in the clinches," and "Ribalta was a game fighter who actually engaged me. I felt nauseous from all Ribalta’s body blows, even hours after the fight.
On November 22, 1986, Tyson was given his first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by TKO in the second round, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
He added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987. Tyson's dominant performances brought many accolades.
Tyson intimidated fighters with his strength, combined with outstanding hand speed, accuracy, coordination and timing. Tyson also possessed notable defensive abilities, holding his hands high in the peek-a-boo style taught by his mentor Cus D'Amato to slip under and weave around his opponent's punches while timing his own.
Tyson's explosive punching technique was due in large part to crouching immediately prior to throwing a hook or an uppercut: this allowed the "spring" of his legs to add power to the punch. Among his signature moves was a right hook to his opponent's body followed by a right uppercut to his opponent's chin.
Expectations for Tyson were extremely high, and he was the favorite to win the heavyweight unification series, a tournament designed to establish an undisputed heavyweight champion. Tyson defended his title against James Smith on March 7, 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada.