Mike Tyson Bio And Facts
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerald Tyson was born June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York. Tyson was an American professional heavyweight boxer and became the youngest heavyweight champion at the age of 20. Tyson went through tough times as a troubled young teen, and was sent to reform school in order to change his life around. Bobby Stewart, a social worker and passionate boxer, recognized Tyson’s potential as a boxer and pushed him to pursue boxing with renowned trainer Cus D’Amato who would later become Tyson’s legal guardian. During Tyson’s time as an amateur boxer, he made quite a name for himself by competing in 27 fights and winning 24 of them. By 1985, Tyson decided to pursue boxing professionally and began to increase his athletic career immensely. Tyson continued to grow as a boxer and learned the peekaboo boxing styles, making him one of the best defensive athletes in boxing history.
- Birthdate: June 30, 1966 (30-06-1966)
- Education: Catskill Highschool
- Net Worth: $3 million
- Occupation: Boxer
- Height: 5’ 11” (1.778 m)
- Weight: 240 lbs (108.862 kgs)
- Position: Heavyweight
- Years Active: 20
- Career Wins: 50
- Career Losses: 8
- Nicknames: Iron Mike
Social Media
Boxing Career
Mike Tyson started his athletic career and journey in the world of boxing around the late 1970s. Tyson was taught all of his best and most defensive moves by world renowned trainer, Cus D’Amato who later became his legal guardian. Tyson performed extremely well during his amateur career with an overall 24-3 record. By 1985, Tyson decided to follow the professional route of boxing and began to pick up new styles of boxing. The most famous defensive style Tyson used was peekaboo boxing style, where hands are held close to your cheeks and a continuous bobbing motion in order to avoid anyone in the ring.
Tyson did not match the typical heavyweight boxer look, standing at only 5’11 and weighing a mere 218 pounds, and was significantly smaller than his opponents. However, Tyson used these “setbacks” to his advantage and managed to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986.
Titles and Awards
When Tyson decided to pursue boxing professionally, in 1985 he quickly became a household name in the boxing world. By 1986, Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick and became the youngest heavyweight in World Boxing Council history. Later on in 1987, Tyson defeated James Smith and acquired the World Boxing Association belt. Even farther down the line, later in 1987 Tyson defeated Tony Tucker and won the International Boxing Federation belt making him the champion of all three boxing organizations.
As Tyson’s career continued he became more and more successful winning 10 more battles to defend his heavyweight titles. Later by 1996, Tyson regained two of his championship belts against Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon. During his total professional boxing career Tyson won 50 matches and lost 8 of them, making for an impressive overall record. Tyson retired from boxing in 2005, but still manages to make waves in the boxing world today.
Personal Life
Mike Tyson was born in Brooklyn in 1966. By the time Tyson was 13, he was already arrested 38 times and was caught in numerous fights. Tyson’s life turned around when he was sent to reform school and met Bobby Stweart, a social worker who introduced him to world famous boxing coach Cus D’Amato. The rest was history for Tyson’s boxing career. Tyson was married to Robin Givens in 1988 until 1989. After Tyson and Givens divorced, he remarried to Monica Turner in 1997 until 2003. When Turner and Tyson divorced, Tyson later remarried Lakiha Spicer in 2009 and has been married to her for over eleven years now. Tyson has seven children overall as well, Miguel Leon Tyson, Mikey Lorna Tyson, Exodus Tyson, Rayna Tyson, Amir Tyson, Milan Tyson, and Morocco Tyson.
Fun Facts
- Tyson finished his first year professionally boxing with a record of 15-0, with all his wins being by knockout
- Tyson ended up being the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history at 20 years of age
- Tyson was a U.S. Olympic boxing team alternate
- Tyson became the overall heavyweight champion by winning all three titles (WBA, WBC, and IBF)
- Tyson raises pigeons and takes time to train them for racing
- Mike Tyson created an animated series about a team of sleuths led by Mike Tyson himself, in style like Scooby Doo
- Tyson published a memoir in 2017 about his life with famed coach and legal guardian Cus D’Amato
- Tyson has recently come out of retirement to fight Roy Jones Jr.; the fight is scheduled to take place in LA on September 12, 2020.
- Tyson was disqualified from a match for biting his opponents ear and was fined $3 million
FAQ
What is Mike Tyson’s diet as a professional boxer?
Mike Tyson’s diet consisted of consuming 3000 to 4000 calories per day, mainly focusing on carbohydrates and proteins in order to gain body muscle mass rather than fat. Although this may seem like a lot of calories for one person to consume, the amount of calories Tyson burned during a regular training period certainly makes up for it. Breakfast consists of oatmeal; lunch and dinner would be chicken breasts with rice.
What is Mike Tyson’s net worth?
Mike Tyson's net worth has shifted significantly during his time as a professional boxer. For his total career earnings, Tyson should have had an overall net worth of $685 million dollars, and $300 million dollars just from boxing competitions. Although this is not the case for Tyson any longer because he spent most of it during his lifetime. As of 2020 Tyson has a networth of $3 million dollars which is still an impressive amount for the professional boxer.
Why is Mike Tyson’s nickname ‘Iron Mike’?
Mike Tyson is known for his intense boxing style, which helped earn him the nickname “Iron Mike.” This nickname also came about because of his behavior inside and outside of the ring, Tyson is known for having an extremely aggressive personality and the metal in his nickname definitely represents the toughness that Tyson brings to the ring. Tyson also goes by the nicknames, “The Baddest Man on the Planet” and “Kid Dynamite” both extremely intimidating and tough names to have.
Why did Mike Tyson bite his opponent in the fight?
Mike Tyson was competing against Evander Holyfield for a rematch in order to avenge himself from losing their previous battle in the ring. However, during the rematch Tyson began to lose quickly and there was no hope in sight for a victory on Tyson’s behalf. Overall, during the third round Holyfield felt that he was about to knock out Tyson, so rather than wanting to lose Tyson decided to bite him in order to be disqualified from the match.