Mike Tyson Profile

Mike Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion and the youngest world boxing world champion in the history of the sport at 20. He is regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Bursting onto the heavyweight scene aged just 18, Tyson quickly gained a fearsome reputation as a knockout specialist.

At the start of his career, the Brooklyn-born fighter was supported by coach and father-figure Cus D'Amato - the Hall of Fame trainer, who allowed Tyson to live with him from the age of 14 and later adopted him, is credited with harnessing Tyson's aggressive boxing style.

D'Amato suddenly died of pneumonia aged 77 in November 1985, one year before Tyson became WBC world champion with victory over Trevor Berbick, a win he dedicated to his former trainer.

Tyson paid for D'Amato's funeral and paid tribute to the trainer after winning the green-and-gold belt 12 months later. Kevin Rooney - D'Amato's assistant - took over the reigns as cornerman to Tyson.

"The Baddest Man on the Planet" added the WBA and IBF to his WBC title with wins over James Smith and Tony Tucker before retaining his belts against heavyweight legend Larry Holmes and Olympic champion Michael Spinks.

He dedicated his win against the former to hero and icon Muhammad Ali, who lost to him in the penultimate fight of his career in brutal fashion.

In 1990, Tyson endured the first defeat of his career in Tokyo to Buster Douglas.

Tyson would win his next three fights before being sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington in 1991. Tyson only served half of his sentence and was released three years later in 1995.

The American marked his return to the ring in 1996 and won the WBC and WBA titles with wins over Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon. It was the second time Tyson had beaten Bruno with the first taking place in 1989.

The two-time heavyweight champion lost successive fights to Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997 before a crushing defeat to Lennox Lewis in 2002.

Following back-to-back defeats to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, Tyson decided to call time on his career in 2005.

Since retiring, Tyson has become a TV and film personality with his most famous role being in American comedy film The Hangover and The Hangover Part 2, where he featured alongside Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis as a fictionalised version of himself.

It received universal acclaim and made over $430million on a modest budget of $35million.

Tyson also featured in the sixth instalment of the Rocky franchise - Rocky Balboa. Tyson is the face of a hugely successful podcast titled Hotboxin' and has included guests such as Tyson Fury, Sugar Ray Leonard, Dennis Rodman and Eminem.

In 2008, Tyson's self-titled documentary premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Elsewhere, Tyson has also made several cameo appearances for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and more recently All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

In 2013, Tyson went on tour in the United States to talk about his life experiences which was titled Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth - which was created in collaboration with film director Spike Lee.

An autobiography with the same name was released alongside the talk-show. Elsewhere, Tyson has executively produced an American adult animated television series Mike Tyson Mysteries from 2014 to 2020.

The show features Mike Tyson solving crimes in the style of Sooby-Doo. Tyson has also been the face of multiple computer games including Nintendo's Mike Tyson Punch's Punch out!! which sold more than one million copies.

Tyson retired with a record of 50-6 with 44 wins coming inside the distance. After destroying Berbick to win the WBC title, Tyson became undisputed champion by adding the WBA and IBF titles to his mantel piece with wins over Smith and Tucker.

His first crushing defeat came to 20-1 underdog Douglas in Japan. Having knocked his opponent to the canvas in round eight, Douglas survived and weathered the storm to stop Tyson in the 10th round.

Alongside Joshua's defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. and Lewis' loss to Hasim Rahman, it is considered as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.

Tyson has since spoken about the dramatic defeat and blamed poor preparation as a major contribution to the outcome of the fight.

According to Tyson, he was partying nearly every night and enjoying the fruits of his previous success going into the bout.

After returning to the sport from his imprisonment, Tyson won the WBC title by beating Frank Bruno in a rematch before picking up the WBA against Bruce Seldon.

His next significant fight was against his native Holyfield in November 1996 - a fight which was met with huge anticipation amongst fans across the globe.

"Iron" Mike entered the fight as the favourite, but the Brooklyn-born fighter was outboxed by his opponent and got stopped in round 11.

"Real Deal" Holyfield had studied Tyson's style intensely and used this knowledge as well as his superior strength to his advantage. The fight was controversial due to two head buts from Holyfield, which were ruled as accidental by the referee.

Tyson complained about the damage of those head butts, which caused a heavy cut near his left eye. Effective counterpunches from Holyfield saw him dominate until the 11th round, where the referee halted the bout with Tyson unable to defend himself on the ropes.

Tyson and Holyfield met in a rematch in June 1997, in one of the biggest fights in boxing history.

Holyfield would dominate the fight once again and like the first fight, butted Tyson once again - this time in the second round when trying to avoid a punch thrown by Tyson.

In retaliation, Tyson bit Holyfield's right ear in the third round during a clinch, ripping off some of his ear. After being deducted two points by the referee for the incident, Tyson took a chunk out of Holyfield's other ear and was therefore disqualified.

The rematch was later known as the "Bite Fight". A shadow of himself, Tyson racked up wins against mediocre level fighters and secured a lucrative bout against Lewis to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Going into the fight, Tyson told Lewis: "I want your heart. I want to eat your children."

Despite a fiery build-up, which included a brawl between both camps at a press conference, Lewis would come out on top and stopped Tyson in the eighth round.

The fight generated 1.95 million PPV buys - which contributed towards making it the most lucrative heavyweight fight. Back-to-back defeats to Williams and McBride saw Tyson hang the gloves up in 2005.

In 2020, Tyson confirmed he would be returning to the ring to face Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition fight at heavyweight.

Originally set to take place on September 12, 2020, it got pushed back to November 28 - Thanksgiving Weekend.

At a combined age of 105, it has received criticism from a brain expert despite the California State Athletic Commission executive Andy Foster claiming it to be a sparring session rather than a proper fight which will see a knockout produced.

Jones, known for his electric fast hands inside the ring, last fought in 2016 and is viewed as the greatest fighter of the 1990s.

In his prime, he defeated James Toney, Bernard Hopkins and made 12 defences as unified light heavyweight champion - a record yet to be broken at 175-pounds.

In 2003, he became the first fighter to begin the professional circuit as 154-pounds and become heavyweight world champion with victory over John Ruiz.

Speaking to Boxing Scene, Foster said: "They can get into it a little bit, but I don't want people to get hurt. They know the deal.

"It's an exhibition. They can exhibit their boxing skills, but I do not want them using their best efforts to hurt each other. They're going to spar hard, but they shouldn't be going for a knockout. This is not a record-book type of fight."

The fight will take place at the Dignity Health Sports Park in California and will be aired live on social media app Trilla.

With an estimated 1.2 million PPV buys, Tyson's purse was around $10million with a certain percentage of his earnings going to his chosen charities.

The bout, which also featured on BT Sport Box Office in the UK, ended in a draw after not being scored by a judge. Despite fears about the well-being of both fighters, the exhibition itself offered entertainment to fans watching with Tyson and Jones offering glimpses of what made them successful as active champions in their prime.

After the bout, Tyson confirmed his intentions to continue. "This is bigger than championships, we are humanitarians, we are helping people. I'm happy I got this under the belt and I'll continue to go further and do more."

At the peak of his career, Tyson was reportedly worth $300million due to his huge fight purses, according to Biography.

He earned $30million for his rematch against Holyfield in 1997 - one of the biggest boxing purses in the world at the time.

Tyson has been ranked 11th in Forbes' 2017 list of the highest paid athletes of all time, bringing in $685million in earnings during his three-decade professional career.

However, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after some seriously lavish spending and was apparently $23million in debt as a result of this.

He is now reportedly worth $3million after appearing in multiple films and television shows as well as releasing his own autobiography.

More recently, Tyson has built his own cannabis empire called Tyson Ranch alongside business partner Eben Britton. Tyson is aiming to introduce a marijuana amusement park to the United States in the future.

Tyson has had an eventful family life, involving multiple girlfriends, wives and children. He has been married three times and is a father of seven children. Tyson married actress Robin Givens in 1988 and got divorced one year later.

The marriage broke down after repeated allegations from his wife that Tyson was abusive and mentally unstable. After divorcing Givens, the fighter married Monica Turner in April 1997 until 2003 where they separated.

Tyson had two children with Turner, son Amir and daughter Rayna.

Tyson also has daughter Milan and son Morocco with current spouse Lakiha Spicer, whom he married in 2009. He had two other children with unknown partners, called Miguel and Exodus. Exodus died from suffocation in 2009, aged just 4.

The fighter also considers having another daughter from a previous relationship. Tyson currently resides in Seven Hills, Nevada. He owned a pet white tiger called Kenya for 16 years before being forced "to get rid" of the cat for attacking a member of the public.

Guided by renowned boxing trainer D'Amato, Tyson had a fearsome record as an amateur fighter. D'Amato taught his fighter the peek-a-boo style, where the hands remain close to the fighter's face to ensure a solid defence.

Tyson would use this to his advantage, blocking his opponent's shots before unleashing a flurry of heavy punches. He reached a record of 24-3 before turning professional in 1985 aged just 18.

Tyson won gold at the 1981 Junior Olympics, knocking out opponent Joe Cortez in under 10 seconds to win the tournament.

He was just 15 at the time. Tyson also won gold at the competition the following year. Tyson also stood tall on the podium at the 1982 Empire State Games in New York, providing a knockout to win the contest.

He lost the final of the 1984 Olympic heavyweight trials to Henry Tillman via a points decision, which was one of his three defeats as an amateur.