Friends, hello everyone. Today we will talk about one of the most famous boxers in the history of world boxing, nicknamed "Iron Mike" - we are talking, of course, about Mike Tyson - American professional boxer who performed in heavy weight category.
Mike Tyson
Mike was born in New York, in Brooklyn. Has an older brother and sister (Rodney and Denise). Until the age of 10, Mike had a gentle character, did not know how to stand up for himself, over him and other children ( younger age) were bullied by other children (older ones) taking away change, sweets from them and even beaten (p.s. by the way, Rodney's older brother also took part in this).
Mike has in childhood (she, in principle, still has her main favorite hobby - “Pigeon Breeding”).
Even strong men have their weaknesses
Muhammad Ali
I started talking about pigeons for a reason, the fact is that at the age of 10, Mike (according to him) one of the members of the local street gang (who was 3 years older than him) pulled out his beloved pigeon from Mike and tore off his head, he freaked out , rushed at him and severely beat him. From that moment on, he was respected among the local juvenile bandits, they accepted him into their company, taught him to steal (rob stores, climb into pockets, etc.). Well, as we know, nothing just happens in this life, over time, the consequences of everything they did began, Mike repeatedly found himself in a correctional institution for youngsters (p.s. by the way, during one of which Mike managed to see Muhammad Ali, he he came there in order to talk (talk) with difficult teenagers like Mike, so to speak, set them on the true path ... According to Mike himself (as he later recalled), it was after meeting with Mohammed Ali that he first thought about a career as a boxer.
At the age of 13, he was sent to a special school for juvenile delinquents, which was located in the northern part of New York. At that time (at the age of 13) Mike had a huge physical strength(well, for his age), was incorrigible, often violated the regime, lost his temper, etc. In the end, one day when he got into the punishment cell, Mike asked for the opportunity to speak with the current PE teacher, who, by the way, was former boxer Bobby Stewart.
Mike Tyson and his first coach Bobby Stewart (still young)
Mike Tyson and his first trainer, Bobby Stewart, at the Casa D'Amato Boxing Gym, Catskill, New York.
So when Stewart came to Mike, he said that he wanted to become a boxer. Stewart agreed to train him only on the condition that he would stop violating discipline. After the dialogue took place, Mike's behavior began to improve rapidly .. and after a while Stewart put forward another condition that sounded like this: “The better you study at school, the more I will box with you.” Again, it worked. Mike rapidly began to improve his performance at school, at a time when everyone else considered him to be almost mentally retarded.
P.s. His passion for boxing is simply amazing. He did everything in order to learn how to box ... (study, discipline .. everything) sometimes the school staff forced Mike around 3-4 in the morning to train (he boxed with a shadow, developed physically). Speaking of physical training, according to Stewart (who was interviewed) when Mike was 13 years old, he could shake a 100 kg barbell in the bench press. And as for me, this is something beyond fantasy))).. but okay, let's move on.
In general, due to the fact that Mike constantly trained, he outgrew his coach Stuart, and without hesitation, he decided to introduce Mike to the legendary coach Cus D'Amato. Mike was then 13 years old, he weighed 80 kilograms and had a well-developed physical form. At that time, Mike's mother died, and he did not have a father, because he left the family before he was born. That is why Cus D'Amato issued official guardianship over him (i.e. by adopting him). Mike moved to live in new house his new coach. Living at his house, Mike watched a lot of videos with old fights of professional boxers, he was impressed by what he saw, by the way, it was thanks to these records that Mike chose an IMAGE that was quite unusual for that time, i.e. he went out without any music .. without a bathrobe, just in black shorts and boxers on his bare feet.
Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato
Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato
Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato
Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato
It was Cus D'Amato (Mike's adoptive father) who laid the foundation that amazed us with every fight .. while Cus built around him professional team consisting of masseurs, trainers, seconds, etc. in general, a disciplined athlete was reborn from a street hooligan (bandit).
Amateur career
Amateur career began in 1981, when Mike was 15 years old. According to various sources, he fought from 25 to 30 fights, in which he suffered 6 defeats.
In 1982, Mike competed in the Youth Olympic Games, where he won the Olympics, becoming the champion of the 1982 Youth Olympic Tournaments.
In 1983, he lost the fight only to Al Evans, this loss allowed him to take part in the Golden Gloves tournament in the same year, where he received silver medal after a losing fight with Craig Payne, although when the score was announced in favor of Payne, the fans sitting in the hall buzzed with displeasure.
Already in 1984, Mike won all the fights. The logical conclusion of his amateur career was to be the Olympic Games in 1984 in Los Angeles, but Mackle lost the qualifying fight to Henry Tillman, by the way, he became Olympic champion of that year. However, Mike took revenge for this loss a little later (June 16, 1990) but already on professional ring, knocking out his offender (Tillman) in the first round! By the way, Mike's professional career, so to speak, his debut took place on March 5, 1985 (he entered the professional ring for the first time), during that year Mike had 15 fights, defeating all his rivals - by KNOCKOUTS. Experts began to discuss that Cus D'Amato managed to raise the ideal heavyweight, who would certainly become the world champion. However, Cus D'Amato himself did not live up to this just a little bit: in November 1985, the 77-year-old coach died of pneumonia, while Mike was already 19 years old and on the threshold shortly before he managed to still become the World Champion in heavyweight at the youngest age in the history of professional boxing (20 years and 4 months).
Training and nutrition (mode) Mike Tyson
Now we will analyze how Mike trained and lived in general in the distant 80s, in my opinion, the most fruitful period of his life (this is the period from 13 to 19 years old) under the guidance of his coach and adoptive father Cus D'Amato, because how I think it was Cus D'Amato who shaped Tyson.
And so Mike Tyson's daily routine:
4am: Get up and run 8km, then shower and back to sleep.
10:00 a.m. Wake up and have breakfast of oatmeal, orange juice, fruits, vitamins + protein shake.
12.00: Training in the form of 10 rounds of sparring and 3 rounds of a standard set of exercises, which consisted of:
- 200 crunches
- 50 push-ups from the bench behind your back
- 50 classic push ups
- 50 shrugs with a 30kg barbell
14.00: Lunch in the form of pasta (pasta) + steak + vegetables.
15.00: Training (work in the ring (4 rounds of sparring), work with various pears, shadow boxing, jump rope, paws, etc. 1 hour of work on a stationary bike and at the end work with a heavy bag weighing 300 pounds and at the very end again, 3 circles of a standard set of exercises).
17.00: Training in the form of 4 circles of a standard set of exercises, then practicing strikes, various combinations at a slow pace, honing the mechanics of movements.
19.00: Dinner, which consisted of a lot of PROTEIN + CARBOHYDRATES + VITAMINS.
20.00: Light Workout in the form of 30 minutes of work on an exercise bike.
21.00: Free time(TV, watching fights, films about boxing, watching various combinations, analyzing equipment, etc.).
And so 6 days a week (Mon-Sat), rest only 1 day - Sun. As we can see, Mike lived according to a very tough daily routine, where the basis of all the basics is boxing (because training from morning to evening).
Making calculations, we can highlight the following, Mike performed during the day:
- 2000 crunches
- 500 push-ups from the bench behind your back
- 500 classic push ups
- 500 shrugs
The video shows how Mike Tyson trained:
Personal life
He was married three times, first to actress Robin Givens, second to Monica Thorner, and third (July 6, 2009) to Lakia Spicer.
In 1988, Mike married actress Robin Givens, their marriage lasted no more than 1 year, the same marriage caused Mike great psychological damage, because during this year Mike went through public humiliation, various fights, scandals, etc. Mike was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, in 1988. received a concussion after crashing his car into a tree. In general, already in 1989 (namely, on February 14), the couple divorced, the divorce itself cost Mike 10 million bucks.
Mike Tyson and Robin Tivens
In 1997 Mike married a second time to a doctor (pediatrician) from the medical center - Monica Turner. Their marriage lasted until 2003. From Monica, Mike had 2 children: a daughter - Raina and a son - Amir.
Mike Tyson and Monica Turner
Their marriage fell apart due to Mike's infidelity. Actually, Turner (Mike's 2nd wife) filed for divorce, saying that Mike was cheating on her, then these rumors were confirmed due to the fact that in 2002 his mistress gave birth to Mike's child - Miguel Leon. Actually, after the divorce, Mike began to live with his mistress, who later (in 2005) gave birth to his daughter - Exodus, unfortunately, when the girl was 4 years old, she tragically died, falling into a loop from a rope that was at home on a home simulator.
Two weeks after the death of his daughter, Mike, on June 6, 2009, marries for the third time, at that time, he was 42 years old, to Lakia Spicer. In 2011 the couple had a son.
Mike Tyson and his wife Lakia Spicer
Mike Tyson also has illegitimate children: Deamata Kilrain and Miki Lorna.
Jail
In the summer of 1991 Mike was at the Miss Black America beauty pageant where he met Desiree Washington. The next day, the girl accused the ex-champion of raping her. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence, a lot of testimonies that confirmed that everything happened by mutual agreement, so to speak, but the court sided with the girl and Mike was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he served about three years (he was released for good behavior in March 1995)
By the way, in prison, Mike became a Muslim under the leadership of Muhammad Siddiq. Although earlier (before that) he was a Christian. In general, he converted from Christianity to Islam, in the process of changing religion he received the name Malik Abdul Aziz.
Health problems
As a child, Mike had problems with his lungs, because of this he often ended up in the hospital.
1989 Mike had problems with alcohol, due to divorce and all sorts of extraneous problems, he even gave up training. But after the duel with Douglas, Mike signed up for treatment.
Mid 1990 to 2010 Mike had problems with drugs, this greatly affected his psyche, career and problems with the law. By the way, due to drugs, Mike started having problems with overweight.. As from himself claims in best form he weighed no more than 98 kg.
2007-2010 Mike weighed about 150-160 kilograms, but already in 2009. became a vegan and began to play sports, as a result of which he lost more than 40 kg.
Well, this concludes the biography of Mike Tyson, I hope you, just as I was interested in studying (at least seeing) the biography of the Living Legend. I tried to touch on all the moments that were interesting to me, which were generally interesting .. but alas, I missed a lot of Tyson's fights, namely stories about them, i.e. who, when and where ... but if I did it, they would take up many pages .. much more spectacular, to see them, which I recommend to you.
P.s. Well, I could not lay out)) all the best.
Mike Tyson and Fedor Emelianenko
Sincerely, administrator.
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Biography, life story of Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (Mike Tyson) - American professional boxer.
brief information
Date of birth: 06/30/1966.
Birthplace: New York, USA.
Height: 180 cm.
Attack distance: 180 cm.
Track record: 50 wins (44 knockouts), 5 losses, 2 fights without an announcement of the result.
Titles: WBC heavyweight champion (1986-90, 1996), WBA heavyweight champion (1986-90, 1996), IBF heavyweight champion (1987-90), The Ring champion (1988-1990), undisputed champion world in the heavyweight category among professionals (1987-1990).
Childhood and youth
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in New York City to Lorna Kirkpatrick (née Smith) and Jimmy Kirkpatrick. The surname Tyson came to Mike from his mother's first husband, Percel Tyson. Jimmy Kirkpatrick left the family before Mike was born, and Lorna and her children (Mike had an older brother Rodney and an older sister Denise) moved to Brownsville, one of the most disadvantaged areas of New York, populated predominantly by blacks. Due to the difficult financial situation, their family had to huddle for several years in a house where there was neither heating nor hot water.
As a child, Mike was distinguished by an extremely gentle character and inability to stand up for himself. His older brother Rodney and the neighborhood boys, and later classmates, constantly mocked him, beat him, took away the change and sweets that his mother gave him. However, at the age of either 9 or 11 years old, a fracture occurred in Mike. As he himself tells, once one of the members of the local street gang, who was several years older, snatched his beloved pigeon from his hands (breeding pigeons was Mike's favorite pastime since childhood and remained his main hobby in adulthood) and tore off his head. An enraged Mike attacked his offender and severely beat him. This episode earned Mike the respect of local juvenile thugs, who took him into their company and taught him how to pick pockets, steal and rob stores. All these activities, of course, turned into repeated visits to correctional facilities for juvenile delinquents. During one of these visits, Tyson managed to see who came to the correctional center to talk with difficult teenagers and try to set them on the right path. Tyson himself later recalled that it was after meeting with him that he first thought about a career as a boxer.
CONTINUED BELOW
At the age of 13, Tyson was sent to a special school for juvenile delinquents, located in the northern part of New York. By this time, he was considered incorrigible and was distinguished by great physical strength for his age: when Mike lost his temper, he could only be calmed down by the joint efforts of several adult men. At the school where Tyson was assigned, former boxer Bobby Stewart worked as a physical education teacher. Once in a punishment cell for another violation of the regime, Mike suddenly asked for the opportunity to talk to him. Stewart came to him, and Mike announced that he wanted to become a boxer. Stewart agreed to train him on the condition that Mike would not break discipline.
After that, Mike's behavior really changed for the better, and after a while Stewart entered into another contract with him: the better Mike does at school, the more Stewart boxing with him. And it worked: Tyson, who was previously considered mentally retarded, managed to noticeably increase his academic performance. He was so engrossed in boxing that school staff sometimes caught him training at 3-4 in the morning when he shadowboxed or worked out his muscles in his room. In a later interview, Stewart recalled that Tyson, who was then 13 years old, literally knocked him down with his jab, but Bobby himself was a good amateur boxer and just five years earlier, speaking in light heavyweight, won the prestigious Tournament "Golden Gloves".
After some time, Stewart realized that his student had already outgrown himself, and brought Mike to the legendary coach and manager Cas D "Amato, who raised two world champions - heavyweight and light heavyweight Jose Torres, as well as a number of strong boxers. When he first saw Mike, D “Amato asked Stewart what they feed juvenile delinquents at their school: 13-year-old Mike weighed 80 kilograms at the time and had perfectly developed muscles. And when Tyson and Stewart entered the ring, Cus was convinced that this teenager had all the makings of a future world champion.
By this time, D'Amato had already almost completely moved away from big boxing and was mainly working with difficult teenagers. After some time, Mike moved into his house, joining the motley company that lived there, and after the death of Tyson's mother D "Amato, he took official custody of him.
amateur boxing
At the age of 15, Tyson began an amateur career, which did not turn out as well for him as one might expect: according to various sources, Mike fought from twenty-five to thirty fights in the amateur ring, suffered at least six defeats (he lost two fights ahead of schedule, and once even got knocked out; a certain Tibius Flowers knocked him out, for whom this was the only more or less noticeable achievement in boxing). In 1984, Tyson nevertheless became one of the candidates for the US Olympic team, but he did not get to the Olympics, because qualifying competitions twice lost to Henry Tillman, who later became the Olympic champion (as a professional, Tyson took a convincing revenge from Tillman by knocking him out in the first round).
Professional boxing
4 (according to other sources - 6) March 1985, Mike Tyson first entered the professional ring. Living with Cus D'Amato, Mike watched a lot of videos with old professional fights and, being impressed by what he saw, chose an image that was quite unusual for those times: he entered the ring without music, without a bathrobe, in simple black shorts and boxers on bare foot. Tyson's first professional opponent was a certain Hector Mercedes, who was knocked out in the first round. During the first year of performances in the professional ring, Tyson had 15 fights and won all of them. early victories. Experts began to say that Cus D "Amato managed to raise an ideal heavyweight who would definitely become a world champion. However, Cus himself did not live to see this: in November 1985, the 77-year-old coach died of pneumonia.
The death of D "Amato was a heavy loss for Mike, but around him there was still the best boxing team in the world, consisting of trainer Kevin Rooney, as well as managers Jim Jacobs and Bill Caton, and he continued his way to the top. Among the fights held Tyson in 1986, there were only two in which his opponents managed to leave the ring on their own feet: at first, the fragile (for a heavyweight) James Tillis ran away from him for ten rounds (at the end, Mike began to catch up with him and managed to knock down, however Tillis still reached the final gong), and already in next fight this "achievement" was repeated by Mitch Green. Since neither Tillis nor Green were considered particularly strong boxers, these results gave a number of journalists a reason to say that Tyson has stopped progressing and is generally experiencing serious problems in meetings with high opponents. However, several skeptics could not influence the general euphoria about the future champion, and Tyson was quickly found excuses, remembering that Tillis is a rather technical boxer who could have done better if he had better physical training, and Green, who came to the boxing ring literally from the street, was once a member of a gang that competed with the one that included Tyson, and therefore had just a crazy motivation to fight.
After six more fights and defeating, among others, Marvis Frazier, the son of former world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, on November 22, 1986, at the age of twenty years and five months, Tyson entered his first championship fight. His opponent was Jamaican-Canadian boxer Trevor Berbick, who won the WBC title a few months earlier in a duel with Pinklon Thomas. Berbick, in principle, was considered a good, albeit very unstable boxer, but in a duel with Tyson, he was assigned the role of a victim in advance. And so it happened: having hardly survived the first round, in the second Berbick twice visited the floor (more precisely, even four times, because after the second knockdown he tried to rise twice, but fell again), and referee Mills Lane stopped the meeting. “I am a world champion and I am ready to fight anyone in the world”, - Tyson said in a post-match interview.
Three months later, it was the turn of the WBA champion, James "Bonebreaker" Smith. Despite such an intimidating nickname, "Bonebreaker" was a very ordinary boxer, who went down in history only by becoming the first world heavyweight champion who had a college education. Smith turned pro when he was already under 30, and by the time of the fight with Tyson, he had only 24 fights, winning 19 of them and losing five of them. Nevertheless, it was not at all easy for Mike to defeat him: Smith constantly tied his hands, never giving a single clean blow for the whole fight, and at the end he exploded himself and almost became the author of a sensation, having managed to put Tyson on the brink of a knockdown. As he recalled a few years later, it was this fight that he most often watched in preparation for his meeting with Tyson, since many of the shortcomings of Mike's technique became very clearly visible in it, in particular, the poor effectiveness of his actions in close combat. But be that as it may, Tyson won by unanimous decision and added a second championship belt to his collection.
Mike's next fight was less than three months later. His opponent was ex-world champion Pinklon Thomas, who managed to hold out for less than six rounds. On the same day, Tony Tucker and James "Buster" Douglas found out which of them would become the new IBF champion and Tyson's next opponent. Tucker won by TKO in the tenth round. It is worth noting that the fight was fairly equal, but Douglas either ran out of steam, or psychologically broke down, and at some point simply stopped responding to blows.
The fight between Mike Tyson and Tony Tucker took place on August 1, 1987 and began with a little surprise: at the beginning of the first round, Tucker seriously shocked Tyson with a left uppercut and nearly knocked him down. Only by the end of the round did Mike manage to recover and level the course of the fight. In the second round, Tucker injured his hand, but nevertheless, up to the middle of the fight, he fought quite an equal fight and by the sixth round lost very little on the scorecards. However, then the IBF champion went into deep defense and only in the twelfth round unsuccessfully tried to spurt. As a result, Tyson won this fight by unanimous decision and became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Over the next two years, Tyson fought six fights, alternately defeating Olympic champion Tyrell Biggs, ex-world champions Tony Tubbs and Michael Spinks, future world champion Frank Bruno, and also rather strong heavyweight Carl Williams.
At the same time, an event occurred in Tyson's life, which, as many believe, had an extremely negative impact on his psychological state and boxing career: Mike married aspiring actress Robin Givens. Their marriage lasted only about a year, but it was a very turbulent year: Mike had to go through high-profile scandals, public humiliation and even fights (the fragile Robin, on occasion, did not hesitate to slap her husband in the face). All this put Tyson on the brink of a nervous breakdown and, apparently, seriously undermined his mental health. Starting in 1987, he began to neglect training, and then completely dispersed his team, which consisted of managers and coaches who had worked with him since the time of Cus D'Amato, and came under the patronage of the infamous promoter Don King. In 1988, Tyson suffered a concussion after crashing his car into a tree. According to one version, it was a suicide attempt.
In February 1990, Mike Tyson came to Japan to defend his titles again against James Douglas, who at that time was considered nothing more than a decent second-tier boxer. The same Douglas who in 1987 missed his chance to win the championship title by surrendering the fight to Tony Tucker. Few then doubted the victory of Tyson. Bets on the fight were at the rate of 45 to 1 in his favor. However, on February 11, 1990, in front of thousands of spectators who filled the Tokyo Dome hall, and millions watching this fight live, the most sensational event in the history of boxing took place. A hopeless underdog, Douglas boxed like never before in his life, and in all respects defeated absolute champion, winning almost every episode, and then knocking out Tyson in the tenth round.
So Mike again found himself in the role of applicant. In 1990, he had two more fights, winning both by knockout in the first round, and in 1991 he fought twice with the popular Canadian heavyweight Donovan Ruddock. Ruddock, a physically strong but very limited boxer, lost both fights, but nevertheless managed to demonstrate to everyone how much Tyson really did not live up to the image of the “ideal boxer” that journalists and the public had created for him by that time. Almost as good as Tyson in physical strength, Ruddock simply did not let himself be crushed, as happened with Mike's other rivals. Unexpectedly, it turned out that if the opponent manages to withstand a brute force "bulk", Tyson cannot rebuild and beat him.
In the summer of 1991, another episode occurred in Tyson's life that radically changed his fate. Mike attended the Miss Black America beauty pageant, where he met one of the contestants, a certain Desiree Washington. Miss Washington favorably accepted the courtship of the ex-champion, they rode together in his car, hugged near the hotel where Mike lived, and then went up to his room. A day later, Washington stated that Tyson had raped her. Despite a lot of circumstantial evidence and testimonies confirming that everything happened by mutual agreement, the court sided with the victim, and Mike was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he served about three. He was released only in March 1995, having managed to convert to Islam in prison and get acquainted with the works of Voltaire, Mao Zedong and.
Tyson held his first fight after returning from prison on August 19, 1995 against hereditary boxer Peter McNeely. Already in the first round, McNeely twice visited the floor and was disqualified for the fact that his seconds jumped into the ring. After another warm-up fight after that, in March 1996, Tyson went to the WBC champion Frank Bruno and defeated him by technical knockout in the third round.
According to the rules of the WBC, Tyson had to defend his title against the mandatory challenger, who at that time was before September 2, 1996, before September 2, 1996. Mike's team, however, didn't want the fight, and offered $4 million in compensation for him to pull it out himself. agreed, but the WBC stripped Tyson of the title anyway, not wanting to sanction his unification bout with WBA champion Bruce Seldon. However, Tyson did not stay without a title for long: the fight with Seldon nevertheless took place on September 7, 1996, and it took Mike less than two minutes to break the resistance of a completely demoralized champion.
In November 1996, the long-awaited fight between Mike Tyson and Mike Tyson finally took place, preparation for which began even before Mike ended up in prison. Tyson was the favorite in this fight (bets on him were taken at the rate of 22 to 1), however, who was considered by that time an old and “broken” fighter, managed to surprise all boxing experts and fans by winning a difficult but indisputable victory. The first five rounds of the fight were held with varying success, in the sixth Tyson was knocked down, and starting from the ninth, the advantage became overwhelming. In the tenth round, he simply beat Tyson, who miraculously kept on his feet, and in the eleventh, the referee stopped the fight, fixing Mike's defeat by technical knockout.
Despite the fact that the victory was very confident, Tyson again approached the rematch, which took place on June 28, as a favorite. The fight was surrounded by unprecedented excitement: suffice it to say that all 16,000 tickets for it were sold out on the first day. However, instead of an exciting boxing match, the audience this time saw something completely unexpected: in the third round, Mike, offended by hitting his head several times, bit off a piece of his right ear, and then pushed him in the back. Referee Mills Lane called the doctor, who, after examining the ear, ruled that he could continue the fight. Lane deducted two points from Tyson (one each for biting and pushing) and the fight continued. After some time, Tyson again bit the opponent's ear, this time on the left, and was disqualified. When Tyson left the ring, frustrated spectators shouted insults at him and threw garbage at him. After that, the label of a cannibal stuck to Tyson forever, and even at Madame Tussauds, his wax figure was rearranged from sports hall in the hall of horrors, placing next to the figure of the cinematic cannibal Hannibal Lecter.
The next time Mike had a chance to enter the ring only a year and a half later. In principle, he was disqualified for life for the incident with him, however, Tyson's popularity and the income generated by his fights could not leave boxing officials indifferent, who, having endured the pause required by decency, nevertheless allowed him to speak. Meanwhile, over the past year and a half, Mike managed to prove himself from the worst side. He became completely out of control and had several extremely unpleasant incidents, ranging from the beating of two elderly men with whom he had a conflict over a small traffic accident, to an outburst of aggression at a meeting of the boxing commission considering the removal of his suspension. . In 1998, psychiatrists who examined Tyson determined that he suffered from low self-esteem and was experiencing severe bouts of depression.
Unfortunately, the fight with Francois Botha, which took place in January 1999, only confirmed the fact that Mike's mentality was not all right. The first round ended just at the moment when Mike frankly tried to break his opponent's arm, and the seconds had to pull him away from Bota with the help of local security officers. Despite Tyson's victory by knockout in the fifth round, his boxing reputation suffered greatly after this fight. Mike's shots lost their accuracy, he missed a lot, his winnings did not look natural at all.
Tyson fought his next fight in October 1999, after being released from prison, where he served three and a half months for a fight. His opponent was the former world heavyweight champion Orlin Norris. This meeting ended without a result being announced, as Norris was unable to get out of the corner after Tyson hit him after the signal for the end of the round. The fight with Norris was followed by quick victories over Julius Francis, Lou Savarese and Andrzej Golota (the result of this fight was annulled after traces of marijuana were found in Tyson's analyzes). Following this, Mike again took a year-long pause and the next time he entered the ring only in October 2001 against the Dane Brian Nielsen. The fight was won by technical knockout in the seventh round (Nielsen refused to leave the corner after the break), but Mike looked rather pale in it.
Nevertheless, Tyson's next opponent was supposed to be the universally recognized world heavyweight champion, with whom there had been talk of a meeting for several years. The fight was supposed to take place on April 6, 2002 in Las Vegas. However, the joint press conference of the boxers on January 22 of the same year turned into a fight, during which Tyson attacked the bodyguard, and then, in the ensuing scuffle, he grabbed his teeth in the leg and the champion himself. At the same time, the Las Vegas police announced their intention to charge Tyson with another rape, allegedly occurring in September 2001 (the charge was never filed). As a result, the Nevada State Boxing Commission refused to return Tyson's boxing license, and the organizers of the match had to look for a new venue.
As a result, Tyson's fight took place on June 8, 2002 in Memphis. Journalists who were present at Tyson's training before the fight noted that he was in very good shape, and, to the surprise of many, the bookmakers also made Tyson a favorite in this meeting. However, soon after the start of the fight, it became clear that Tyson could do little to oppose the champion. If the first round was even more or less equal, then the fight began to take on a completely one-sided character. Even the obvious bias of the referee, who made comments at every opportunity and tried in every possible way to help Mike, could not seriously change the pattern of the fight. struck dozens of unanswered blows, and Tyson only managed to reach his tall opponent a few times. The denouement came in the eighth round, when Tyson was first knocked down, and then ran into a strong oncoming blow, after which he could no longer get up. At the post-match press conference, Tyson told reporters that he was very glad that he managed to leave the ring alive that evening.
Immediately after the fight, talk of a rematch began, and, having received the biggest fee in his life for the first fight, he was not at all averse to meeting Mike again. However, Tyson frankly admitted that he did not want to be beaten again and would like to preliminarily hold a couple of fights against weaker opponents in order to get in shape.
Tyson held his next fight in March 2003 against Clifford Etienne, who was considered quite promising at the time. The fight lasted only 49 seconds and ended with Etienne, who was on the floor after the first serious blow, could not (or did not want to) get up. During the preparation for this fight and after it, many noticed that Mike had changed. He seemed to have lost much of his aggressiveness, becoming, in his own words, "domesticated animal".
Mike promised that he would return to the gym immediately after the fight with Etienne, but the pause that followed turned out to be one of the longest in his career. At one time, it seemed that Mike would never enter the ring again, but the difficult financial situation (in August 2003, Tyson declared himself bankrupt), as well as the emergence of some "vacuum" in heavyweight, stimulated his return to boxing.
On July 31, 2004, Mike Tyson entered the ring against the rather famous British boxer Danny Williams. The first round of this fight was one of the best rounds held by Mike in recent years, but then Tyson abruptly surrendered, began to miss blows and go into the clinch on his own initiative, and in the fourth round, after a long series of Williams, he was on the floor and could not get up until the end referee count. The explanation for this unexpected defeat followed immediately: it turned out that in the first round Mike received a serious knee injury, which made it impossible for him to move normally around the ring and invest in punches. A few days later, Tyson underwent surgery, and he spent several weeks in a cast.
Mike returned to the professional ring on June 11, 2005. As opponents, he was chosen as an overall, but rather weak Irishman Kevin McBride, who did not have a single victory over a boxer of a decent level. Nevertheless, even such an opponent turned out to be too tough for the 38-year-old Tyson: from the very beginning of the fight he looked slow and allowed McBride to keep a favorable distance for him, and by the sixth round he was completely exhausted and refused to continue the fight.
In a post-match interview, Mike Tyson stated that he did not want to embarrass his favorite sport by losing to opponents like Mikebride, and therefore retired from boxing. It’s impossible to say right away whether this decision was final or whether the multimillion-dollar debts hanging over him will still push the most popular boxer of all time to another return. But some time later, boxing fans realized that Mike was not joking. Although in 2006 Tyson launched a world tour with exhibition fights with the most eminent boxers -
Mike Tyson (06/30/1966) is one of the most famous boxers in the world. Heavyweight champion in various versions for several years (1986-1990, 1996). In his track record 50 wins, 44 of them by knockout. He set several records, many of which have not been broken so far.
“I have lived my life recklessly, and do not entertain myself with empty hopes. When I meet God, he will certainly be dissatisfied with me. I know that I will definitely go to hell for everything that I did in my life. True, this does not in the least prevent me from rejoicing at what is here and now.
Childhood
Mike Tyson is a native of New York. He was born on June 30, 1966. His parents, Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Lorna Smith, lived in the Brooklyn area. True, Jimmy was not Mike's biological father. His real dad left the family before the birth of his son, but it was the biological father, Tyson, who gave the surname to the future boxer.
It's hard to believe now, but as a child, Mike Tyson was very cowardly and weak child. All the neighbor boys mocked him, and even his brothers did not miss the opportunity to somehow play a joke. And this life continued until Mike was 10 years old. At this age, dramatic changes took place with him, perhaps the child was simply tired of enduring insults. And one unfortunate incident contributed to this. One of the local hooligans snatched a dove from Mike's hands and twisted the bird's neck in front of him. At this point, Tyson broke through. He attacked the guy and severely beat him.
From that moment on, none of the boys on the street dared to bully Mike again. Moreover, he was gladly accepted into one of the local gangs. There, the teenager learned to rob stores and climb into pockets, for which the boy was caught by the police more than once and sent to various correctional institutions for minors. But, by the way, it was these events that determined the further fate of Tyson. During one of the arrests, he met the famous Mohammed Ali, who came to communicate with difficult teenagers. After talking with the boxing legend, Mike also decided to take up the sport.
First steps in boxing
At the age of 13, Mike Tyson ended up in a special school for difficult teenagers. And the former boxer Bobby Stewart worked as a physical education teacher in this institution. He agreed to train the teenager, but in return he had to promise that he would no longer violate discipline, and also significantly improve his performance in other disciplines. Mike agreed with Stewart's conditions and very quickly turned from a "loser" into a quite diligent student.
After intensive training, Mike Tyson has achieved impressive results. For example, already at the age of 13, he easily “stinged” a 100-kilogram barbell. And at some point, Bobby Stewart realized that he had given his student everything he could. The guy needed further development, and so the coach recommended him to legendary manager Cus D'Amato. It was this man who subsequently made the absolute world champion out of promising boxer Mike Tyson.
Career in amateur boxing
Mike Tyson first entered the ring in 1981 at the age of 15. In the first year of performances, he spent six fights and won five of them. For perseverance and dimensions, he was immediately nicknamed "tank". And a year later, the teenager took part in his first Olympic Games among young men. The debut turned out to be more than memorable. At the tournament, he laid down an opponent in just 8 seconds after the starting gong. And this can be considered a kind of record. The rest of Tyson's opponents held out a little longer, but none of them could offer proper resistance. Mike won his first career gold award.
“Knockout in 8 seconds - then I was proud of it. Not anymore. Over time, I realized that there are things much more important. For example, I bought a hospital and now I help children. This is truly an achievement."
In subsequent years, Mike Tyson continued to churn out victories. His main goal was a trip to the "adult" Olympics in Los Angeles (1984). But it didn't work out. In the decisive fight, he met with Henry Tillman. In the first round, Mike hit him so hard that he even flew out of the ring. But Tillman managed to recover and subsequently the judges gave the victory to him. The audience greeted this decision with an indignant whistle, but this could not affect the referee's decision. Many experts then felt that Tyson was specifically sued. They allegedly did not want to let him into the Olympics because of his too aggressive fighting style and criminal past.
Subsequently, Mike Tyson will take revenge on Tillman. It will happen in 1990 already in the professional ring. Mike will take down his opponent in the first round. But that defeat of Mike gave reason to his coaches to think that it was time to release their ward into the professional ring.
Career in professional boxing
Mike Tyson made his professional debut on March 5, 1985. His first opponent was Hector Mercedes, who did not last long against the future champion. Tyson spent 15 fights this year and won all of them. confident victory. Not a single opponent could even hold out until the 5th round.
Mike Tyson has had many fights in his career. But some of them stand apart and it is impossible not to mention them.
- Trevor Berbick (1986). It was a fight for the WBC world title. Mike won in the second round. Moreover, the final blow was so powerful that after it Berbick tried to rise twice, but each time he still fell into the ring. And Tyson, meanwhile, became the owner of the record for the youngest heavyweight champion.
- Tony Tucker (1987). Tyson won the undisputed world heavyweight title.
- Michael Speaks (1988). It was a fight between two absolute world champions - present and former. And Mike won in the first round.
- Evander Holyfield(1996). This fight was held after Tyson had served time in prison, and was named the "fight of the year." Starting confidently, Mike allowed the opponent to seize the initiative by the middle of the meeting. There was even a moment when Holyfield almost knocked out Tyson. The gong prevented the final blow. And yet, the judges eventually gave the victory to Holyfield, and he received the world title.
- Evander Holyfield (1997). The rematch ended in the famous bitten-off ear scandal. This happened in the middle of the meeting, and for this incident, Tyson was stripped of his boxing license. And the title, of course, remained with Holyfield.
- Lennox Lewis (2002). This fight became the highest grossing in boxing history. He raised over one hundred million dollars. Interestingly, Tyson, although he was then a contender, was considered a favorite with bookmakers. But their alignment turned out to be wrong. In the middle of the fight, Mike became clearly tired, and Lewis, after some time, knocked out the ex-champion.
- Kevin McBride (2005). This fight was the last professional career Tyson. In the 7th round, he refused to continue the fight, and after that he announced that he was quitting boxing forever.
Hobbies
After retiring, Mike Tyson tried to actively act in films. Directors invited him before, but due to training, he could only appear in episodic roles. From 2005 to the present, Tyson has appeared in approximately 10 films.
Also, the former world champion organizes his own show from time to time. He performs a monologue performance in which he simply talks about his difficult life. And people are happy to go to his concerts. Still, Mike Tyson is the most famous boxer, second in popularity, perhaps, only to Muhammad Ali.
Mike Tyson is one of the best and extraordinary heavyweight fighters of the end of the last - the beginning of this century. In addition to their sporting achievements American fighter can boast of parental merits. Mike Tyson is the father of 8 children. Throughout his life, the athlete was married three times: the first wife was actress Robin Givens, the second - pediatrician Monica Turner. On June 6, 2009, Lakia Spicer became the official, third wife of the boxer.
The eldest children are the boy Deamata Kilrain and the girl Miki Lorna, born in 1990. An interesting fact is that these children are illegitimate, since at the time of their birth the athlete was already divorced from his first wife. The children graduated from the California High School. The oldest children of the athlete live "their own lives." The father in every possible way supports them financially and morally. The athlete has said many times that these children, despite the fact that they were born out of wedlock, are as close as everyone else.
During his second marriage, Mike had two children: a girl, Raina, who was born on February 14, 1996, and a boy, Amir, born on August 5, 1997. To date, the boxer's children are 21 and 20 years old, respectively. Mike's eldest son, Amir, is trying his hand at acting. His first film was an episodic role in a documentary film about his father, which was presented to the audience in 2008 under the same name "Tyson". It is noteworthy that in this marriage, the couple lived only six years: the wife filed for divorce, as she suspected her husband of treason.
The information was confirmed by Tyson himself and the fact that in 2002 his mistress gave birth to his son Miguel Leon. This woman gave birth to the boxer's daughter Escodus in 2005. The girl died 4 years later. The cause of death of the child was suffocation from the loop of a home exercise machine.
This episode greatly influenced the life of an athlete: at one point he decided to give up bad habits (smoking, alcohol, drugs). The athlete leads the right way of life, eats only healthy food. Moreover, the athlete has been a true vegetarian for several years. Many experts note a change in the legend: he noticeably lost weight (lost about 60 kilograms), acquired an interesting hobby - breeding pigeons.
Girl Milan was born in 2009, and is the first joint child boxer with his current wife, Lakia Spicer. The athlete did not show the child to reporters for a long time for personal reasons. For the first time, the baby appeared in front of the cameras with her father at the premiere of the film "One night in Vegas" in Las Vegas. Today, the girl goes to school, teachers speak flatteringly about her, emphasizing her calmness, diligence and self-control.
On January 25, 2011, the boy Miguel was born to the athlete and his current wife. At birth, the baby weighed as much as 4 kilograms, with a growth of 48 centimeters. The full name of the child is Morocco Elliya Tyson. Parents characterize the child as "a quiet and calm, sweet son." It is noteworthy that the parents recreated a wonderful atmosphere between all the children.
The youngest son of the athlete is, born in 2013, the boy Miguel. Today he is only 4 years old, he lives with his parents, and is completely under their care.
Unfortunately, both the boxing and out-of-ring life of an athlete, until 2009, was not a 100% role model: frequent stays in the police station, three real prison terms, a bitten off opponent's earlobe and much more negatively characterize Tyson. But still, along with his fantastic sports achievements no matter how blatant and unheard of his behavior, his children should be proud of the hard work, perseverance, talent of their father.
Comfort in the Tysons' house, according to the athlete himself, is provided by his beautiful wife, who, by the way, is 12 years younger than him. This woman managed at one moment to “pacify” the malicious boxer, to be close in hard times provide all kinds of support and care.
Mike Tyson is an American professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Multiple world champion according to WBC, WBA, IBF and The Ring.Childhood and youth
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn. Mike's father left the family before the boy was born, so the future athlete inherited his last name from his mother's first husband. Tyson also has an older brother, Rodney, and a sister, Denise. 
As a child, Mike was weak-willed and completely unable to fend for himself. He was bullied not only by classmates, but even by his older brother. A fracture occurred in Tyson's mind when, in front of the boy's eyes, a local hooligan tore off the head of a dove.
Enraged, Mike attacked and severely beat the teenager, which immediately earned the respect of young bandits. Together with new friends, Tyson soon began to steal, for which he ended up in correctional institutions for juvenile delinquents more than once.
During another hit in the colony, Tyson was lucky to see the famous professional boxer Mohammed Ali, who arrived there to talk with troubled teenagers. After meeting with the great master, Mike first thought about the profession of a boxer.
At the age of 13, Mike, who by that time was already considered incorrigible and even mentally retarded, fell into the hands of the legendary coach Cus D'Amato. It was then that Mike chose his unique style - the fighter entered the ring without musical accompaniment, without a bathrobe, in black shorts and boxers on bare feet.
Sports career
In 1981, Mike earned his first title - the teenager became the champion of the Youth Olympic tournaments. Tyson repeated his success the following year, and then received gold medals in 1983 and 1984 as part of the national championships. In the spring of 1985, Tyson made his debut in the professional ring. This year, the athlete participated in 15 fights, winning by knockouts. 
The rise to fame came in 1986, after successful fights against such strong contenders as Mike Jameson, Steve Zouski, James Tillis, Reggie Gross, and Mitch Green, who after the fight with Tyson did not enter the ring at all for seven years. Mike's popularity was brought by a fight with the most promising fighter at that time, Marvis Frazier, who at that time had only one defeat. In the first round, Tyson sent the enemy to a heavy knockout. After this loss, Marvis retired from boxing almost immediately.
In November 1987, the athlete won a fight against WBC world champion Trevor Berbick, which brought Tyson $ 1.5 million and the title of the youngest heavyweight champion. Moreover, Mike set a record in this fight, forcing the opponent to fall and rise three times.
This was followed by a victory in a fight against former champion Pinklon Thomas (who had never even been knocked down until that moment) and the title of the youngest undisputed heavyweight champion after fights with Tony Tucker, Tyrell Biggs and Larry Holmes. In addition to loud triumphs, Tyson also had unsuccessful fights - as, for example, with a weak, at first glance, rival James "Buster" Douglas in 1990.
In 1991, Mike was accused of raping 18-year-old "Black Miss Rhode Island" Desiree Washington and after 3 years (instead of the original 6) he was released on bail. The fighter was destined to return to the ring only in 1995, and the media dubbed this moment the "event of the year." After leaving prison, the boxer's style changed significantly, which brought the athlete many victories, money and the title of a three-time world champion.
In the summer of 1997, the famous boxer fight against Evander Holyfield took place, during which Tyson bit off part of his right ear to the opponent. The fight ended in a brawl, Mike was stripped of his boxing license and paid a fine of $3 million. Perhaps this particular case will always be associated with the name of this scandalous athlete.
Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield fight
Mike returned to the ring in 1999, however, according to critics, it was not the same Tyson. In addition, the fighter began to have problems with obesity, drugs and, again, the law. Subsequently, Mike admitted that he often used other people's urine tests to pass doping tests before fights.
Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis
In 2002, the highest grossing fight took place against British boxer Lennox Lewis, who knocked out Mike. And after the defeat of the generally unknown Irish athlete Kevin McBride in 2005, Tyson announced his retirement from the sport. During these years, Mike experienced serious financial problems and even declared bankruptcy.
Later career
To improve his deplorable financial condition, in the following years, Tyson tried his hand at various fields of art and business in order to stay afloat. He began to actively act in films and TV shows - Mike could be seen in Rocky Balboa (2006), The Hangover (2009). 
In total, from 1993 to 2017, Mike starred in more than five dozen films and TV shows. The athlete also participated in an autobiographical show in Las Vegas and television wrestling programs. In 2012, Tyson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, dedicated to the best wrestlers.
Mike Tyson. Best fights and knockouts
In the same year, Tyson created his own foundation, whose mission was to "give children a chance to fight." Tyson soon founded Iron Mike Productions, a boxing promotion company, with Harry Jonas.
In 2013, Fox Sports 1 launched The Mike Tyson Mysteries, an animated documentary television series dedicated to the life of famous boxer. In November of the same year, Tyson released his autobiographical book, Mike Tyson: Undeniable Truths, which hit the New York Times bestseller list.
In January 2017, Tyson launched his YouTube channel with Shots Studios, a comedy video production company with big-name vinners such as Lele Pons and Rudy Mancuso. You can find parody music videos and sketches on Tyson's channel.
Mike Tyson's personal life
Tyson has been married three times: to actress Robin Givens (1988-1989), to pediatrician Monica Turner (1997-2003) and to Lakia "Kiki" Spicer (since 2009). Tyson's third wife met the boxer at the age of 18 - her father, an influential Muslim cleric, often took his daughter to boxing competitions. 
Her relationship with the controversial boxer took a serious turn in 2008, when Kiki was sentenced to prison for being in the company of her father, accused of fraudulent fundraising activities. A week before the prison, Kiki found out that Tyson was pregnant. In prison, the girl spent six months, and soon she gave birth to Mike's daughter Milan in freedom.
