Mike Tyson is a name known worldwide. Tyson was considered the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion, as well as the youngest boxer to win championship titles. Tyson became famous all over the world not only through a series of victories in fights and received the championship title. He also had a tough and shocking boxing style. He is rightfully deemed to be one of the best heavyweight boxers in boxing history. He was even appropriately nicknamed Iron Mike and The Baddest Man on the Planet. Learn more at i-new-york.com.
Troubled childhood. What did Tyson have to go through?
Tyson was born in New York in 1966. When he was just two years old, his father left the family, with three young children and a wife. Tyson’s mother had to raise children on her own.
He grew up in a very high-crime New York area, where fatal fights were a common everyday occurrence. Tyson decided he needed self-defense. Therefore, boxing came into his life at a quite young age.
The criminal neighborhood where Tyson grew up could not but affect his personality and behavior. He was involved in petty crimes and street fights, for which he was arrested 38 times by the age of 13.
In particular, Tyson’s boxing skills very often helped in street brawls. Later, he became a true icon of boxing.
When Tyson was only 16 years old, his mother passed away. It was a terrible blow to him. Another tragic event in Michael’s life happened in 1990. That is when his sister died. She was just 24 years old.
Stewart was Tyson’s first trainer and mentor for several years. However, later Tyson met D’Amato. It was he who led the young athlete to the top of the boxing world.
In 1985, Tyson first entered the professional boxing ring. In just one year, he had 15 fights and won all of them. It was a huge success for a 19-year-old boy.
Scandals surrounding Tyson and his imprisonment
In the 1990s, the heavyweight boxing champion was convicted of raping the Miss Black America contestant. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
This story is linked to Desiree Washington. Michael and Desiree met in 1991 right at the beauty contest rehearsal held in Indianapolis. After the meeting, they went to a hotel room. Early in the morning. Desiree reported to the police that she was raped by Tyson. He was instantly detained in the same hotel room. At the same time, Michael claimed that sex was consensual. As a result, the court imposed a sentence of ten years’ imprisonment with four years of probation. Nevertheless, Tyson served only three years and was dismissed in 1995.
After this scandalous episode, the reputation of the world-famous boxing star was destroyed forever. Despite this, Tyson tried to regain his boxing champion title. He even succeeded but not for long. There were a lot of controversies and doubts around Tyson. Moreover, his behavior was very questionable. In 1997, during a fight, he bit off a piece of his opponent’s ear. That is why he temporarily lost his boxing license.
In addition to rape, Tyson served time in prison for assaulting car drivers after an accident. Mike also struggled with drug addiction. There were financial issues in his life. He spent all his multimillion-dollar fortune, which he had been collecting for so long. He finished his boxing career in 2005 right in the middle of the bout.
After finishing his boxing career, Tyson regularly had legal issues. In particular, he drove a car while under the influence.