Mike Tyson is renowned as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, having rose to superstardom at the heart of his incredible career, even being dubbed as "The Baddest Man on the Planet" by his adoring fans.
Despite all he achieved in the ring, Tyson's legacy is stained by his struggles outside of his boxing career, and Iron Mike has endured financial difficulties in retirement, even after earning hundreds of millions of dollars during his days as a professional boxer.
Early Life
1983. An 18 year old Lennox Lewis poses alongside Cus D'Amato and a 17 year old Mike Tyson after the two young fighters completed a sparring session.@LennoxLewis @MikeTyson pic.twitter.com/cVozwDIxcP
— The Last Round (@thelastround12) March 12, 2020
Mike Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised by his mother Lorna Mae Tyson. His mother passed away when Tyson was 16, and his boxing coach, Cus D'Amato, became his legal guardian.
Tyson was boxing from a young age and competed in the Junior Olympic Games in 1981 and 1982 as a teenager, winning gold medals at both events.
Professional Boxing Career
Tyson was 18 when he turned professional and defeated Hector Mercedes via first-round TKO.
By the time he was 20, he had been given a title fight against Trevor Berbick in the WBC, which he won by TKO in the second round. Tyson earned his first heavyweight championship and became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
In 1987, Tyson defended his heavyweight title against James Smith in Las Vegas, Nevada, defeating his opponent by unanimous decision and adding Smith's WBA title to his name. Tyson then added an IBF Title after defeating Tony Tucker by unanimous decision that same year, making him the first boxer to own all three major heavyweight belts.
In 1988, Mike Tyson handily defeated Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds, earning the biggest payday in boxing history at the time and solidifying himself as the undisputed heavyweight champion.
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Tyson's personal life began to unravel after his victory over Spinks. He and his wife Robin Givens divorced in 1989 after just one year of marriage, and it impacted Tyson in the ring. The boxing legend was handed the first loss of his career in a fight with Buster Douglas in 1990, despite being heavily favored.
When Tyson was 25, he was arrested for the rape of an 18-year-old woman and was subsequently sentenced to six years in prison. He was released after serving less than three years of his sentence. He began to work toward a boxing comeback.
Tyson's comeback fight came against Peter McNeeley and set records for pay-per-view audiences, grossing $63 million in the United States alone.
His next major bout was his first clash against boxing legend Evander Holyfield, which he lost after the fight was called in the eleventh round. The pair would fight a historic rematch in 1997, in which Tyson was disqualified after he bit off a chunk of Holyfield's ear.
In 2002, Tyson fought for the heavyweight championship against Lennox Lewis, but he was defeated in what was the highest-grossing pay-per-view event in television history and his largest payday in the sport.
Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 but laced up the gloves for the Roy Jones Jr. fight in 2020.
While Tyson made hundreds of millions of dollar off fights, he alleged that longtime manager and promoter Don King cheated him out of millions over his career. That led to a $100 million lawsuit.
Post-Boxing Life
Since retirement, Mike Tyson has been involved in various ventures. The former boxer played a cameo role in the hit movie The Hangover and started a podcast, Hotboxin' With Mike Tyson. He also featured in the cartoon TV series, Mike Tyson Mysteries, which aired on Adult Swim from 2014-2019.
The former champ's most renowned business venture, however, is his licensing and branding company, Tyson Ranch, which aims to make cannabis universally understood.
Additionally, Tyson has owned houses in Maryland, Connecticut (which had its own night club inside), Las Vegas and Ohio. The Ohio house has since been converted into a church and the Maryland mansion went on the market for $8.5 million in 2020.
Mike Tyson's Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mike Tyson is worth just $10 million in 2021. That's despite the fact that Forbes lists Tyson's career earnings to be as high as $400 million, challenging the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. in terms of income.
It was revealed, however, that when Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003, the American boxer was more than $23 million in debt.
The 54-year-old Tyson returned to the ring for an exhibition match against former world champion boxer Roy Jones Jr. on November 28, 2020. They each reportedly were guaranteed $1 million plus a share of the more than $80 million in pay-per-view revenue they generated.
Mike Tyson is unpredictable, and his bank account certainly seems to be that way as well.
This post was originally published on November 28, 2020 but has been updated since.
