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Michael Gerard "Iron Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American boxer. He was the undisputed heavyweight champion and remains the youngest man ever to win and lose a world heavyweight title. Throughout his career, Tyson became well-known for his controversial behavior both inside and outside the ring.

Nicknamed "Iron Mike," and "The Baddest Man on the Planet," Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 in the first round. He unified the belts in the splintered heavyweight division in the late 1980s. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion for over two years, before losing to 42-to-1 underdog Buster Douglas in 1990.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping a woman, for which he served three years in prison. After being released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He regained a portion of the heavyweight title, before losing it to Evander Holyfield in 1996 by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended in disqualification for Tyson after he bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear. He fought for a championship again at 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson retired from competitive boxing in 2005 after two consecutive knockout losses to journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride.

Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. Mike Tyson is a Muslim.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 2.1 Amateur career 2.2 Rise to stardom 3 The Tyson-Holyfield fights 3.1 Tyson vs. Holyfield I 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early years

Tyson was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn. His mother, Lorna Smith, was forced to provide for her family following the departure of his father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick,^[1] when Tyson was two. Tyson's reputation as a child was that he would assault anyone who ridiculed his high-pitched lisp. This was fueled by constant abuse from older children on the streets of Brownsville.^[1]

Mike Tyson grew up in crime-infested neighborhoods of New York City. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to Brownsville where he lived with his two siblings and mother.[1]

Brother Rodney, older by five years, is a physician's assistant in the trauma center of the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center.^[2] He has always been very supportive of his brother's career and was often seen at Mike's boxing matches in Las Vegas. When asked about their relationship, Mike Tyson has been quoted saying, "My brother and I see each other occasionally and we love each other," and "My brother was always something and I was nothing."[2]

The closest person to Mike as he grew into childhood was his sister Denise - who changed her name to Anderson upon marriage. She died at the age of 24, with reports indicating that she may have died of cardiac arrest, as she weighed between 300 and 400 pounds. Tyson financially supported Denise's children upon her death.

The Tysons survived on welfare after Lorna's lover Jimmy Kirkpatrick walked away. As times grew harder they were forced out of their tenement in tough Bedford-Stuyvesant and into Brownsville, Brooklyn[3]. Tyson has been quoted saying, "I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something: She only knew me as being a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew I didn't pay for. I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it's crushing emotionally and personally." [4]Tyson's mother died when he was 16, and two years later, boxing manager and trainer Cus D'Amato became his legal guardian.

Tyson made his way through the streets of Brooklyn by mugging and stealing; by the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times.^[3] He ended up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, New York. It was at the school that Tyson's raw boxing ability was discovered by Bobby Stewart, a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer.^[1] Considering Tyson as an outstanding athlete, Stewart trained him for a few months and then introduced him to D'Amato.^[1]

Tyson was later removed from reform school by D'Amato.^[4] He saw Tyson's potential and took over his training; he later became his legal guardian,^[1] and Tyson has often referred to his love for D'Amato as a father figure. Kevin Rooney also trained Tyson under D'Amato, and they were occasionally assisted by Teddy Atlas, who was dismissed by D'Amato when Tyson was 15. Rooney eventually took over all training duties for the young boxer.

[edit] Career

[edit] Amateur career

As an amateur, Tyson amassed a 24-3 record and was considered a formidable opponent and prime candidate to represent the USA in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. However, two controversial losses to Henry Tillman ended his Olympics chances. In 1984 he was also the National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion.

Tyson turned professional soon after.^[5] He had another controversial loss in 1983 in the Golden Gloves tournament to Craig Payne.

Tyson had many other amateur bouts of which the dates, names of opponents and results aren't certain.

[edit] Rise to stardom

Tyson made his professional debut on March 6 1985, in Albany, New York. He defeated Hector Mercedes with a first round knockout.^[1] Fighting frequently in his first two years as a professional, Tyson won 26 of his first 28 fights by knockout--16 in the first round.^[6] The quality of his opponents gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders,^[6] and his win streak attracted media attention, leading to his being billed as the next great heavyweight champion. D'Amato died in November 1985, relatively early into Tyson's professional career; some speculate that his death was the genesis of many of the troubles Tyson was to experience later as his life and career progressed.^[7]

Tyson's first nationally televised bout took place on February 16, 1986, at Houston Field House in Troy, NY against journeyman heavyweight Jesse Ferguson. Tyson knocked down Ferguson with an uppercut in the fifth round that broke Ferguson's nose.^[8] During the sixth round, Ferguson began to hold and clinch Tyson in an apparent attempt to avoid further punishment. After admonishing Ferguson several times to obey his commands to box, the referee finally stopped the fight near the middle of the sixth round. Initially ruled a win for Tyson by disqualification (DQ) of his opponent, the ruling was subsequently "adjusted" as a win by technical knockout (TKO) after Tyson's corner protested that a DQ win would end Tyson's string of knockout victories, and that a knockout would have been the inevitable result. The rationale offered for the revised outcome was that the fight was actually stopped because Ferguson could not (rather than would not) continue boxing.

On November 22, 1986, Tyson was given his first title fight against [Trevor Berbick]] for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by second round TKO, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.^[9]

Because of Tyson's strength, many fighters were said to be too intimidated to hit him^[10] and this was backed up by his outstanding hand speed, accuracy, coordination, power, and timing. Tyson was also noted for his defensive abilities.^[11] Holding his hands high in the Peek-a-Boo style taught by his mentor Cus D'Amato, he slipped and weaved out of the way of the opponent's punches while closing the distance to deliver his own punches.^[11] One of Tyson's trademark combinations was to throw a right hook to his opponent's body, then follow it up with a right uppercut to his opponent's chin.

[edit] The Tyson-Holyfield fights

[edit] Tyson vs. Holyfield I

Tyson attempted to defend the WBA title against Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was in the fourth fight of his own comeback after retiring in 1994 following the loss of his championship to Michael Moorer (who subsequently lost to George Foreman by knockout during his first defense). It was said that Don King and others saw Holyfield, the former champion, who was 34 at the time of the fight and a huge underdog, as a washed up fighter.^[12]

On November 9 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tyson faced Holyfield in a title bout dubbed 'Finally' . In a surprising turn of events, the supposedly "washed-up" Holyfield, who was given virtually no chance to win by numerous commentators,^[13] defeated Tyson by TKO when referee Mitch Halpern stopped the bout in round 11.^[14] Holyfield made history with the upset win by being the second person ever to win a heavyweight championship belt three times. However Holyfield's victory was marred by allegations from Tyson's camp of Holyfield's frequent headbutts^[15] during the bout. Although the headbutts were ruled accidental by the referee,^[15] they would become a point of contention in the subsequent rematch.^[16]

[edit] See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions
• Peek-a-Boo
• WrestleMania XIV

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mike Tyson's career boxing record from Boxrec.com
• Mike Tyson's Amateur Boxing Record
• Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson, 1986-1997
• June 2005 SI Tyson Retrospective Photo Gallery