Mike Tyson was born on June 30, 1966, into a poor family and found himself on the streets at an early age, engaging in petty crime. Despite this, his passion for boxing led him to become the most revered and feared heavyweight boxing champion of the world from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Also known for his memorable interviews and trenchant remarks, Tyson earned several nicknames, such as "Iron" Mike, "Kid Dynamite," and "The Most Dangerous Man on the Planet." Here are some more interesting facts about Mike Tyson.
1. When Mike Tyson was two years old, his father abandoned the family, leading to financial crisis. He also has an older brother, Rodney, and an older sister, Denise, who died in 1990.
Tyson's mother was Lorna Mae (Smith) Tyson, and his biological father, according to his birth certificate, was Purcell Tyson. His mother later married Jimmy Kirkpatrick, who had previously been married and had a son. Kirkpatrick was one of North Carolina's top baseball players before moving to Brooklyn, where he met Tyson's mother. He gambled, spent time on the streets, and eventually abandoned the family, leaving Tyson's mother to raise Mike and his brother and sister alone, who died of a heart attack in February 1990. (source)
2. Mike Tyson's first fight was at the age of eight against an older boy who tore the head off one of his pigeons and threw it at him.
Tyson, a shy, chubby boy with a speech impediment and glasses, was often bullied by bullies on his way to school. One day, as he was leaving for lunch with meatballs wrapped in aluminum foil, the bullies began robbing him. When Tyson refused to hand over the money, they searched him and took it. They then tried to take the meatballs, but he defended them. Then they began hitting him and threw his glasses into the gas tank of a truck. After this incident, Tyson never went to school again.
In 1974, he was taken in by a man who introduced him as his "son" and took him on robberies. After robbing a house, Tyson received his share of the $600, which he used to buy $100 worth of pigeons. Later, a man found out about the birds and came to his house to steal them. When Tyson protested, he ripped the bird's head off and smeared blood across his face. Tyson had been afraid to fight before, but he confronted the man and defeated him using boxing techniques he learned from watching another boxer. (source)
3. Mike Tyson had been arrested 38 times by the time he was 13 years old.
Tyson frequently got into fights with people who teased him about his speech impediment and continued to commit petty crimes. He was arrested several times for possession of stolen property. Having exhausted all other options in New York, he was sent to the Tryon School for Boys, a juvenile correctional facility northwest of Albany, New York. There, he got into a fight and was sent back to Elmwood, where he noticed some other kids getting credit for attending boxing classes on weekends.
Bobby Stewart, a former boxer and counselor at a juvenile detention center, saw him and promised to teach him boxing if he "reformed." After a few training sessions, Stewart recognized Tyson's potential and introduced him to Cus D'Amato, who later became his mentor and coach until his death in November 1985. (1, 2)
4. At the age of 14, Tyson witnessed Muhammad Ali's defeat by Larry Holmes in Ali's final fight. Tyson then called Ali and said, "I'll grow up and get revenge on you." Seven years later, Tyson defeated Holmes.
On October 2, 1980, Tyson's trainer, Cus D'Amato, took him to watch Muhammad Ali's final fight against Larry Holmes. Holmes's victory over Ali upset them so much that the next day, D'Amato called him and said, "I have a young black guy who's going to be heavyweight champion someday, and I want you to talk to him." Tyson then told Ali, "When I grow up, I'm going to fight Holmes and get revenge on you." Seven years later, when Tyson faced Holmes, Ali, who was a guest at the fight, approached him and said, "Remember what you said—get revenge on me." Tyson defeated Holmes in the fourth round. (source)
5. At the age of 15, he won his first gold medals at the 1981 and 1982 Youth Olympic Games and holds the Youth Olympic record for the fastest knockout (8 seconds).
As an amateur, Tyson won his first gold medal at the 1981 Youth Olympics, defeating Joe Cortez, and then another gold medal in 1982 against Kelton Brown. Tyson won all his fights at these games by knockout, and he won the Brown fight in the first round. Three years later, on March 6, Tyson made his professional debut, and within a year he had won 26 of his first 28 fights, 16 of which came in the first round. (source)
6. Although he dropped out of high school, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities by Central State University in 1989.
According to the then-president of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, a special academic program equivalent to a degree was developed for Tyson. University officials believed that, since many young people admired Tyson, seeing him study would inspire them to make education a priority. (1, 2)
7. Tyson was addicted to cocaine and alcohol and used drugs before his major fights. He used a prosthetic penis filled with someone else's urine to avoid detection.
Tyson first tried cocaine at age 11. He admitted to using the drug before some fights and getting high before his fight against Lou Savarese in Glasgow in 2000. He said the reason he was caught and fined $200,000 for testing positive for marijuana was because he hadn't had a chance to wear his "whizzer." The "whizzer," as he called it, was a prosthetic penis filled with another person's urine, worn for him by a member of his team. (source)
8. Tyson abstained from sex for five years during his rise to the top of the boxing world because he believed that having sex before a fight would make him a weak boxer.
In an interview, Tyson attributed his sexual abstinence to a lack of awareness of the situation in his youth. He said he believed the words of others and decided to stay away from sex. This occurred between 1981 and 1986, when he was rapidly ascending to boxing success. (source)
9. Tyson once offered a zookeeper $10,000 to open a bullying gorilla's cage so he could "beat the bull's ass." However, the offer was declined.
While married to Robin Givens, he paid a worker to help them reopen the New York Zoo. While walking through the zoo, he came across a gorilla cage where a large male leader was bullying everyone else. He offered the worker $10,000 to open the cage and let him fight the leader, but the worker, of course, refused. (source)
10. On June 11, 2005, Tyson announced to the boxing world that he was retiring before the seventh round against Kevin McBride because he was tired of taking boxing seriously.
By 2005, Tyson was struggling with his career and finances. In August 2003, following financial difficulties, he filed for bankruptcy, and at times he was unable to fight due to previous charges. Announcing his retirement before the seventh round of his fight with Kevin McBride, he said he only fought him for the payday and didn't expect to win. He also stated that he was in poor physical condition and was retiring from boxing because he was tired of taking it seriously and had lost his passion for it. (source)