When it comes to boxing legends, the name Mike Tyson is talked about by many. During his peak days, he was the best heavyweight champion. Mike had a total of fifty-eight games, winning fifty while losing six. Recently, there is news that he is having financial issues and currently worth $10 million.
However, this wasn’t the situation during his prime boxing days. Mike Tyson was worth $300 million. How did this happen? Where did he take his wealth? His first time to claim he was bankrupt was in 1998, and he had lots of debts.
So, today we will be covering Mike Tyson.
Table of Contents
Personal Details
Net Worth: $10 Million
Full Name: Michael Gerard Tyson
Nickname: Iron Mike, Kid Dynamite, The Baddest Man on the Planet
Date of Birth: 30th June 1966
Place of Birth: New York City, U.S.
Age: 54
Height: 1.78 m
Occupation: Retired Professional Boxer
Total Fights: 58
Weight: Heavyweight
Children: 8
Current Wife: Lakiha Spicer
Early Life of Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on 30th June 1966 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City. Purcell Tyson was his father and is known to be from Jamaica. However, the father he grew up knowing was called Jimmy Kirkpatrick.
Mike Tyson was the last born in a family of three. His older brother and sister (deceased) were Rodney and Denise. Jimmy didn’t take care of Tyson’s, which made his mother take care of them. After Jimmy died in 1992, they had to relocate to Brownsville from Bedford-Stuyvesant.
When he was sixteen, Tyson lost his mother. So, the person who took care of him was his boxing coach.
Education Life of Mike Tyson
Tyson was living in an area with a high crime rate, and by the time he was thirteen, he had been apprehended thirty-eight times. This wasn’t good for him, and he had to join Tryon School for Boys. During his time at the school, he was a good boxer, and Bobby Stewart discovered him.
Bobby trained Mike before linking him to his boxing coach and manager, Cus D’Amato. He went to high school but dropped while in junior high school. In 1989, he was given a Doctorate in Human Letter by the Central State University.
Boxing Career
Mike Tyson passed through one stage (amateur) before becoming a professional boxer.
As an Amateur Boxer
While he was an amateur boxer, Mike won gold medals during the 1981 and 1982 junior Olympic games. In 1981 he defeated Joe Cortez, while in 1982, he won against Kelton Brown.
Henry Tillman was his most significant opponent as an amateur boxer. This is because he lost all the bouts against Henry.
Professional Boxer
6th March 1985 was the day Mike Tyson announced himself as a professional boxer. This is after he won against Hector Mercedes through 1st round technical knockout. At this moment, Gerard was eighteen years old.
In his first twenty-eight bouts, Mike Tyson won twenty-six of them by either knockout or technical knockout. He fought great boxers like Jesse Ferguson, Mitch Green, Marvis Frazier, and more. He won most of the fights, an aspect that made him a media sensation.
His first career shock was when his trainer and manager Cus D’Amato passed on in 1985. This was when he was starting his professional career.
Mike Tyson’s first championship (WBC) match was against Trevor Berbick. He won the game, and at that moment, he was twenty years. This made him the youngest heavyweight champion of the world.
Even though he was successful for some years, he began undergoing personal issues in 1990 that made him lose his form. This was replicated in his undisputed match against Buster Douglas in Tokyo.
Personal Life of Mike Tyson
When it comes to marriage life, Mike Tyson has had three wives. His first wife was Robin Givens, whom they got married in 1988 and divorced in 1989. The second wife was Monica Turner they got married in 1997 and divorced in 2003. Lakiha Spicer is his third and current wife, who he married in 2009.
Gerard has eight children (seven alive and one dead). Currently, Mike lives in Seven Hills, Nevada.
Life After Boxing
After retiring from boxing, life wasn’t easy, and at one time, he wished to become a missionary. On 29th December 2006, Mike Tyson was detained in Scottsdale, Arizona, driving under the influence and possessing narcotics. A year later, he admitted to his charges and was jailed for a day, had to serve 360 hours of community service, and three years’ probation.
At the age of 54, he returned to the ring to fight Roy Jones Jr. The bout ended in a draw, but he went home with $10 million.
Total Net Worth
Mike Tyson is worth $10 million. But his previous bouts earned him lots of cash. Two-years after becoming professional, he signed a deal with HBO worth $27 million for eight fights. After winning against Alex Stewart, HBO gave him a long-term contract worth $120 million.
In his whole career, he got $430 million from his bouts and endorsement deals. But when converted to the current time, the cash is about $700 million.