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For many years, Mike Tyson was considered the most feared man in boxing. Those that dared to enter the ring with him were subjecting themselves to possibly getting knocked out with a vicious punch in a matter of seconds. Tyson missed part of the prime of his career because of a crime that he committed, and returned in the 1990s to reestablish himself as a champion fighter. He’s been retired for many years now, but Tyson remains a household name in pop culture.

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Tyson was born in New York City’s Brooklyn borough on June 30, 1966. It was a rough upbringing for Tyson, who lost his mother as a teenager and ran with a crowd that caused him to be arrested dozens of times. One thing that was able to help Tyson stay away from the streets eventually was boxing, and he was a standout as an amateur. Though he struggled at first, Tyson found his footing and made his way to the 1984 Olympics, taking home the gold in the heavyweight division.

Tyson made his professional boxing debut at just 18 years old, taking on Hector Mercedes and winning within the first two minutes via a technical knockout. Tyson had continued to tear through his competition, competing in many matches that went quickly. By the time that he was 20 years old, Tyson had compiled a 24-0 record. He’d earn the nickname Iron Mike, and said that “When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.” This made even the toughest fighters terrified to oppose Tyson.

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Shortly thereafter, Tyson would get his first chance at becoming a heavyweight champion. Tyson would win the WBC title by defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas in November of 1986, instantly making him a household name. Over the next couple of years, Tyson would keep retaining his title while adding more in the process, getting to 37-0 and holding several major titles.

For a brief period in the late 1980s, Tyson was married to Robin Givens, an actress that starred in “Head of the Class”. It was a relationship that went wayward quickly, and it contributed to Tyson spending a lot of his career earnings. During their marriage, Tyson purchased a bathtub for Givens, and it wasn’t any ordinary bathtub. Tyson spent $2.2 million for this tub, which was made of 24 karat gold.

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Following his split from Givens, Tyson went to Japan to compete in a match against Buster Douglas. Tyson was a heavy favorite, with many thinking that the match wouldn’t make it past the first round. However, Douglas hung around and dominated, knocking Tyson out in the 10th round to hand him his first career loss and costing him all of those titles.

Then, news would break that Tyson was being charged for a heinous crime against a young woman in 1991, and he was convicted the next year. Tyson received a six year prison sentence for his actions, and was released after three years in prison. At the time, Tyson was 41-1, but four years removed from his most previous fight when he took on Peter McNeeley, winning in the first round.

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The following year, Tyson won his heavyweight title back against Frank Bruno, but then lost to Evander Holyfield by technical knockout. The two had a highly anticipated rematch, which ended with Tyson biting Holyfield’s ear and getting disqualified. Afterward, Tyson would have mixed results with five wins, two no contests and three losses. Those three losses came in his final four matches, including a knockout loss in a title show to Lennox Lewis. His final professional fight came in 2005 against Kevin McBride.

Tyson ran into money problems despite making more money than just about every athlete had at that point in his career. Tyson has worked on several films and television shows to help get back some of that money. This includes film roles in the first two “Hangover” movies where he actually played a significant character. Other appearances include “Scary Movie 4”, “Girls 2” and “China Salesman”, while also having his own cartoon called “Mike Tyson Mysteries” on Adult Swim.

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Though he had one of the worst reputations back during his boxing career, a lot of people have started to warm to Tyson, who has seemingly turned a new leaf in his life. “If I wasn’t married I’d be very different,” Tyson said. “I’d still be that violent schmuck because that’s all I once knew - how to hurt people. I used to do all that stuff and I never cared about the repercussions. But I’ve surrendered (to a high power) now.”