50 Fun Facts About Mike Tyson

In which New York City borough was Tyson born in 1966?

Brooklyn. Tyson was born in Fort Greene and grew up in Brownsville, where he ran with street gangs before he reached his teens.

Alongside 'Iron Mike', what was Tyson's other early-career nickname?

Kid Dynamite. Tyson turned professional at 18 and knocked out his first 19 opponents, 12 of them in the first round; 'the Baddest Man on the Planet' came later.

Whose 1956 record did Tyson break to become the youngest heavyweight champion?

Floyd Patterson. He was 21 when he won the vacant title in 1956, and the man who trained him to it later took in the teenage Tyson.

Whom did Tyson beat in November 1986 for his first world title?

Trevor Berbick. Floored for a second time in round two, the champion tried to get up twice and collapsed each time before the fight was stopped.

Which unbeaten champion did Tyson knock out in just 91 seconds in June 1988?

Michael Spinks. He had won all 31 of his fights and held the lineal title; after those 91 seconds he never boxed again.

In which city did Tyson lose his heavyweight title to Buster Douglas in 1990?

Tokyo. Tyson had stopped Tony Tubbs in the city two years earlier, but at the Tokyo Dome in 1990 he went down for the first time in his career and was counted out.

What odds did the Mirage casino give against Douglas beating Tyson?

42/1. So few people gave Douglas a chance that almost no casino would take bets on the fight at all; the Mirage's line was a rare exception.

Which promoter tried to get Tyson's 1990 loss to Buster Douglas overturned, claiming a long count?

Don King. He said Douglas had been down for 12 seconds in the eighth round, and two sanctioning bodies withheld recognition until a public outcry made them back down.

Which trainer became Tyson's legal guardian after his mother died?

Cus D'Amato. He had guided two earlier fighters to world titles and took the teenager into his home, but died in November 1985, a year before Tyson won his.

Where was the young Tyson living when a counselor first spotted his boxing talent?

A juvenile reform school. At the Tryon School for Boys in upstate New York, counselor and former boxer Bobby Stewart saw his promise and passed him on to a professional trainer.

What was the name of the high-guard defensive style Tyson learned from his mentor?

Peek-a-boo. Holding his gloves high against his cheeks let Tyson slip under and weave around bigger men's punches while he closed in to counter.

Which longtime trainer did Tyson fire in late 1988?

Kevin Rooney. Tyson was unbeaten in 35 fights when they split; critics said his movement and combinations faded afterwards, and he lost his title 14 months later.

Which assistant trainer was dismissed from Tyson's camp when the fighter was 15?

Teddy Atlas. He had learned to train under the same mentor, and in 1994 he guided Michael Moorer to the world heavyweight title.

Tyson said he bit Evander Holyfield's ear to retaliate for which foul?

Head-butts. A clash of heads cut Tyson over the eye in round two and went unpunished; he bit Holyfield in round three and was disqualified.

Which referee took two points from Tyson, then disqualified him, in the 1997 Holyfield rematch?

Mills Lane. He was a late stand-in: Tyson's camp objected to Mitch Halpern, who had refereed their first fight, and Halpern stepped aside two days before the bout.

What was the 1997 Holyfield-Tyson rematch billed as?

The Sound and the Fury. Their first fight was billed simply 'Finally': a bout signed for 1991 had been shelved, first by an injury and then by Tyson's prison term.

In which city did Tyson lose his 2002 title challenge to Lennox Lewis?

Memphis. Nevada refused Tyson a licence after he brawled with Lewis at a press conference, so the fight moved to the Pyramid Arena in Tennessee.

In which British city did Tyson beat Lou Savarese in 38 seconds in 2000?

Glasgow. At Hampden Park, Tyson kept punching after the stoppage and knocked the referee over, then said of Lennox Lewis: 'I want to eat his children.'

Tyson's face tattoo, inked days before a 2003 fight, borrows from the traditional tattooing of which people?

Māori. Tyson first asked for hearts on his face; the artist refused and spent a few days on the tribal design, which Tyson calls his warrior tattoo.

Which rapper was fatally shot in Las Vegas hours after watching Tyson beat Bruce Seldon in 1996?

Tupac Shakur. A friend of Tyson's, he had come to Las Vegas for the title fight; he was shot in a car later that night and died six days later.

Against which Irish journeyman did Tyson quit on his stool before round seven in 2005?

Kevin McBride. Tyson stayed on his stool after the sixth round and announced his retirement; he did not box professionally again for 19 years.

Which platform streamed Tyson's fight with Jake Paul in November 2024?

Netflix. A peak of 65 million viewers strained the service, and thousands complained of buffering and frozen screens.

At which venue did Tyson fight Jake Paul?

AT&T Stadium. At the Dallas Cowboys' home in Arlington, Texas, the bout was sanctioned as a professional fight but cut to eight two-minute rounds.

What medical problem of Tyson's pushed his Jake Paul fight from July to November 2024?

An ulcer flare-up. It struck on a plane in May, and doctors told the 57-year-old to do only light training for weeks, so the fight slipped four months.

Tyson's 2020 exhibition ended in a split draw against which former champion?

Roy Jones Jr. With a combined age of 105, the pair boxed eight two-minute rounds, and three former WBC champions brought in as judges scored it a draw.

Who replaced Tyson as the final boss of the NES Punch-Out!! after the licence expired?

Mr. Dream. Nintendo's licence to use Tyson ran out in 1990, so it reissued the game as plain Punch-Out!! with this invented champion in his place.

Tyson traded blows with Donnie Yen on screen in which film?

Ip Man 3. Tyson plays a crooked property developer who takes on the kung fu master himself; filming their fight left Tyson with a fractured finger.

Which actress did Tyson marry in February 1988?

Robin Givens. Seven months after the wedding she told Barbara Walters on television, with Tyson sitting beside her, that life with him was 'pure hell'.

Tyson's first wife was known for which sitcom at the time of their marriage?

Head of the Class. She played rich girl Darlene Merriman through all five seasons of the ABC classroom sitcom, which outlasted the marriage by two years.

Tyson's second wife, Monica Turner, is the sister of which politician?

Michael Steele. When Steele ran for the US Senate in Maryland in 2006, his former brother-in-law offered to box an exhibition if it would help the campaign.

Tyson appeared as himself in which 2006 Sylvester Stallone film?

Rocky Balboa. In a ringside cameo, the newly retired Tyson taunts champion Mason Dixon as he makes his entrance to face the ageing Rocky.

What is the title of Tyson's 2013 autobiography?

Undisputed Truth. Tyson used the title first for a one-man stage show in Las Vegas in 2012; the memoir followed a year later and became a New York Times bestseller.

Which director brought Tyson's one-man show to Broadway in 2012?

Spike Lee. The show had opened in Las Vegas; Lee restaged it for Broadway that August, and Tyson then took it on a 36-city national tour.

Tyson's Adult Swim cartoon solved mysteries in the style of which classic show?

Scooby-Doo. In Mike Tyson Mysteries a cartoon Tyson, voiced by the man himself, takes cases with his adopted daughter and the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry.

Eminem was a guest in 2020 on which podcast hosted by Tyson?

Hotboxin'. The name puns on boxing and on slang for smoking cannabis, a fit for a former champion who went on to launch his own cannabis brand.

Tyson says his first fight, as a boy, was over one of which pets he kept?

Pigeons. In one telling a bigger boy pulled the bird's head off, in another he stole it and would not give it back; Tyson has kept pigeons ever since.

At WrestleMania XIV, Tyson was enforcer for a match between Steve Austin and whom?

Shawn Michaels. Tyson slid in to count the winning pin for Austin himself, then floored Michaels with a punch when the beaten champion protested.

Which wrestling faction counted Tyson as an unofficial member in 1998?

D-Generation X. Weeks before WrestleMania XIV Tyson's shirt was torn open on live television to show the group's T-shirt underneath; on the night he turned on them.

Which Mexican great entered the Hall of Fame alongside Tyson in 2011?

Julio César Chávez. They entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame together; in 1990 Chávez had unified two titles by stopping Meldrick Taylor with two seconds of the fight left.

Tyson left prison with tattoos of Mao Zedong and which tennis player?

Arthur Ashe. Tyson read the tennis champion's memoir Days of Grace in prison, said he felt a kinship with him, and had the portrait inked with the book's title.

Tyson knocked out the son of which heavyweight great in 30 seconds?

Joe Frazier. He trained and managed his son Marvis, who was caught by two uppercuts; it remained the quickest win of Tyson's career.

Which former champion suffered his only knockout loss in 75 bouts against Tyson in 1988?

Larry Holmes. Aged 38, he came out of retirement for the fight, was floored three times in the fourth round and retired again straight afterwards.

In which upstate New York city did Tyson make his professional debut in March 1985?

Albany. The 18-year-old from nearby Catskill stopped Hector Mercedes in the first round and went on to fight 15 times in his first year.

Losses to Henry Tillman kept the teenage Tyson out of which event?

Olympic Games. Tillman took the American heavyweight place at Los Angeles in 1984 and won gold; six years later Tyson knocked him out in the first round as a professional.

To which religion did Tyson convert in the early 1990s?

Islam. Tyson left prison in 1995 wearing a skullcap and went straight to a nearby mosque to pray, with Muhammad Ali among those who came to greet him.

Which heavyweight did Tyson say inspired his intimidating style?

Sonny Liston. After a 38-second win in 2000 Tyson told the cameras: 'I'm Sonny Liston, I'm Jack Dempsey... I'm from their cloth.'

Who was Tyson's opponent in his first comeback fight after prison in 1995?

Peter McNeeley. He charged at Tyson from the opening bell and was floored twice before his own manager climbed through the ropes to stop it after 89 seconds.

In The Hangover, which animal have the friends stolen from Tyson's mansion during their lost night?

A tiger. Tyson first turned the cameo down, then agreed on hearing that the director had made Old School; he later said the film set him on a healthier path.

Who played Tyson in the 1995 film about his life?

Michael Jai White. HBO aired the film in April 1995, five weeks after the real Tyson walked out of prison, with George C. Scott as his mentor.

Which British heavyweight did Tyson stop in world title fights in both 1989 and 1996?

Frank Bruno. The 1996 rematch cost him his WBC title in three rounds; warned by doctors that he risked the sight in one eye, Bruno never fought again.