Mike Tyson Biography
The name Mike Tyson arouses fear and admiration in many boxing rings around the world, the legendary champion has gone into history books as one of the most successful boxers with the ability to give almost instant knock-outs and in the process walk away with a record number of wins and few losses to talk about. The American star was originally born Michael Gerard Tyson to Lorna Smith and Jimmy Kirkpatrick on June 30 1966 in the crime-filled neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York, USA. Life for young Tyson was filled with pain and violence as his often absentee parents had little need to know what their son did or how he was. Coupled with this was the fact that his was a low-income family that could barely survive each day so when his parents separated the situation worsened as Lorna Smith did not have any skills and had to make do with odd jobs.
With an interest in sports, Tyson had no luxury of picking out what he wanted to do and so out of necessity and a need to survive in his neighbourhood the teen was drawn to fighting. Tyson got into boxing competitions in order to make money for food and clothing, something he succeeded very easily at since his quick reflexes led to wins in almost most of his matches. After the need to make money was fulfilled he discovered that the ring was the one place all his troubles were forgotten and so he got into the sport and hired a coach to expand his skills. Meanwhile he attended the Tyron School for Boys in New York and spent time out of school in gangs and theft that often led him to lock-up on several occasions.
By the age of thirteen Tyson was already a star in the ring and on advice from his coach he went for his first Junior Olympics in 1981 where he came out a winner. Numerous matches in the four years after that led to even more win, record knockouts and pull outs by scared opponents.
In 1986 Tyson shocked the world by becoming the youngest World Boxing Champion after a knock-out match, at the time he was twenty.
The boxer’s life and career has not been lacking in controversy, early into his career he was questioned over the mysterious death of a coach and ally but no substantial evidence was found to link him to the death. He was also involved in an ear-biting incident during a bout with a fierce rival and which led to his suspension from boxing and many begun to complain about his ruthless attitude in the ring.
He was also under media scrutiny in 2003 after a surprise declaration of bankruptcy despite his vast earnings reaching to over 600 million dollars throughout his career. Much speculation indicated that the boxer’s lifestyle of women and parties may have been responsible for the financial problems.
Tyson has also crossed lines with the law over a bad temper and fist fights with drivers who do not give him way. In 1999 he was ordered to undertake community service after a motorist sued him for alleged battering.
The biggest scandal by far was in 1992 when Tyson was charged with raping an underage woman. He denied the claims but was put under lock-up for three years.
He is compared to big names in boxing such as Mohammed Ali.
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