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Mike Tyson was born in 1966 in Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most famous professional boxers to have lived. Tyson holds claim to being the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title, aged just 20 years and 4 months. He reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world for a number of years.
He boxing technique was similar to that of a street fighter, being ferocious and intimidating. As a result, he won his first 19 pro fights by knockout. What made this even more impressive, was 12 of these were knockouts in the first round. Tyson was the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles at the same time. He is also the only heavyweight to successively unify them. He became the linear champion after defeating Michael Spinks after just 19 seconds. It is understandable why his nickname was Iron Mike Tyson.
Tyson defended his title nine times which included a victory over the popular British boxer, Frank Bruno. Tyson eventually lost the title to the unfancied Buster Douglas in 1990. Douglas knocked Tyson out in the tenth round. Tyson’s career was derailed when he was convicted for rape in 1992. As a consequence he was sentenced to six years in prison, serving only three years. He was released in 1995 and won the WBC and WBA titles a year later in 1996. Tyson defeated Bruni to become one of a few boxers to have retained a heavyweight championship after losing it.
Tyson retired from boxing in 2006, having been declared bankrupt three years earlier in 2003. This is despite amassing $300 million during his career and receiving $30 million for many of his fights. He was reported to be $23 million in debt. Tyson is considered to be one of the best heavyweight boxers and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of fame. He has been described as ‘perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring’.
