Mike Tyson will forever be remembered as one of the most ferocious boxers to have ever taken part in the pugilistic sport. The American came up through a tough childhood in the Bronx and was discovered by a legendary boxing trainer named Cus D’Amato and he transformed him into a brutal, hard hitting, almost unstoppable fighter even at the young age of 15. Of course, Tyson went on to win the heavyweight world title with a stunning number of knockouts and was the first boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles at the same time, and was the only heavyweight to successively unify them. He was just 20 years old when he won all three titles, making him the youngest ever to do so. His first 19 wins came by knockout and his first title came in 1986. It was then in 1988 that Tyson became the lineal world championship after beating Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds. He had big wins over stars like Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno and then shockingly lost to Buster Douglas in 1990.
After a brief hiatus, Tyson battled back in the ring and eventually went on to win the world title once more, making him one of only a select few to have regained the heavyweight world championship after losing it. Famously, Tyson fought Evander Holyfield and lost when disqualified after biting off part of his foe’s ear. Altering earning more than 30 million dollars for some of his fights, and over 300 million in all his career, Tyson retired in 2006 after a series of knockout loses including to Lennox Lewis. He remains a giant of the sport and a well-known figure with huge appeal, boxing knowledge and now a fledgling movie and comedy career.
