Tyson is known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style and controversial behaviours both inside and outside the boxing ring. He was born on 30 June 1966 in Fort Greene, New York City. Tyson's biological father is Purcell Tyson but the man that he had known as his father is Jimmy Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick abandoned the Tyson family when Mike was born and he grew up in a poverty-stricken family. His mother died when he was 10 years old and Tyson was left at the mercy of Cus D'Amato - boxing manager and trainer.

As Tyson lived in and around neighbourhoods with a high rate of crime, he was repeatedly caught committing petty crimes. By the age of 13, Tyson was arrested 38 times.

His boxing abilities were discovered by Bobby Stewart who was a juvenile detention centre counsellor and former boxer. Tyson dropped out of high school and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in 1989. 

Mike Tyson’s Early Years

Michael Gerard Tyson, better known as Mike Tyson or Iron Mike, was born on June 30, 1966, in Fort Green, New York, US.  

In the initial years, the Tyson family wandered from one place to another. The family earlier lived in Bedford Stuyvesant, but when Mike Tyson turned 10, they shifted to Amboy Street in Brownsville Section due to financial constraints.

Tyson’s Family

Mike Tyson’s biological father was “Purcell Tyson,” but he knew “Jimmy Kirkpatrick” as his father.

Jimmy belonged to Grier Town, North Carolina, where he was one of the best baseball players in the neighborhood. He had a son named Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick. He left his first family in 1959 and met Tyson’s mother in Brooklyn. Further, Jimmy spent most of his time in the pool halls, gambling, roaming on the streets.  
Kirkpatrick left the Tyson family when Tyson was just two years old.

Tyson’s mother was Lorna Smith Tyson, who took care of the family in the early years, but she also passed away due to cancer when Tyson was 16.

Mike Tyson had two siblings – one brother named “Rodney” and one sister named “Denise.” Unfortunately, his sister died of a heart attack at the young age of 24 years.

Mike Tyson’s Childhood Struggle

Struggle hit Mike Tyson and his family starting from the day he was born. When Tyson was two years old and his father Jimmy Kirkpatrick left the family, all the family burden came onto the shoulders of Lorna Smith Tyson (Tyson’s mother).
The family became poverty-stricken, and they were moving from one place to another. Even when they finally settled in an urban slum of Brownsville, the living conditions were pathetic. They had no money. The neighborhood was smelly and filled with crime.

Both Tyson’s mother and father were drug addicts. 
He was less than one year old when he tasted alcohol for the first time. His mother fed him liquor and drugs just to make him go to sleep.

Mike Tyson Career

Mike Tyson competed from 1985 to 2005. He has earned the titles such as 'Iron Mike', 'Kid Dynamite', and 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' for his boxing skills. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.

He won his first belt at the age of 20 years and is the youngest ever boxer to win a heavyweight title. He was also the first heavyweight boxer to hold WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

From 1987 to 1990, Tyson reigned as an undisputed world heavyweight champion.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and was sentenced to six years imprisonment. He was, however, released on parole after serving three years behind the bars.

After being paroled from prison in 1995, Tyson was engaged in a series of comeback bouts. He regained WBA and WBC titles in 1996. With this, he joined Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman as the only men in boxing history to have regained a heavyweight championship after losing it.

The same year, he was stripped of his WBC title in the same year and lost the WBA title to Evander Holyfield. The 1997 match ended with Tyson's disqualification from the game for biting Holyfield's ear strong enough to remove a portion of flesh. 

Mike Tyson Awards

Boxing

1- Ring magazine Prospect of the Year in 1985
2- Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1986 and 1988
3- Sugar Ray Robinson Award winner in 1987 and 1989
4- BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality in 1989
5- International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee in the Class of 2011
6- "Guirlande d'Honneur" by the FICTS in 2010

Professional wrestling

1- WWE Hall of Fame inductee in the Class of 2012