Where is Mike Tyson from? What to know about former champ

A living legend, nearly 20 years removed from his last professional fight, returns to the ring this Friday as 58-year-old Mike Tyson looks to prove he’s still one of the baddest men on the planet. His opponent is 27-year-old social media superstar Jake Paul. It’s a fight unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
Anyone unfamiliar with these combatants would think that the man who’s 30 years younger would have a massive advantage. After all, there has to be a reason that Tyson hasn’t fought in nearly two decades, right? However, despite the age difference, many people are backing Tyson in this fight. The reputation he built up during his heyday has made him appear unbeatable to some, even as he approaches 60 years old.
Here’s a brief history of Mike Tyson’s boxing career.
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Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York. His family hopped around a bit in Tyson’s childhood. They lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until Tyson was 10 years old, before financial burdens forced the family to move to Brownsville. Despite the constant change of scenery, Tyson and his family never left the New York City area.
Although it’s unclear exactly when Tyson picked up boxing, he dominated as an amateur before turning pro at 18. As an amateur, Tyson won gold medals at the Junior Olympic Games in 1981, defeating Joe Cortez, and 1982, defeating Kelton Brown.
Tyson became a pro in 1986 at 18 years old. Tyson made his professional debut on March 6, 1985, where he defeated Hector Mercedes by first-round TKO. On Feb. 16, 1986, Tyson burst into the boxing spotlight after defeating Jesse Ferguson on national television.
His first heavyweight title came after a second-round TKO victory over Trevor Berbick, earning him the WBC title and making him the youngest champion (20 years, 4 months) in history. To this day, he is still the youngest person ever to hold a heavyweight title.
Tyson would go on to win multiple other heavyweight championships and became the first person in history to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles simultaneously. Tyson was unbeatable in his early days, bursting out to a 37-0 start to his professional career with 33 of those victories via knockout.
Tyson’s first loss was a shocker at the hands of Buster Douglas on Feb. 11, 1990. That defeat is still considered one of the biggest upsets in sports history. After losing to Douglas, Tyson won eight consecutive fights before losing back-to-back bouts to Evander Holyfield on Nov. 9, 1996 via 11th-round TKO and June 28, 1997 via disqualification.
That second fight is when Tyson infamously bit Holyfield’s ear twice, earning him the disqualification. Tyson fought only 10 more times following that bout. He went 5-3 with two no-contests in those matches.
Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. He was convicted on Feb. 10, 1992.
Tyson was paroled after serving less than three years of what was supposed to be a six-year sentence. Tyson fought and won four matches in his return before facing Holyfield.
Tyson’s last professional fight came on May 11, 2005. Tyson was defeated by Kevin McBride via sixth-round TKO.
Since then, Tyson has participated only in exhibitions, with his most recent being an eight-round November 2020 match against former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. Although the fight went all eight rounds and was declared a draw, many people who watched the fight believe Tyson was the superior fighter.
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Mike Tyson holds a career record of 50-6 with 44 KOs.