Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1966, to Lorna Tyson and Jimmy Kirkpatrick. His father ran off before he was two years old, and mike tyson early life grew up with all the temptations of ghetto life. By the age of twelve, he was in a street gang and had been in and out of juvenile court. Finally, after an armed robbery conviction, in 1978, he was sent to the Tryon School for Boys, a reformatory, where the physical education instructor, Bobby Stewart, spotted his potential as boxer. In 1981, Stewart introduced the 14-year-old Tyson to his friend, the legendary Cus D’Amato, and D’Amato introduced him to the “sweet science” of boxing.

Within a few years, it was gone, and he declared bankruptcy, mainly due to his many addictions and reckless spending. He had hit rock-bottom, sifting his way through a mountain of debt, when, seemingly out of nowhere, he started an acting career and the comeback began.

“Mike Tyson has been an open book now for 30 years, but in those mid-80s days, he was never jokey or ironic. Some days he would be in a pissy mood and ignore you, and there could be an air of menace to it,” says Layden. “I wasted more than one trip to Las Vegas, but when he wanted to really sit down and talk, usually about the boxing history he reveres so much, we would have engaging intellectual discussions. … When I was covering him, my wife and I started our family, and Mike would ask after my kids. I’ve been doing this a long time, and that never happens.”

We sat down, and Cus told me he couldn’t believe I was only 13 years old. And then he told me what my future would be. “If you listen to me, I can make you the youngest heavyweight champion of all time.”

Fuck, how could he know that shit? I thought he was a pervert. In the world I came from, people do shit like that when they want to perv out on you. I didn’t know what to say. I had never heard anyone say nice things about me before. I wanted to stay around this old guy because I liked the way he made me feel. I’d later realize that this was Cus’s psychology. You give a weak man some strength, and he becomes addicted.

with his mother to the Brownsville section of the borough during his early years. He knew who his father was but had little contact with him. By fifth grade, the future icon was a habitual truant and could barely read. He was also large and powerful for his age and became known for being able to knock down full-fledged teenagers in street fights. He fell into a bad crowd and compiled a lengthy juvenile record for armed robbery and other transgressions.

So, to help safe guard that idea and ethos that has fueled economic engine of the U.S.A since 1931, we’re publishing this handful of American Dream quotes. Our hope, is that they continue to give hope and inspiration to the millions of Americans who still value and cherish the idea that we all have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“In the 1980s, boxing was starting to go out of fashion, not like today, but it was waning and Mike showed up and breathed a lot of life into the sport,” says Layden. “There is a quote in the SI story from a boxing analyst of that era basically saying Mike wasn’t a great technician but his power and speed were so incredible, you didn’t want to miss it. Those were fun times.”

“Yeah, man, we almost got him, we almost got him,” they laughed. I had no idea what they were talking about and then they told me. They were boxing Mr. Stewart, one of the counselors. Bobby Stewart was a tough Irish guy, around 170 pounds, who had been a professional boxer. I was in my room one night when there was a loud, intimidating knock on the door. I opened the door and it was Mr. Stewart.

Of the Coventry High School girl voted the friendliest and most talkative in her senior class, the one whose stated ambition was to be the first Black female president, her attorney, Michael Weisman, told Gelman, “For nearly four years she has attempted to pick up the pieces of her life and move on. This has not been easy to do. The trauma of the rape has had a profound and lasting impact on her life.”

In 1991, Tyson was introduced to an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant named Desiree Washington. The two spent the evening together, and according to Washington, Tyson raped her in his hotel room. Tyson denied the allegations, claiming that the encounter was consensual.

I immediately started flailing and throwing a bunch of punches and he covered up. I’m punching him and slugging him and then suddenly he slips by me and goes boom and hits me right in the stomach. I was trying desperately to breathe, but all I could do was throw up. It was just horrible shit.

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he’s not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.