IFRC MemberSports-lover turned journalist, born and bred in Scotland, with a passion for football (soccer). He’s also a keen follower of NFL, NBA, golf and tennis, among others, and always has an eye on the latest in science, tech and current affairs. As Managing Editor at AS USA, uses background in operations and marketing to drive improvements for reader satisfaction.
It’s a pretty basic tattoo and while you can see the resemblance to Turner, it’s not exactly a work of art. It also helps that the tattoo is on the inside of Tyson’s forearm so it’s not the most visible, meaning he doesn’t have to worry about people seeing it all the time.
Know of boxing’s consensus favorite heavyweight and youngest champ Mike Tyson? Sure you do. Do you know that he is facing a 9-1 (6KOs) YouTuber boxer next? You just might. Did you know he has 44 career knockouts till now? Or that he once bit a peer’s ear off during a bout? That is a famed affair. What about his iconic face tattoo? Of all the above, that stands out as his selling point.
Mike Tyson’s tribal face tattoo, a striking Maori-inspired design from New Zealand, represents a significant chapter in his life story. He chose this powerful symbol in 2003, site here just before his bout against Clifford Etienne. Tyson once revealed, “I just thought it was a cool tattoo,” expressing a moment of spontaneity that turned into a lasting legacy. Initially considering hearts, he was swayed towards something that mirrored his fierce spirit, ultimately deciding, “This is cool; I like this.”
Paul’s face tattoo, however, is fake since they did not show the tattoo being done properly, which means this was just for promoting the fight. Furthermore, Paul blatantly imitating Tyson is his way of paying homage to the legend, but several fans did not enjoy it.
In several posts to his X account over the years, Tyson regularly refers to female characters in the anime shows he has a fondness for, even going so far as to show photos of model statues of those characters he has purchased. One of those characters, from anime franchise Re:ZERO, is intended to represent a 17-year-old girl.
Tyson participated in an eight-round exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in July 2020, and while the fight exceeded expectations, no one was clamoring for more. During the height of his career, Tyson was one of the most feared fighters in boxing and earned the moniker as the “Baddest Man on the Planet.” He was the undisputed heavyweight champion and still owns the distinction of being the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. After serving less than three years in jail for a rape conviction between 1992 and 1995, Tyson returned to the ring just five months later and, after two wins, regained the WBC title by defeating Frank Bruno in 1996.
On the night of July 22nd, 2024, X user @LilNoNameFR posted and deleted a series of videos, archived by archive.ph, in which he scrolls through Snapchat DMs allegedly between himself and Tyson. He also included videos of Tyson talking and making inappropriate jokes with minors in a Discord voice chatroom. In the post, he claims to have been 14 at the time and that Tyson was 22. The videos were reposted by X user @GuntNews later that day (shown below).
Countless individuals have been inspired by Tyson’s bold choice of permanent self-expression. His face tattoo has empowered people to embrace their own uniqueness and find creative ways to share their stories with the world.
The lawsuit drew attention to issues of intellectual property rights and the use of tattoos for commercial purposes. Although the case was eventually settled out of court, it raised important questions about the rights of tattoo artists and their work.
Mike Tyson, one of the most famous and controversial boxers of all time, has left an indelible mark on the history of the sport. He began his career in 1985 and soon became the youngest ever world heavyweight champion, defeating Trevor Berbick in 1986 at the age of 20. Tyson was known for his powerful punching, aggressive style and swift knockouts that made him a crowd favorite.
“That’s the real question: the copyright act balances the copyright owners’ rights and not stifling the creativity of the owners — it would stifle creativity to not be able to make a parody,” Mr. Harkins said.
By 1990, Tyson seemed to have lost direction, and his personal life was in disarray amidst reports of less vigorous training prior to the Buster Douglas match. In a fight on February 11, 1990, he lost the undisputed championship to Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson was a huge betting favorite; indeed, the Mirage, the only casino to put out odds for the fight, made Tyson a 42/1 favorite. Tyson failed to find a way past Douglas’s quick jab that had a 12-inch (30 cm) reach advantage over his own. Tyson did catch Douglas with an uppercut in the eighth round and knocked him to the floor, but Douglas recovered sufficiently to hand Tyson a heavy beating in the subsequent two rounds. After the fight, the Tyson camp would complain that the count was slow and that Douglas had taken longer than ten seconds to get back on his feet. Just 35 seconds into the tenth round, Douglas unleashed a brutal uppercut, followed by a four-punch combination of hooks that knocked Tyson down for the first time in his career. He was counted out by referee Octavio Meyran.