Mike Tyson

Bio

Mike Tyson was, for about three years in the late 1980s, the most frightening thing anybody had ever seen in a heavyweight ring.

Brought up in Brownsville, Brooklyn and taken in by Cus D'Amato as a teenager, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 years old when he stopped Trevor Berbick in two rounds in November 1986. By 1988 he had unified the division and destroyed Michael Spinks in ninety-one seconds — still one of the most extraordinary ninety-one seconds in sport.

Then came Tokyo, February 1990, and Buster Douglas: the biggest upset boxing has ever produced. What followed — the conviction, the prison years, the Holyfield fights, the bankruptcy — is a story the sport has never entirely made peace with.

In his sixties he remains one of the most recognisable figures on the planet, returning for an exhibition against Jake Paul on Netflix in November 2024. Netflix has now put out a four-part documentary series on his life, Tyson, landing on October 13, with his one-man show following on November 3.