Michael Gerard Tyson is an American professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005, and is scheduled to compete once again in 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. In 1990, Tyson was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
José Louis "Chegüi" Torres was a Puerto Rican-born professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he represented the United States and won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he defeated Willie Pastrano to win the WBC, WBA, and lineal light heavyweight championships. Torres trained with the legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato. In 1997, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Tony Craig Tucker is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an interview with Barry Tompkins, he referred to himself as the "invisible champion," due to the press and general public largely neglecting him. He is best known for giving Mike Tyson in his prime a relatively close fight, in which he, in the words of Larry Merchant, "rocked Tyson" in the first round. However, Tyson went on to win a unanimous decision. As an amateur, he won the 1979 United States national championships, the 1979 World Cup, and a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, all in the light heavyweight division.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Theodore A. Atlas Jr. is an American boxing trainer and fight commentator.
Constantine "Cus" D'Amato was an American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres, all of whom went on to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Several successful boxing trainers, including Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney, were tutored by D'Amato. He was a proponent of the peek-a-boo style of boxing, in which the fighter holds his gloves close to his cheeks and pulls his arms tight against his torso, which was criticized by some because it was believed that an efficient attack could not be launched from it.
William D'Arcy Cayton was a boxing promoter and manager. Clients included Mike Tyson, who sued him, yet retained him as manager when the two settled the lawsuit four years later, in 1988. Cayton also acted as a film historian and producer to preserve boxing's legacy. During his career, Cayton founded or co-founded several companies, including Cayton Sports, Inc., Reel Sports., Inc., Radio and Television Packagers, Inc. and Cayton, Inc.
Kevin Rooney is an American boxing trainer. He was portrayed by Clark Gregg in the 1995 movie Tyson and by Aaron Eckhart in the 2016 movie Bleed for This.
Peek-a-boo is a boxing style which received its common name for the defensive hand position, which are normally placed in front of the face, like in the baby's game of the same name. The technique is thought to offer extra protection to the face while making it easier to jab the opponent's face. The fighter holds their gloves close to their cheeks and pulls their arms tight against their torso. A major proponent of the style was trainer Cus D'Amato, who didn't use the term peek-a-boo and instead referred to it as a "tight defense." The style was criticized by some because it was believed that an efficient attack could not be launched from it.
Tyson is a 2008 documentary film about the life of former undisputed heavyweight world champion boxer Mike Tyson. It was directed by American filmmaker James Toback and produced by Nicholas Jarecki, Bob Yari, and NBA player Carmelo Anthony.
Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas, billed as Tyson is Back!, was a professional boxing match that occurred at the Tokyo Dome on February 11, 1990. The then-undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson lost by knockout to the 42-1 underdog Douglas. The fight is widely regarded as the biggest upset in sports history.
James Leslie Jacobs was an American handball player, boxing manager, and comic book and fight film collector.
Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks, billed as Once and For All, was a professional boxing match which took place on June 27, 1988. Both fighters were undefeated and each had a claim to being the legitimate heavyweight champion. At the time, Tyson held the belts of all three of the major sanctioning organizations while Spinks was The Ring champion, regarded as "The People's Champion," and was considered the lineal champion. The fight was held at the Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey U.S., it was at the time the richest fight in boxing history, grossing some $70 million, of which Tyson earned a record purse of around $22 million and Spinks $13.5 million. Tyson won the fight, knocking out Spinks in 91 seconds.
Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as The Moment of Truth, was a professional boxing match contested on October 25, 1990, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. The bout took place at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada, USA and saw Douglas making the first defense of the titles he won from Mike Tyson in February 1990.
Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno was a professional boxing match contested on February 25, 1989 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring heavyweight championships.
Joseph Hadley is an American retired boxer from Jackson, Tennessee, who competed in middleweight division in the 1970s, one of a few trained by Cus D'Amato himself, and also one of the first documented U.S. mixed martial artists. He was selected a member of the All-American AAU boxing team for 1973, and was named the top middleweight amateur boxer in the nation in 1973 by the National AAU Boxing Committee. Hadley drew attention of the press and public by carrying a Bible into the ring, hence his nickname "Preacher," which reflects he actually was a minister. For that reason Hadley refused to pose for a picture with Muhammad Ali, "because Mr. Ali does not live tip to my principles according to the Bible."
"Irish" Bobby Stewart won the National Golden Gloves Tournament in 1974 as a light heavyweight. He also fought at the US-hosted undercard of The Rumble in the Jungle as a professional boxer, but he will be best remembered as the first trainer for Mike Tyson, who discovered Tyson's tremendous potential and introduced him to boxing.
Steve Lott was the CEO of Boxing Hall of Fame Las Vegas Nevada, boxing manager, former film editor at ESPN, and assistant to fight managers of the time Bill Cayton and Jim Jacobs, who financed Mike Tyson's boxing coach and life mentor Cus D'Amato, boxing film historian.
Non-compromised Pendulum is a book about the fight system of the boxing coach Cus D'Amato, known as a peek-a-boo. The book, written by the Ukrainian scientist and martial arts researcher Oleg Maltsev and D'Amato's mentee Tom Patti, was published in the English language in 2018, which can be accessed by anybody free of charge, to preserve the legacy of Cus Damato.
Mike is an American television miniseries created by Steven Rogers. The series is an unauthorized look at the life of boxer Mike Tyson, with Trevante Rhodes as the title role, and co-stars Russell Hornsby. Rogers reunites with numerous collaborators from the film I, Tonya (2017), including director Craig Gillespie, and executive producers Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie, and Bryan Unkeless. It premiered on Hulu on August 25, 2022. The series received mixed reviews from critics, and was heavily criticized by Tyson for being made without his involvement nor compensation.
