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MIKE TYSON has a fearsome reputation as one of boxing’s bad boys – but not everything is as it seems.
The Baddest Man on the Planet is in final preparations ahead of a stunning return to the ring later this month.
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Getty
GettyTyson will go toe-to-toe with YouTuber Jake Paul in a dust-up broadcast live to the world on Netflix.
It will be the 58-year-old’s first pro fight in almost two decades since hanging up his gloves in 2006.
Throughout his career, Iron Mike has built up a fearsome reputation as one of boxing’s greatest hell-raisers.
He memorably bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off during their 1997 bout and was responsible for 44 opponents ending up on the canvas.
But behind the bluster, there is a softer side to one of the world’s greatest-ever heavyweights.
After years of chaos, Tyson has finally settled down after his third marriage with soulmate Lakiha Spicer.
He is a doting dad and has mellowed in his later years, even accompanying daughter Milan to the Kids’ Choice Awards in 2018.
Tyson has six kids with four different women named Mikey, 34, Rayna, 28, Amir, 27, Miguel, 22, Milan, 16, and Morocco, 13.
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Tyson last returned to the ring in 2020, fighting Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout.
He revealed his children had told him to “sit his old a** down”, but ultimately ignored them and went ahead with the fight.
He laughed: “My kids think I should sit my old a** down, but what do they know?
“I’m very confident. They don’t know how to fight, none of my kids can beat me in a fight, so what are they talking about?”
Despite being offered staggering sums to come out of retirement, the 58-year-old gave the majority of his £7.8million earnings to charity.
Away from the ring, he has also set up the Mike Tyson Cares Foundation to help “give kids a fighting chance.”
The foundation aims to help the homeless, build educational programs, and fight social injustice.
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Getty
JAKE PAUL VS MIKE TYSON: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE BOUT
Tyson explains: “I am a product of poverty, so I identify with the struggles that plague communities that feel hopeless and despair.
“I want my foundation to support community-based programs and turn hopelessness into hope.”
Iron Mike’s charity work also stretches beyond his own Foundation.
He helped create We 2 Matter in 2021, an organization aimed at helping female prisoners rejoin society.
And on a recent episode of his podcast Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, magician and musician Criss Angel revealed another selfless act from the boxing legend.
Tyson was branded a “wonderful human being” by Angel, who revealed Iron Mike had given thousands in donations to his cancer charity.
Angel said: “You have donated so much money to pediatric cancer, to my foundation and I just want to say as a friend and as a person with the kid that went through it, thank you so much.”
Mike Tyson's controversial comeback
Mike Tyson is BACK!
Yes, boxing’s youngest heavyweight champ of all time – just 20 when he achieved the feat – is preparing to lace them up again.
He faces YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on July 20 in Texas.
The controversial clash – set for the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Dallas – has been scrutinised over the 30-year age gap.
Tyson will be 58 by the time the fight for the ages comes around and nearly 20 years removed from his last professional contest.
He was last seen in the ring in November 2020 for an exhibition with fellow legend Roy Jones Jr, which ended a draw after eight rounds.
Paul is meanwhile 9-1 in the ring, losing only to Tommy Fury in 2023, and has won three times since.
His fight with Tyson will also be a landmark first on Netflix, with over 250MILLION subscribers able to watch the bout.
Prior to his remarkable career, Tyson’s first love was his beloved pigeons.
The New York native has kept the birds since he was a child, revealing he threw his very first punch after a bully killed one of his pets.
Tyson explained: “The guy ripped the head off my pigeon.
This was the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon. That was the first time I threw a punch.
“I have loved pigeons since I was nine. They were my escape.
“I was fat and ugly. Kids teased me all the time. The only joy I had was pigeons.”
Paul attempted to break bread with Mike ahead of their bout on November 15.
He bought a pigeon for Tyson as a bizarre pre-fight gift – only for it to backfire in style.
AFP
GettyJake Paul vs Mike Tyson’s lifestyles compared
ONE is a notorious YouTuber-turned-boxer who has taken the sport by storm.
The other terrorised all in the ring in the 1980s and 1990s, famously biting the ear off an opponent in one fight.
Iron Mike has rebuilt his life after squandering a £300m fortune with a cannabis empire, and is a huge advocate of the drug.
And as Paul has continued to rise up the ranks, he has splashed the cash on a fleet of amazing cars.
Whereas Tyson had more money than sense until a £15m debt saw him part with his cherished car collection.
Paul now lives in a plush mansion worth £13m in Puerto Rico, after escaping his hectic life in LA.
But these days, Tyson lounges in his Vegas property he paid £2.5m for with wife Lakiha, who he married in 2009.
Paul is not yet married but is smitten with his speed skater girlfriend Jutta Leerdam.
She will be by his side when her man puts his 9-1 boxing record on the line against two-time heavyweight champ Tyson on July 20.
Despite his charitable work, Tyson declares he is not a “nice person”, but does do “kind things.”
He recently admitted: “There’s nothing nice about me. I’m not a nice person.
“No, I’m a decent person, I try to do the right thing but a nice person I am not.
“So anybody that has an auspice that I’m a nice person, they’re gonna be disappointed.
“I’m just not a nice person. I don’t make people happy for no reason. I’m just who I am. I’m not trying to gain friends.
“Basically what I’m saying, I don’t wanna make friends with you. I don’t care if you don’t put me on your boat or you let your yacht, I don’t give a f***.
“I’m not gonna ever be nice to nobody. I’ll be kind but never nice.”
You can watch Tyson’s showdown with Paul live on Netflix on November 15.
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