One of the greatest boxers of all time, Mike Tyson has had much success professionally, yet his personal life has always been quite a mess. He emerged in 1985 and by the following year he won the WBC heavyweight title. Not since Muhammad Ali had those outside the world of boxing stood up and taken notice of a boxer as much as they did with Mike Tyson.

Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn. He was raised by a single mother in the city, where he was known to beat up other kids for making fun of him. Tyson spent time in and out of juvenile detention centers in his teen years until he turned his attention to boxing.

Between 1997 and 1990 Mike Tyson’s was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He won every boxing match he fought. He was also the youngest heavyweight champion ever. His fierceness in the ring earned him the nicknames Iron Mike Tyson, Kid Dynamite and The Baddest Man on the Planet. Many boxers were afraid to fight him.

In addition to being famous for his boxing, Tyson was also famous for his marriage to television beauty Robin Givens, who rose to fame on the television series Head of the Class in the mid-80’s. Their marriage was short lived, only one year, and they filed for divorce. Givens accused Mike Tyson of abusing her and although charges were filed, he was never convicted.

After his divorce from Givens, Mike Tyson’s career took a turn for the worse, too. He lost his championship to James “Buster” Douglas in 1990. Then he was out of the game while he served jail time for rape. In 1991 he was arrested for raping Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island. He was convicted in 1992 and served three years of a six year sentence. Upon his release in 1995, Tyson began a professional comeback.

His professional comeback was a success, at first. But in 1997 during a match with Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear, severing it and even biting off a piece of it. Tyson was suspended from boxing and had his license taken away.

This began a second downward spiral that led to more jail time for assaulting two people during a car accident. Once out of prison the second time, Tyson continued to fight, but financially he was ruined and had to declare bankruptcy in 2003.    

Amazingly enough, after his alleged abuse of his first wife Givens, his rape conviction, and his infamous ear biting incident, Mike Tyson got married again. This time to Monica Turner. The two have two children, Rayna and Amir. The two divorced in 2002 but still have a working relationship. Turner has taken over his business affairs to make sure that she will eventually be able to collect the millions of dollars he owes her in child support and alimony.