The Story of Mike Tyson

History and Upbringing 

According to Teodorczuk (2016), the 1960s served as periods of black discontent and serves as the time when the legendary Mike Tyson was born. During this time, rioting escalated contributing to a climate of widespread poverty, unemployment, and crime. Tyson was the son of Lorna Tyson and was born on 30June 1966. She was earlier married to Percel Tyson however, their marriage ended. She later met Jimmy Kirk Patrick with whom she had three children including Rodney born in 1961, Denise 1964, and Mike 1966. Two years after Mike was born, Jimmy abandoned the family leaving them in abject poverty. Arguments posit that the tough background Tyson grew in molded his ability to be a boxer. Following the difficult background, Tyson’s mother worked as a nurse aid but relied desperately on welfare to support the family. Tyson often remembers with disdain that the family home in Brownsville had a putrid smell. From the environment and the deteriorating psychological state of his mother, Tyson recalls his mother as being mean and promiscuous while recalling the intoxicated abusive pimps and prostitutes. The environment was indeed unloving, explaining the development of Tyson’s tough nature. Growing up, Tyson was part of a Rutland crew called the Rats that specialized in burglary. Following the nature of gang violence, there were beefing with the Puma who attacked them as they were strolling in the park. At this point, Tyson was ten years old, a tender age and he knew how to hold a gun. Despite having the rough background, Tyson was meek in his demeanor. Before the move from Bed Stuy to Brownsville, Tyson enjoyed moments with his family despite his mother constantly drinking. The move to Brownsville altered his life following that it was a rough and gruesome kind of place. In the neighborhood, gang violence was at its highest and it was at this time that his mother was an addict. At the time, Tyson was going to public school and he experienced bullying following that he spoke with a lisp. His period in Brownsville landed him in trouble with him sentenced to Spofford in 1977. From then on Tyson went from one detention center to another. As explained by Teodorczuk (2016), as a young child Tyson struggled with self-esteem issues as he was overweight, had pimples, was softly spoken that resulted in him experiencing victimization and bullying. To counter the effects of bullying, he often retreated to a coup he had in the yard where he could care for the pigeons. His retreat did not survive for a considerable amount of time after a gang member destroyed the coup that devastated Tyson causing him to defend himself by attacking the gang member. Troubled by his childhood at age 11, Tyson was drinking, smoking, and committing petty crime. The tables turned with the gang becoming his family with drug dealers being his role models. This was so much so that at the age of 12, Tyson was under arrest for about 38 times and was frequently in Brooklyn juvenile detention centers. It is from meeting D’Amato that his life changed. In the wake of his troubled behavior, Tyson found himself at the Tyron Reform School for boys in Upstate New York. The school presented him an opportunity to learn about boxing through Bobby Stewart who later adopted him. Later he was adopted by Cus D’ Amato (Hudson River Valley Library, 2017) who became his boxing manager and trainer. 

According to Oliver (2011), D’ Amato was an amazing trainer who earlier coached Jose Torres to world title. Throughout his training, he incorporated his philosophy, as he understood the importance of psychological training in conjunction with physical training, McNeil (2013). As acoach, D’ Amato was aware of Tyson’s background and sought to encourage him by transforming him into a heavy weight champion. Tracing back to his childhood, Tyson’s emotional education started early in the day with D’ Amato citing lectures asbreakfast was cooking that continued all the way to the time Mike caught a bus to school. At the time Tyson was attending the Catskill public school system, he seldom enjoyed school. However, D’ Amato insisted on the importance of having an education. Within the school, Tyson experienced challenges, with D’ Amato supporting him through the challenges by hiring a tutor to support him in learning. According to Bowden (2017), his training approach borrows to some extent from stoicism, as he believed in affirmations as a critical component in psychological training. His focus was on the present, facing fear while in the ring and using it to overcome an opponent. The insistence of the power of mind attributes his success to developing heavy weight champions. He understood Tyson’s background and by building on his mind, he aimed to deliver Tyson from the wave of his past, giving the assurance, that he would become a great individual. From the very onset that he met him, he was sure that he was different and saw his potential to become a great boxer.In part of empowering Tyson, D’ Amato encouraged his trainees to read from the various works of Julius Caesar and Napoleon Hill. In understanding that Tyson needed a more elaborate African American model, he involved him with the life of Jackie Robison whom he believed he would be an ideal leader. One of the strong training points as explained by Bowden (2017) was Tyson having the ability to master fear. He believed that to manipulate fear, you have to conquer it first. Of importance to note as explained by McNeill (2014), D’ Amato's care, protection, discipline, and guidance transformed Tyson and served as one of the positive relationships. In the course of his stay with D’Amato, Tyson got into various tournaments in which he displayed victories that resonate with Tyson having a natural talent for boxing. Despite the encouraging changes he had made, Tyson’s behavior outside of boxing was questionable as he was a truant, disrespectful to training and did not value the process he was going through. Over the course of his career, Tyson earned several names such as ‘iron mike’, which is a reflection of his tough character especially in the ring where he had the reputation of obliterating his opponents in a short span of time. Mike’s debut in the professional world was on March 1985 where he conquered Hector Mercedes in a first round knockout. Unfortunately, in the same year he experienced the loss of D’ Amato who had become like a father to him, (McNeill, 2014). The loss took a toll on him at the same time increased his determination towards becoming the world heavy weight champion. The next year presented milestones for him with him making his first television appearance in 1986 in a match with Jesse Ferguson. Every fight strengthened his ability and at 20 years, he became the undisputed champion for three years. As with all successful streaks, his success halted after a match with Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson struggled to recover to the point of becoming the undisputed champion. 

Milestones in Mike Tyson’s Career 

At the onset of his career, Tyson made great strides to be a respected boxer at a young age. As explained by Biography.com (2017), by 1986, Tyson had an impressive record of 22-0 with 21 of the fights won by knockout. He boasts in being the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Throughout his career, he continued being resilient, that paid off after defending his title against James Smith adding the World Boxing Association Championship to a list of his victories. This went on to give him the title of first heavy weight champion to own all three major boxing belts. 

Unfortunate Events in Mike Tyson’s Career 

From an unprofessional stance, Tyson had trouble and during the young phases of his career, he was with actress Robin Givens. The pair as explained by Teodorczuk (2016) had a whirlwind romance that saw them get married in 1988. However, it ended after a year and upon Tyson’s reflection of the relationship, he asserted that they were both too young for the relationship. Coupled with divorce and the reminding loss of D’Amato, Tyson in his documentary admits to losing belief in himself. Rodney King took an active role in his life but did little to help him, instead reinforced a cycle of abuse in his life. This shows Tyson per take in substance abuse, prostitution that was taking him down a rabbit hole. Tyson’s struggle with marriage spills through his second marriage to Monica Turner. She filed for divorce following allegations of adultery. 

A common denominator in Tyson’s life is his considerable amount of time in court. In 1988 as explained by Biography.com (2017), he filed a lawsuit against Don King with the claim that he was ripping him off. The lawsuits progressively increased including several sexual harassment cases and a suit filed by Rooney for wrongful termination. One disgraceful event that tainted Tyson’s image was the convicted charge of assault in 1992. As explained by the New York Times (2013), in the book, ‘ Mike Tyson: His fights and His Rights’, the book highlights how the boxer was on trial in Indianapolis for raping a contestant in a black beauty pageant. As described in the book, Tyson appears a man centered his attention on women and would often talk to them in inappropriate manners. He got conviction of the charge of rape to serve a sentence of six years but managed to serve for three based on good behavior. The conviction represents Tyson’s horrid way of life that was catching up with him. From a philosophical perspective, we could argue that Tyson’s life in part draws from hedonism. Hedonism as a school of thought, boasts in being the oldest, simplest ideology. It reiterates the view that pleasure is good. The central principle behind this is the importance of things that make life better especially by increasing pleasure. Tyson was infamous for his sexual conquests and constant pursuit of women as highlighted by Roberts & Garrison (2014). He lived through a hedonist approach so much so that he lost most of his wealth to the extent he declared bankruptcy. Not only so, but also while in prison, he admitted to having sex behind bars with his drug counselor and prison visitors to the point he was too tired to work out. The hedonistic approach could trace from having a difficult childhood, a mother who neglected him and the loss of the one person who believed in him being D’ Amato. 

One of the significant events in Tyson’s career that caused his downfall in boxing together with the revoking of his license was the encounter with Evance Holyfield. During the first encounter with Holyfield, he received head-butts that were accidental causing a rescheduling of the match. Tyson struggled with the match and as explained by Teodorczuk (2016), he felt an attack of the self-triggering the need for revenge. In an unpredictable twist of events, he bit off Holyfield’s ear. Following the fight as explained by Hudson River Valley Institute (2017) his career came to a halt and too part as a guest in many programs until he attempted to restart his boxing career. In an attempt to build on his image, his other publicized fight was in 2002 against Lennox Lewis that took on a personal approach as opposed to professional. Tyson lost the fight that significantly marked a decline in his career. 

Over the preceding years, it is of the opinion that Tyson’s life would improve however, that is not the case as Tyson faced a brush with the law following a DUI arrest and the discovery of drugs in his car. He received a sentence of three-year probation, community service and 24hours in jail. 

Moral epistemologists would argue that Tyson’s behavior and moral standing draws form an empirical sense in that his past unfortunate experience plays in part to his sense of morality. Rationalists on other hand would argue that Tyson has a choice to be immoral and should exercise logic in some of the things he does. For example, rationalists would point out Tyson biting Holyfield’s ear as irrational that contradicts morality in its very sense. 

Conclusion 

It is clear that Tyson is a man of resilience at the same time, a man who experienced a troubled childhood. From a background of poverty and crime, there was hope for young Tyson with individuals such as D’ Amato showing the faith they have in him to be the best. This calls to mind the idea of giving people second chances and equally incorporating a sense of utilitarianism in their treatment of other. Despite the unfortunate environment that surrounded him, he overcame the odds to be the youngest heavyweight boxer during his time. With the substantive amount of time spent in courts and in abusing drugs it is clear to see the limitations of living life in a hedonistic sense. This is not to mean that the pursuit of pleasure is an unworthy cause, rather there is need for balance in that individuals need to ensure that their acts have a high moral standing and for an especially known figure, there is more focus on their moral character. This follows that young people that come from a similar background rely on the achievement of Tyson to realize their dreams and aspirations. 

References 

Biography.com (2017). Mike Tyson . Web. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/mike-tyson-9512980/ on 9 Aug 2017. 

Bowden, Steve. (2017). What Mike Tyson and the Stoics teach us about innovation . Web. Retrieved from http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2017/07/10/what-mike-tyson-and-the-stoics-teach-us-about-innovation/ on 9 Aug 2017. 

McNeil, William. (2014). the Rise of Mike Tyson Heavyweight . North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 

Hudson River Valley Institute. (2017). Mike Tyson. Print. 

New York Times. (2013). Mike Tyson: His Fights, His Life . New York Times. 

Roberts, Randy & Garrison, Gregory. (2000). Heavy Justice: The Trial of Mike Tyson . The University of Arkansas Press. 

Teodorczuk, Krysia. (2016). Mike Tyson: A Psycho biographical Study . University of Johannesburg. Print.