Mike Tyson’s Honorary Doctorate: Tyson received an Honorary Doctorate in Human Letters in 1989, showing his support for education and triumphs over adversity.
Mental Health Struggles and Drug Habits: Tyson openly talked about his struggles with depression, mental health, and drug addiction, seeking therapy and treatment to address these issues.

WWE Hall of Fame Induction: Tyson’s appearances in the WWE helped save the company from potential closure and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.

Mike Tyson is a true boxing royalty who was not just a world heavyweight champion but also a figure of multifaceted intrigue beyond it. Look past the fierce jabs and punches, and you will find his life’s story unfolding in a series of captivating headlines and controversies that have been deemed far too frantic and frenzied for a boxing icon.

His eccentric behavior along with his considerable notoriety, indubitable controversies and eccentric ventures transcended his personality and character from that of a feared boxer to a compelling celebrity in the public’s eye.

He has met notable individuals, indulged in unconventional hobbies and lived an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle to the point where his life has now become an open book for the world to read.

10Honorary Doctorate In Human Letters

An Award Outside The Ring Where He Finally Felt Accepted

Mike Tyson had a very difficult upbringing. He often indulged in criminal activities and dropped out of school as a junior at an early age to focus on his boxing career.

In 1989, at the peak of his career, Tyson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Human Letters from Central State University, Ohio in 1989. On receiving the award, Tyson cited his support for education and civic causes and his triumphs over adversity.

9Vocal About Mental Health Struggles And Drug Habits

He Was Successful In The Ring, But Struggling Outside Of I

Throughout his career, Mike Tyson became notorious for his temper and rage, both in and out of the ring. His difficult upbringing manifested his behavioral and temperament issues that caused a lot of controversy and intrigue around him.

He later openly talked about his struggles with depression, mental health and his over-burgeoning drug habit during his golden years. Tyson also acknowledged seeking therapy and treatment for his issues and attempted to find the root causes of them all.

8WWE Hall Of Fame Induction

He Saved The WWE From Closure

Mike Tyson was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2012. This was done to pay respect to Tyson for bailing out WWE (then WWF) from potential closure due to bad television ratings.

He first appeared as a special guest referee at Wrestlemania 14 in 1998 in the classic match-up between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Following that, Tyson made occasional appearances in the WWE and even had a match against Chris Jericho in 201 where he knocked him out.

7Converted To Islam In Prison

Finding Solace In Religion During His Time Away From Boxing

Tyson has admitted that prison has helped him mend his life back together.

In early 1992, 25-year-old Mike Tyson was charged with raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington. Subsequently, he was sentenced to six years in prison with four years of probation, but was released within three years of his sentence.

During his time in prison, Tyson converted to Islam and even received a Muslim name, Malik Abdul Aziz. Many later doubted the seriousness of his Islamic faith considering the past and present incidents in his career and personal life. However, Tyson has claimed many times that he does remain faithful to Islam in many ways.

6Owner And Proprietor Of A Cannabis Ranch

Giving Back To The Community Through Gainful Employment

Mike Tyson’s business skills came into the foray after his retirement, especially after opening and operating multiple business ventures.

Mike Tyson opened a cannabis ranch to assist people in ditching their opiate addiction. Through his cannabis company, Tyson Holistic Holdings, this cannapreneur opened a ‘420-acre’ resort in Southern California dedicated not only to opiate addicts but also employment for veterans returning from active duty.

He currently uses the ranch for research into growing and improving cannabis cultivation and wants to invest in further ways to destigmatize the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Alongside this venture, he also owns his own production company called ‘Iron Mike Productions’ and runs his podcast series called ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’.

5Abstained From Sex For 5 Years

A Misguided Belief That He Accepted Years Later

Mike Tyson abstained from sex in order to become world champion “I always read that great fighters never had sex before fights and I was a young kid and I wanted to be the youngest heavyweight champion in the world, so I restrained myself from sex for around 5 years” pic.twitter.com/XBBOEVeMuf — Infotale (@infotale_in) March 9, 2023

He believed abstinence would make him a better fighter.

Tyson’s fame and success made him very popular with women and frequently made headlines due to his interactions with them. Despite having controversial moments with women, Iron Mike claimed to have abstained from any sexual activity for five years during his illustrious career.

In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Tyson admitted that he was told to do so by the people around him so that it would not deter him from his ultimate goal of being a world champion.

4Showed Love And Care For Pigeons

A Childhood Incident With A Pigeon That Caused His Fondness With The Birds

Tyson is now a proud owner and parent to multiple pigeons on his estate.

“The Baddest Man On The Planet” had a very emotional and peculiar attachment to animals and birds, especially pigeons. In several interviews and documentaries, Tyson went on to explain his special bond with the common birds and the impact they had on his life and career.

He developed a love for pigeons in his childhood when he had his first-ever fight with a kid who killed his pigeon. His love for pigeons was so great that he even got a TV Series that provided an enriching window into the life of the former heavyweight champion who had raised and bred pigeons since he was a child.

3Offered To Fight A Gorilla For $10,000

A Joke That Spread Like Wildfire

He first got the idea of owning tigers during his time in prison.

Tyson always cared for animals and birds. In the late 80s when Tyson had just begun to peak in boxing, he hired out an entire zoo for a private tour with his former wife, Robin Givens. It was an era when Mike Tyson was rich beyond words, and he just wanted to test how far his money could take him. He offered the zookeeper $10,000 to open the gates to the silverback gorilla’s cage and let him have a tussle with the giant primate. Unsurprisingly, his offer was eventually turned down.

2Owned Three Pet Tigers

Boris, Storm and Kenya Were The Real Royal Creatures

Just a picture of Mike Tyson walking his tiger.. 🐅😂 pic.twitter.com/jdMcVjxgMf — Tommy 💫 (@ManiaTommy) April 10, 2023

The three tigers were never aggressive to Mike Tyson himself.

One of the widely known facts about Tyson’s life outside of boxing is that he was a proud owner of three tigers. In his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he admitted that the idea came to him when he was in prison between 1992 and 1995.

Although he was still flush with his prize money in boxing, he went on to sell his million-dollar car collection in exchange for pet tigers. He eventually got three Bengal tigers – Boris, Storm and Kenya for $70,000 and consequently spent $200,000 to feed and house them, and $120,000 to train them.

1He Met With A Serial Killer…Unknowingly

A Famous Interview With The Baddest On The Planet

Phoenix serial killer, Dale Hausner with Mike Tyson & Bernard Hopkins, at boxing events in Phoenix where Hausner was a photographer. Hausner and and Samuel Dieteman shot and killed 8 people and injured 19 others in random attacks. These Photos are not from my personal collection. pic.twitter.com/VV7Dn5S3yr — Christopher Duett (@BethuneTheory) January 13, 2018

The police later claimed that Dale Hausner was in awe of Mike Tyson.

As crazy as Mike Tyson’s life and career was, there is no denying that one of the craziest moments came when he admitted in an interview that he had met with serial killer Dale Hausner thinking he was a sports reporter.

This accidental befriending happened in Phoenix, Arizona when Mike Tyson’s camp had set up an interview for him with Hausner. It was only a couple of days after the interview, that the police had surrounded Tyson’s gym and proceeded to inform him of the serial killer’s heinous crimes.

Currently, Mike Tyson has reflected on the personal, yet public complexities of his past life and career and lives a more retrospective and active life that makes us truly appreciate the icon that he is.