However, his family was at a surprise 21st birthday party, which had a tattoo artist at it. As everyone drank alcohol at the event, Paul then got a second tattoo on his hip. It was something his dad encouraged, but his mom did not. Once he got the tattoo on his hip, “it was all downhill after that.”
The knockout victory by Douglas over Tyson, the previously undefeated “baddest man on the planet” and arguably the most feared boxer in professional boxing at that time, has been described as one of the most shocking upsets in modern sports history.
Tyson, a former heavyweight boxing champion, has shared that the inspiration behind his distinctive face tattoo was drawn from his interest in Maori and Polynesian tribal art. These types of tattoos have long held deep significance related to strength, courage, and warrior mentality within the cultures they originated from.
Paul has often expressed his respect for Tyson, citing him as one of his boxing idols. By getting a face tattoo similar to Tyson’s, Paul aims to honor the former heavyweight champion and further solidify his own identity as a serious contender in the boxing arena.
Tyson played a couple of matches post the Lewis match. He underperformed in all of them. His last professional outing was at the match against Kevin McBride on June 11, 2005. He quit the match and announced his retirement before the start of the seventh round.
Paul’s face tattoo, however, is fake since they did not show the tattoo being done properly, which means this was just for promoting the fight. Furthermore, Paul blatantly imitating Tyson is his way of paying homage to the legend, but several fans did not enjoy it.
Mike Thomas spent 23 years on staff and 16 years as the sports editor at The Herald News in Fall River, Mass., before joining Sportscasting in 2020. Mike has a deep knowledge of and passion for the NFL and NBA, and he excels at interviewing sports celebrities to find out their Super Bowl picks. A New England Newspaper and Press Association award-winning columnist and an avid sports memorabilia collector, Mike enjoys keeping up with all the sports news and the works of former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly. You can find more of Mike’s work on Muck Rack.
On September 24, 2007, Tyson pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and driving under the influence. He was convicted of these charges in November 2007 and sentenced to 24 hours in jail. After his release, he was ordered to serve three years’ probation and complete 360 hours of community service. Prosecutors had requested a year-long jail sentence, but the judge praised Tyson for seeking help with his drug problems. On November 11, 2009, Tyson was arrested after getting into a scuffle at Los Angeles International airport with a photographer. No charges were filed.
The family lived box in bing.com Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. Throughout his childhood, Tyson lived in and around neighborhoods with a high rate of crime. According to an interview in Details, his first fight was with a bigger youth who had pulled the head off one of Tyson’s pigeons. Tyson was repeatedly caught committing petty crimes and fighting those who ridiculed his high-pitched voice and lisp. By the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times. He ended up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, New York. Tyson’s emerging boxing ability was discovered there by Bobby Stewart, a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer. Stewart considered Tyson to be an outstanding fighter and trained him for a few months before introducing him to boxing manager and trainer Cus D’Amato. Tyson dropped out of high school as a junior. He was later awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in 1989. Kevin Rooney also trained Tyson, and he was occasionally assisted by Teddy Atlas, although Atlas was dismissed by D’Amato when Tyson was 15. Rooney eventually took over all training duties for the young fighter.
Paul’s face tattoo, however, is fake since they did not show the tattoo being done properly, which means this was just for promoting the fight. Furthermore, Paul blatantly imitating Tyson is his way of paying homage to the legend, but several fans did not enjoy it.
On June 27, 1988, Tyson faced Michael Spinks. Spinks, who had taken the heavyweight championship from Larry Holmes via fifteen-round decision in 1985, had not lost his title in the ring but was not recognized as champion by the major boxing organizations. Holmes had previously given up all but the IBF title, and that was eventually stripped from Spinks after he elected to fight Gerry Cooney (winning by TKO in the fifth round) rather than IBF Number 1 Contender Tony Tucker, as the Cooney fight provided him a larger purse. However, Spinks did become the lineal champion by beating Holmes and many (including Ring magazine) considered him to have a legitimate claim to being the true heavyweight champion. The bout was, at the time, the richest fight in history and expectations were very high. Boxing pundits were predicting a titanic battle of styles, with Tyson’s aggressive infighting conflicting with Spinks’s skillful out-boxing and footwork. The fight ended after 91 seconds when Tyson knocked Spinks out in the first round; many consider this to be the pinnacle of Tyson’s fame and boxing ability.