When Did Mike Tyson Get A Face Tattoo
Mike Tyson’s legacy goes far beyond his accomplishments in the boxing ring. The Mike Tyson tattoo is a symbol of his unique journey and has become a cultural icon in its own right. With his tattoo, Tyson cemented his place as a pioneer, inspiring countless people to express their true self in a bold and non-apologetic way.
Meaning: On Mike’s left forearm, there is a tattoo of his ex-wife, Monica Turner, whom he married on April 19, 1997. However, the couple got legally separated on January 14, 2003. Monica had filed for divorce from mike tyson tribal tattoo in January 2002, claiming that Mike had committed adultery during their five-year marriage.
daemen.edu"They said I looked like some tribesman or s***. I ran into some chicks that happened to be from the Maowi tribe and they said ‘hey, you’ve got some of my tribe on your face’ and the lady pulled her pants down and she has this tattoo on her butt."
Tyson’s respect for Zedong came while in prison where he read several books about the leader. It was while inside that Tyson decided to get a portrait tattoo of Zedong, with his name "Mao" tattooed underneath. In 2006 Tyson visited the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, with the Chicago Tribune reporting Tyson said, "Standing in front of Chairman Mao’s remains, I felt really insignificant. To have the chance to visit the memorial hall is a great honor for me."
Due to his conviction, Tyson was required to register as a Tier II sex offender under federal law. Tyson has continued to maintain his innocence. In 1992, Erinn Cosby, the daughter of comedian and actor Bill Cosby, publicly accused Tyson of sexually assaulting her in 1989, although no criminal charges were ever sought.
In March 2021, it was announced that Jamie Foxx will star in, and also executive produce the official scripted series Tyson. The limited series will be directed by Antoine Fuqua and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
Tyson was The Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year in 1986 and 1988. A 1998 ranking of "The Greatest Heavyweights of All-Time" by The Ring magazine placed Tyson at number 14 on the list. Despite criticism of facing underwhelming competition during his run as champion, Tyson's knockout power and intimidation factor made him the sport's most dynamic box-office draw. According to Douglas Quenqua of The New York Times, "The began with Mike Tyson, considered by many to be the last great heavyweight champion, losing his title to the little-known Buster Douglas. Seven years later, Mr. Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear in a heavyweight champion bout—hardly a proud moment for the sport."
Another prison tattoo Tyson got while behind bars was that of tennis player Arthur Asher. The tattoo is a portrait of Asher with the words "Days of Grace" written above the image. He decided to get the ink after reading Asher’s biography, Days of Grace, which Spike Lee sent him.
Years later, in January 2023, a New York woman filed a lawsuit accusing Tyson of raping her outside a nightclub in March 1991 and seeking $5 million in damages. The case was moved to U.S. District Court in Albany later that year, and a trial date hasn’t been set.
From 1992 to 1995, while in prison for the rape of Desiree Washington, Tyson read a large number of books, including works by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Spike Lee sent Tyson a copy of tennis player Arthur Ashe's deathbed memoir, Days of Grace. Tyson was moved by the book and respected Ashe's ability to be nonconfrontational and admired his political views and his success as a black athlete in a white-dominated world. Tyson got prison tattoos of both men on his biceps: A portrait of Mao, captioned with "Mao" in all-caps, on the left; a portrait of Ashe beneath the words "Days of Grace" on the right. Gerald Early views the Mao and Ashe tattoos as together "symboliz both newfound self-control and his revision of black cool", with Mao representing strength and authority. Clifton Brown in The New York Times describes the Ashe tattoo as "a contradiction" with Tyson's "fits of rage". Early and biographer Richard Hoffer cast the two bicep tattoos as an unusual combination of, in Hoffer's words, "alternate icons".
He went on to add, "So he (friend) said let’s think about putting a tribal mark or something in there. And I said, okay we will do that. So he caked me a couple of days later. He brought up this tribal mark. So I said let’s do it and we did it." Simple.
The lawsuit drew attention to issues of intellectual property rights and the use of tattoos for commercial purposes. Although the case was eventually settled out of court, it raised important questions about the rights of tattoo artists and their work.
As well as that Victor Whitmill tribal tattoo on his face and the visage of his ex-wife, Monica Turner - whom he divorced after she admitted cheating on him - Tyson also has a portrait of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, whom he described during an interview as an "incredible" person who "had a lot" but who "sacrificed everything for the benefit of other people," on his abdomen.
