With a messy divorce behind him Tyson was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant in 1992 and sentenced to three
years in jail. It later become public knowledge that this woman was an habitual liar and Tyson always swore he was innocent. Tyson found it hard in jail and was the center of much ridicule from inmates. He converted to Islam while inside and once released his first stop was a Mosque, where he prayed with Muhammad Ali. From this point in his career, Tyson became the victim of his own infamy. The more ridiculous the stories in the press, the more ridiculous his behavior. Tyson''''s first
comeback saw him win three fights against Peter Mcneely, Buster Mathis and a brave Frank Bruno. Things were looking up. However, the continued harassment from the media and press was taking its toll on Tyson. In one of the most anticipated fights in boxing history he was paired with the 1996 Champion, Evander Holyfield. Spectators expected blood, guts and glory. What they didn''''t expect was Holyfield head butting Tyson in the first round and Tyson retaliating in the third by biting Holyfield''''s left ear. Tyson was deducted points and the fight continued. Unbelievably, Tyson bit part of Holyfield''''s right ear off and spit it to the canvas. The referee had no choice but to disqualify Tyson. The boxing world was outraged. Tyson was let off lightly with a one year ban and a $3m fine. However, the damage had now been done and Tyson''''s career would spiral out of control. After numerous failed attempts at recognition by fighting boxers who frankly would have fell if your grandma had hit them Tyson came up against Lennox Lewis, the American based Brit. Lewis had been avoiding Tyson for years and now saw an opportunity to beat up on an obviously out of shape, out of practice opponent. Tyson lost and looked only a shadow of his former self. In 2004 he came up against another Brit, Danny Williams and was knocked out in the fourth round. The final straw came when he fought Kevin McBride and basically gave up after not returning to the ring from his stool in the seventh round. Tyson was declared bankrupt in 2003 to the tune of $300m. The next debacle on the comeback trail was ''''Mike Tyson''''s World Tour''''. It was to be a series of four-round exhibitions. Tyson clearly needed the money, but was this one last attempt at regaining his dignity in the sport he had lived and breathed since a child? Tyson was smoking and over-eating and not in good shape at all. This was the main reason that the fights would only be four rounds. Tyson was quoted as saying ''''I''''m useless to society. I don''''t think I''''m worthy of the people who come to see me, but they do.'''' Again, the this comeback attempt, of sorts, ended in failure. Poor numbers showed up and the press had a field day in driving another nail into Tyson''''s proverbial coffin. Tyson may or may not attempt another comeback. The latter seems more likely. This once great boxer''''s heart has been ripped from the game. It is a crying shame the way things have turned out for this man who was once nicknamed ''''The baddest man on the planet''''. I for one think that because of mis-management and manipulative people in his life Tyson never had the chance to be who he wanted to be. Boxing has missed out on possibly the greatest
heavyweight off all time. We build our heroes up just to shoot them down again. The trouble is that Mike Tyson has been shot at too many times. You can only keep getting back up for so long. When he is old and gray and looks back on his life, I hope Mike Tyson can see past all the media hype and press garbage and know that in his prime he was one of the greatest exponents of heavyweight boxing that the world has ever seen. I wish that Mike Tyson could comeback in 2008 for one last fight. I wish he could win it with great boxing and retire on a good note and maybe apologize for his behavior when times were bad. Unfortunately, the world we live in like to kick