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”.
But actually, the video is from late 2020 when Tyson was getting ready for the fight with Jones Jr. That eight-round exhibition ended as a split draw and was the last time he entered the ring. Paul has yet to publicly acknowledge that the footage is from four years ago, despite the context now appearing below the post on X.
The film, released May 26, shows Helms waking up in Bangkok with the same facial tattoo as Tyson, who makes a brief appearance in the film. (Whitmill’s lawsuit doesn’t include Tyson because the retired boxer has an agreement saying he can be featured on film with the tattoo.)
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.
In “The Hangover Part II,” the sequel to the very successful what-happened-last-night comedy, the character played by Ed Helms wakes up with a permanent tattoo bracketing his left eye. The Maori-inspired design is instantly recognizable as the one sported by the boxer mike tyson face tattoo meaning Tyson, which is part of the joke. (Mr. Tyson makes an appearance in both films, playing himself.)
“That’s the real question: the copyright act balances the copyright owners’ rights and not stifling the creativity of the owners — it would stifle creativity to not be able to make a parody,” Mr. Harkins said.
In 2014, though, Tyson finally fessed up about the real reason for his tattoo. As Sportcasting recounts, Tyson said of his dark period, “I just hated myself… I literally wanted to deface myself.” Capricious though it was, the tattoo was also his first step toward making positive choices.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
If you see someone with an interesting tattoo, you will likely ask him why he chose it, when he decided to get the tattoo that would stay on his body forever, or what it means to him. The same is true for Mike Tyson, who holds special meaning behind each of his six tattoos.
When it comes to the world of boxing, Mike Tyson is a name that is synonymous with the violent sport. Known as “The Baddest Man on the Planet,” Tyson won his first 37 matches in a row, claiming the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles before a surprise loss to Buster Douglas in 1990. Along with being a champion in the ring and one of the greatest to ever do it, Tyson loves tattoos, with this article aiming to dissect six Mike Tyson tattoos and the meaning behind them. But before that, let’s have a quick look at the life and times of the former heavyweight champion.
He said: “I just thought it was a cool tattoo. I was going to get a bunch of hearts and stuff. That would have been really stupid. I was going to be the man of hearts, baby. I was very close. Victor Perez, the tattoo artist, said, I ain’t doing that. I can’t do that.
Though he preferred to live a normal life without all the limelight and media attention, he came under the knife once again after being arrested on suspicion of DUI and felony drug possession. He spent 24 hours in jail and offered 360 hours of community service. To save himself off the year-long sentence, Tyson checked himself into a rehabilitation centre.
Over the years, Tyson has shared his thoughts on the public’s response to his tattoo. While he admits that it may not be to everyone’s taste, he remains proud of his decision to get the tattoo and the statement it makes about his personality.
“I believed I was carrying all these guys,” he said. “I was mentioning all these guys’ names in the ring and I’m doing all this stuff and I better be able to carry my weight too. I’m carrying these guys on my back – Benny Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Mickey Walker, (Muhammad) Ali, (Joe) Louis. I can’t be mentioning these guys and throwing their names out like I know them if I’m not willing to sacrifice what they were willing to sacrifice and kick ass like they were willing to kick ass. No way.”
