Michael Tyson Research Paper

thlete. Born Michael Gerard Tyson on June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Lorna Tyson. When Michael was two years old his father abandoned the family, leaving Lorna to care for Michael and his two siblings, Rodney and Denise. Struggling financially, the Tyson family moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn, a neighborhood known for its high crime.
Tyson, small and shy, was often the target of bullying. To combat this, young Michael began developing his own style of street fighting, and graduated from this to criminal activity. His gang, known as the Jolly Stompers, assigned him to clean out cash registers while older members held victims at gunpoint. He was only 11 at the time. He frequently ran into trouble with police
On November 4, 1985, D'Amato died of pneumonia. Tyson was rocked by the death of the man he considered his surrogate father. Boxing trainer Kevin Rooney took over D'Amato's coaching duties and, less than two weeks later, Tyson continued on the path that D'Amato had laid out for him. He recorded his thirteenth knockout in Houston, Texas, and dedicated the fight to D'Amato. Although he seemed to recover well from D'Amato's passing, those close to Tyson say that the boxer never fully recovered from the loss. Many attributed the boxer's future behavior to the loss of the man that had previously grounded and supported
In late 1988, Tyson was sued for his inappropriate attentions toward two nightclub patrons, Sandra Miller and Lori Davis. The women sued Tyson for allegedly forcefully grabbing, propositioning, and insulting them while out dancing.
On February 14, 1989, Tyson's split with Givens became official. He also stepped back into the ring with British boxer Frank Bruno in an effort to retain his world heavyweight title. Tyson went on to knock out Bruno in the fifth round, and keep his status as world champ. On July 21, 1989, Tyson defended his title again, knocking out Carl "The Truth" Williams in one round.
Tyson's winning streak came to an end on February 11, 1990, when he lost his championship belt to boxer Buster Douglas in Tokyo, Japan. Tyson, the clear favorite, sent Douglas to the mat in the eighth round, but Douglas came back in the tenth, knocking Tyson out for the first time in his career.
Discouraged but not ready to give up, Tyson recovered by knocking out Olympic Gold medalist—and former amateur boxing adversary—Henry Tillman later that year. He also defeated Alex Stewart in another bout by a knockout in the first