The purpose of this pop culture paper is to provide a discussion and analysis of the phenomenon that is Mike Tyson. The format that will be utilized for this paper is to provide a brief background on the man as well as highlight his storied career. Finally this paper will conclude with a brief discussion of why the fighter has become such a pop icon.
According to Clancy (2008) Mike Tyson grew up in Brooklyn New York and was raised by his mother until he was sixteen years old when she passed away and left the teenager in the hands of his youth boxing trainer ‘Cus D’Amato’ who later became his legal guardian. According to the 2009documentary film Tyson, the young man frequently engaged in petty crimes and took to street fighting on frequent occasions. However it was under the guidance of D’Amato that Tyson started performing well at amateur boxing matches and was admitted to the 1982 Junior Olympic Games. Although it was the case that Tyson only won a silver medal, according to the 2009 documentary Tyson became a phenomenon after he scored the fastest knockout in an Olympic bout at approximately 8 seconds.
It was upon this foundation that Tyson made his professional debut in 1985 where according to Cyber Boxing Zone (2010) Tyson won twenty six of his first twenty eight bouts by either knockout or technical knockout, most of which ended in the first round. The man became a powerhouse the likes of which the boxing community had not seen for a long time and quickly became known to most athletics fans across the world. However this career which brought great heights ended up hitting rock bottom. Tyson stood accused of sexually and physically abusing his wife Robin Givens during his marriage in the late eighties. After the divorce Tyson was accused and convicted of raping a young woman in Indiana and according to Berkow (1995) served three years of a ten year sentence.
After this point Tyson tried to regain his career by staging a comeback that culminated in a two major bouts with Evander Holyfield during which Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfields ear.
As pop cultural consumers I think it is natural that we are fascinated with te rise and fall of celebrity. It is the case that during the height of his career, Mike Tyson was an unstoppable force and a near perfect boxing machine. However in his personal life he brought about a type of ruin that the man self described in the 2009 documentary about his life as being “A tragedy”. As with many pop cultural phenomenon’s we tend to view. As far as my analysis is concerned, very few people remember Tyson for his boxing career anymore and simply focus on his failed personal life which is a trend we have seen spread across many different pop cultural fields. Mike Tyson remains such a pop Icon well over a decade after his last serious bouts simply because by the force of his personality he remains such an interesting figure. A soft spoken man, with tattoos over his face, that says remarkably inappropriate comments, who had a trainwreck life but was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
According to Clancy (2008) Mike Tyson grew up in Brooklyn New York and was raised by his mother until he was sixteen years old when she passed away and left the teenager in the hands of his youth boxing trainer ‘Cus D’Amato’ who later became his legal guardian. According to the 2009documentary film Tyson, the young man frequently engaged in petty crimes and took to street fighting on frequent occasions. However it was under the guidance of D’Amato that Tyson started performing well at amateur boxing matches and was admitted to the 1982 Junior Olympic Games. Although it was the case that Tyson only won a silver medal, according to the 2009 documentary Tyson became a phenomenon after he scored the fastest knockout in an Olympic bout at approximately 8 seconds.
It was upon this foundation that Tyson made his professional debut in 1985 where according to Cyber Boxing Zone (2010) Tyson won twenty six of his first twenty eight bouts by either knockout or technical knockout, most of which ended in the first round. The man became a powerhouse the likes of which the boxing community had not seen for a long time and quickly became known to most athletics fans across the world. However this career which brought great heights ended up hitting rock bottom. Tyson stood accused of sexually and physically abusing his wife Robin Givens during his marriage in the late eighties. After the divorce Tyson was accused and convicted of raping a young woman in Indiana and according to Berkow (1995) served three years of a ten year sentence.
After this point Tyson tried to regain his career by staging a comeback that culminated in a two major bouts with Evander Holyfield during which Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfields ear.
As pop cultural consumers I think it is natural that we are fascinated with te rise and fall of celebrity. It is the case that during the height of his career, Mike Tyson was an unstoppable force and a near perfect boxing machine. However in his personal life he brought about a type of ruin that the man self described in the 2009 documentary about his life as being “A tragedy”. As with many pop cultural phenomenon’s we tend to view. As far as my analysis is concerned, very few people remember Tyson for his boxing career anymore and simply focus on his failed personal life which is a trend we have seen spread across many different pop cultural fields. Mike Tyson remains such a pop Icon well over a decade after his last serious bouts simply because by the force of his personality he remains such an interesting figure. A soft spoken man, with tattoos over his face, that says remarkably inappropriate comments, who had a trainwreck life but was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
