Pro boxing legend Mike Tyson is one of the greatest stars of the sport and he has generated millions of dollars in his career. However, that has not been the case forever. While he has enjoyed the ups, he has also faced the downs. At some point in his life he went bankrupt due to mismanagement of his money and splurging it incessantly.
Mike Tyson opens up on going bankrupt
Tyson began his professional boxing career on March 6, 1985 and fought for the last time in 2005. However, he made his return in an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. He generated great wealth, many speak of more than $400 million, but he also came away with nothing, and he himself revealed what happened to that money:
“When you’re making that much money, it lasts you a long time. The money didn’t run out right away, it took like 15 or 16 years for me to go broke. I was doing a lot of foolish things like, ‘hey baby, do you like that car? Ok, come and spend the weekend with me,’ pure crazy stuff you can do with your money,” Tyson said.
In statements to the podcast The Pivot and which was picked up by the specialized site Izquierdazo, ‘Iron Mike’ said that the last thing he had left was to pay for his rehab against addictions, when he was going through one of the worst moments of his life.
“I spent my last money I had for rehab, about a million dollars. I had enough money left, about $2 million, and I bought a house in Phoenix. The house was a hard sell, but someone loved it and boom, I got the money. This is God at work.”
Tyson was world heavyweight champion for the first time in 1986, less than two years before his debut. He has spent part of his wealth on luxuries such as diamond necklaces, a gold bathtub and even Bengal tigers. Iron Mike currently has a company dedicated to cannabis production in California, which earns him an estimated 500,000 dollars a month. He hit rock bottom, but the former heavyweight champion bounced back.
