Mike Tyson launched Tyson Pro boxing apparel on April 21.
Mike Tyson is a renaissance man. A rags-to-riches story, who also doubled as a cautionary tale of the predatory nature of boxing promoters, Tyson has landed on his feet as a one-man empire in his post-boxing life.
Tyson in his prime was the face of boxing, a title he admits now belongs to Gervonta Davis. Tank Davis recently defeated Ryan Garcia with a seventh-round knockout in a hotly anticipated (as in an estimated 1.2 million buys) showdown where Tyson was in attendance. Few had seen anything like Tyson when he burst onto the scene as the world’s most terrifying heavyweight in the ‘90s. But as a boxer-turned-businessman, Mike Tyson’s post-boxing career mirrors that of George Foreman, whose transformation from stoic bruiser to lovable magnate is the subject of the biopic Big George Foreman.
Tyson’s business ventures range from his own cannabis company, Tyson 2.0, to his popular podcast Hotboxin’—in which he named Boosie Badass as his favorite guest—to a new line of high-end boxing equipment Tyson Pro, launched on April 21.
Mike Tyson Growing His Empire With Tyson Pro
Tyson’s recently launched Tyson Pro brand features high-end boxing equipment such as wraps, gloves and mitts. Iron Mike even has designs to one day expand into developing MMA and pro wrestling equipment. For Mike Tyson, Tyson Pro was about making the perfect puncher’s glove that also protects your hands. Tyson noted that the key to a great boxing glove is “to be very comfortable and have a great deal of confidence in the glove.”
“Most people that are punchers want to fight in [Cleto] Reyes gloves, because that’s a puncher’s glove,” Tyson told me. “But it doesn’t necessarily protect your hands. I punched in a boxing glove, like Everlast, because fortunately I could punch hard enough to hurt you in that glove. Not everybody can punch hard enough to hurt you in an Everlast glove. That’s why people like to fight in gloves with less padding. I need the most padding, because I have to protect my hands. And the [Tyson Pro] glove is snug, there’s not much movement in the glove, because that’s how you break your hands—with the movement.”
Tyson has learned a great deal about business as he continues to branch out and diversify his portfolio. And though many of his famous fights ended with a first-round knockout, his No. 1 rule in business is to take things slowly when making decisions.
“Don’t make fast reactions. Think it over,” Tyson said on his entrepreneurship strategy. “Wait a while. Look to be involved with people; look to be involved in partnerships with the right energy. That’s what it’s all about, partnerships, building brands, building corporations and helping communities.”
Mike Tyson On Possible WWE Match With Logan Paul
Tyson has an array of passions and interest, as if that wasn’t obvious through his eclectic business ventures, and one of his first loves was pro wrestling.
Similar to his idol Muhammad Ali, Tyson grew up watching pro wrestling where he was a fan of legendary wrestlers like Bruno Sammartino. And just like Ali’s persona was modeled after Gorgeous George, Tyson used elements of pro wrestling to model himself into more than just a devastating boxer, but rather a pugilistic lightning rod. Tyson was a box-office draw whom many paid money to see because of the element of entertainment he brought to a boxing ring.
“I’m in the wrestling Hall of Fame,” Tyson proudly stated. “I loved wrestling all my life. The Valiant Brothers, Bruno Sammartino, that’s just who I was: the arrogant talker and the bad guy who people booed. That’s when I realized you can’t remember the good guy without the bad guy. That’s what makes the good guy famous, is the bad guy. The good guy is nothing without the bad guy, the bad guy is the biggest draw. That’s why Floyd Mayweather and myself were the biggest draws because we were the bad guys.”
Tyson has always understood the value of bringing emotion to the sport of boxing, as it’s far more important to make fans feel something—for better or worse—than to simply be a pure athlete. And whether it’s Ali, Tyson or a new era of influencers-turned-boxers like Logan Paul, stirring emotion within a fanbase will always be more valuable to a promotion than a technically sound right cross.
“Hate is really close to love,” Tyson said. “And just as much as you could love somebody, you could always have the opportunity to hate him. And just like you could hate somebody, he’ll always give you the opportunity to love him because of how he handles his adversity.”
“When I see [Logan Paul] looking good and doing well, I always stick up for him because when he makes all the money himself, I get the credit, too. Because without me he would have never had a platform.”
“I don’t think he’s really that serious [about a boxing match], but I’m just happy he’s receiving the success that the has. For my ego, I feel I had so much to do with that.”
Paul has called out Mike Tyson in the past for what would be a massive boxing exhibition, but with Logan Paul taking to pro wrestling like a duck to water—and given Tyson’s own history with WWE—perhaps meeting Tyson in a pro wrestling ring would be more fitting.
“Have you ever seen me wrestle before?” joked Tyson before admitting he’d be interested in a WWE match against Paul.
“I would do it! I would kick his [expletive] ass, yes I would do it. Even though I love him, though (laughs)” Tyson said.
“This is what I found out about WrestleMania: Everybody says ‘that’s fake, that’s fake.’ But the check is real. Deep down inside—don’t let [WWE] know—I would do this for free.”
Tyson on UFC-WWE Merger And If Endeavor Should Add Boxing
Endeavor’s blockbuster acquisition of WWE represents a sea-changing moment for combat sports, with the biggest pro wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions now existing under one umbrella. For boxing enthusiasts, and as the face of combat sports changes before their eyes, the sweet science of pro boxing remains the elephant in the room.
Matchroom boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently inquired what Endeavor’s WWE deal could mean for boxing. “Let’s see what [Endeavor does] now in terms of boxing,” Hearn said during an appearance on “the MMA Hour.”
“Because obviously, that’s the one missing for them. But it’s a tough business. Maybe ...maybe they wanna stay in things they can control.”
Tyson didn’t mince words in his reaction to the major deal as he would be thrilled with Endeavor incorporating boxing into its budding live entertainment portfolio.
“Why wouldn’t boxing do the same?” Tyson asked.
Mike Tyson's Tyson Pro Boxing line looks to extend into MMA and WWE.
“It would be something similar to the Rockefellers because when he monopolized the whole oil system, and then they made him break it up, he had more money breaking it up than he did monopolizing it.”
“I think if they all formed together, they could highlight together. They could all be seen together. Fighters would all be fighting in a square ring at one time, still with the ropes and everything. We have to make combat sports have such an affinity with the combat world that it’s going to be the biggest athletic sport from the beginning of the journey to the end. We have to change sports and turn it into a total entertainment field. Total entertainment. Masks, costumes, all that stuff. Everything. Take it to its highest potential, to the imagination of everybody. Almost become God status.”
“Boxing alone—fighting alone—won’t last. Entertainment will last forever. That’s why the fighter has to be exciting. Entertainment can last forever,” Tyson continued.
“In boxing, a guy can have a really stinkin’ fight, and they’ll use him again. In MMA and wrestling, if you don’t draw people and you’re stinkin’ the place out, you’ll never see that guy again. In boxing, if anybody stinks the place out, he should fight in Alaska somewhere.”
WWE and UFC put just as much emphasis on entertainment as they do on sports. Tyson feels this is missing from boxing, which at its peak, thrived on pageantry and star power.
“It’s about entertaining. Even the gloves—the special gloves made—that’s entertainment, too. The size of all the fighters being showcased. Something where people could go ‘wow, he’s got that big of hands?!’ Or ‘wow, he’s got small hands.’ Anything the people have to constantly be thinking about. And when you’re not fighting, the people should be thinking ‘when’s the next time the guy is gonna fight again?’”
If boxing’s biggest need is to consistently pique interest from casual fans as a live entertainment experience, then perhaps Endeavor would be a fit that is every bit as snug as a Tyson Pro boxing glove.
