But the Chinese fighter had his shorter and lighter opponent in trouble from early on as Joyce provided a static target for Zhang’s booming left hand and plenty of work for his corner as cuts opened up.

Now 54, Mike Tyson has changed. While he returns to the ring after a 15-year hiatus on Saturday to fight Roy Jones Jr, he is also a solid actor, does one-man shows on stage and has a cartoon bearing his name on TV. As well as running his weekly Hotboxin’ podcast, he’s also the owner of the Tyson Ranch, a 40-acre estate 100kms north of Los Angeles that specialises in the growth of cannabis. In fact, having branched out into so many different projects it’s easy to ask: who is Mike Tyson in 2020?

.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-parser-output .citation:target ^Note 1 For WBO interim heavyweight title ^Note 2 For vacant WBC interim lightweight title ^Note 3 For Commonwealth 130 lb boxing division Council and WBC International Silver lightweight titles ^Note 4 For British middleweight title

While Tyson’s tattoo may not be a strict interpretation of traditional Maori face tattoos, it still carries deep meaning and significance for him personally. It is a reflection of his respect and admiration for the culture and traditions of indigenous peoples around the world, and a way for him to express his own connection to these communities through his unique style of body art.

Born in 1966 in New York, Tyson’s upbringing was filled with incredible adversity. He was raised in Brownsville, a neighborhood notorious for its high crime rates. His circumstances weren’t helped by his father, who abandoned the family. His mother, Lorna Smith Tyson, had to raise him and his siblings on her own. He grew up in a poverty-stricken environment and often got into trouble with the police.

Standing tall at 5ft 10 inches, weighing 200 pounds and more is a heavy muscled prodigious puncher Mike Tyson. Christened as Michael Gerard ‘Mike’ Tyson, ever since his early days, Tyson showed signs of moving in to the world of boxing. His violent streak as a child, uncanny behaviour and a resolve for violence to have his way through situations and people laid the strong foundation for him to opt for boxing, not to forget his ginormous weight of 200 pounds at 13 years of age. Popularly known for his terrorising power and intimidating temperament, Tyson quickly climbed up the ladder of success under the strong guidance of Cus D’Amato and Rooney to earn the nicknames ‘Iron Mike’ and ‘the baddest man on planet’. He was popular for defeating his opponents with a single blow. Tyson dominant performance at the sports saw him reach the pinnacle of success, by becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But just as quickly did Tyson climb the ladder of success, he went into the pitfall with the same speed, courtesy his tarnished childhood, poverty-stricken upbringing, poor judgement and criminal behaviour. As such, when he was enjoying raving success and was at the peak of his power, Tyson suffered from serious blows due to his bizarre behaviour, rape conviction, financial loss, bankruptcy and imprisonment. His biting off the ear of opponent Evander Holyfield was the zenith as the world wrote him off as a damaged animal incapable of existing outside the ring. Though Tyson has tried to make amendments thereafter, his image has been destroyed for good, making him one of the most tragic figures of the American sports history.

On his right forearm, Tyson has a dragon tattoo which is easily the most impressive of all his artwork. This is the one tattoo there is little information on, with nobody being sure of the tattoo artist or the actual meaning behind the tattoo. Tyson himself hasn’t discussed the ink but as The Sun detailed, “In Chinese culture, the dragon represents strength, wisdom, and freedom,” so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think Tyson knows this and wanted the tattoo to represent these things. Or maybe he just really likes dragons? We will never know until he comments on the artwork.

Zhang later found out various errors in his preparations. During his one-week COVID-19 quarantine in Miami before the bout, the hotel provided him only two meals a day. Unfamiliar with Miami’s high humidity, Zhang’s water intake during his stay at hotel was insufficient and he suffered from severe dehydration. Compounded by a drop in fitness from staying in the hotel during quarantine, he lost 9 pounds. Zhang had been unconcerned with his weight loss since it was not an issue in the unlimited weight class. His doctor also concluded that his excessive consumption of Chinese tea during training was partially responsible for his iron-deficiency anemia. When Zhang was discharged from hospital, his first words to his managers were the Chinese idiom, fang hu gui shan, lit. “a tiger let go would come back at the village hard”, referring himself as the tiger. Since then, Zhang hired a nutritionist, quit smoking and has stayed away from tea during training and in the immediate run-up to boxing matches.