Tyson's Tattoos: A Journey Through Strength, Aggression, and Tradition

Some of the tattoos have not survived to this day.

Mike Tyson is one of the most recognizable athletes in history. Not the least role in this is played by the boxer's appearance, namely his tattoos. Many people associate Tyson primarily with a tattoo on his face, but in addition to it, there are six more images on the body of the athlete. And there were three more, which you may have already forgotten about. All of them were stuffed in different periods of the boxer's life.

We tell about each of Tyson's tattoos, trying to understand what meaning the boxer himself put in them.

Tyson's tattoos, which are no longer visible

At the beginning of his career, young Tyson had only two tattoos on his body, which can be seen in the photo of the boxer at that time. On Tyson's right shoulder, his own name, "Mike," was depicted.

And on the forearm of the same arm, there is a drawing in the form of either a cross or a sword.

Rumor has it that this image was a symbol of a ghetto gang that Tyson was a member of as a teenager. And the drawing appeared on Mike's body at 13, becoming the boxer's first tattoo.

Over time, new images appeared on top of these tattoos on Tyson's body, which we will tell you below.

Also, for a long time, the body of Mike painted a portrait of his ex-wife - pediatrician Monica Turner. The world first saw this tattoo on Tyson's left forearm in 1995, when the boxer got out of prison, where he had been for three years on rape charges.

Monica Turner became one of the few who did not turn away from Mike then. After all the years of imprisonment, the girl visited Mike in prison, and after his release, the couple married, but their marriage did not last long - only six years. After the divorce, he disappeared and tattooed a portrait of his wife, over which the boxer put a new drawing.

Image of the deceased daughter of the boxer

The portrait of his deceased daughter, Exodus, is the most recent tattoo, which appeared on Tyson's body in December 2023.

The boxer got the tattoo on his left chest in honor of his deceased four-year-old daughter, whom he lost in May 2009 to an accident. Exodus got tangled in a wire from a treadmill while playing at home, and the wire strangled the child. Doctors fought for her life for about 24 hours but could not save the girl.

Tyson's spiritual heroes are tennis player Arthur Ashe and communist revolutionaries Mao Zedong and Che Guevara.

After Tyson was released from prison, his fans noticed that now, on the boxer's right shoulder, instead of a tattoo with his name, there is an image of Communist China's leader Mao Zedong with the signature in crude, sprawling script "MAO."

Boxer became familiar with some of the Chinese dictator's treatises while serving a prison sentence. His ideas inspired Mike so much that he imprinted the politician's portrait on his body.

At the same time, an image of the diametrically opposite personality to Mao Zedong - a portrait of American tennis player Arthur Ashe - appeared on Tyson's left shoulder.

In addition to his athletic career, Ashe is remembered for his social activities. Arthur was a fighter for the rights of African Americans, which most likely caused Tyson to sympathize with him. Ashe also founded the Foundation for the Prevention of AIDS, which he was infected with, calling it "Days of Grace." It is this inscription that sits above his portrait on Mike's shoulder.

In time, another communist appeared on Tyson's body - Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, a personality as dubious as he was famous. The bloody Latin American politician, who fanatically imposes the order known to him alone in one country or another, fits perfectly with the boxer's turbulent biography, where aggression often went beyond the ring.

In one of the interviews, Tyson explained why the portrait of this particular political figure appeared on his stomach: "Che Guevara is an incredible person. He did so much, sacrificed everything for the benefit of other people."

Cult tattoo on his face

Many people associate Tyson with this particular tattoo. The image is a battle pattern of the New Zealand Maori warriors who wanted to scare their opponents in battle. It consists of two parts, remotely resembling bone daggers, and means strength and aggression.

New Zealand scientists expressed their anger: such drawings can be worn only by descendants of the tribe, to which the famous boxer has nothing to do.

The boxer parried these accusations that he just never liked his face, and with a tattoo, it looks much more attractive.

Image of a tiger performed in the Eastern traditions

Tyson has another tattoo that perfectly matches the Maori martial ornament on his face - the image of an aggressive tiger preparing to jump. The drawing evokes Eastern traditions, reminiscent of the idea of the dragon, which signifies nobility, bravery, strength, and power.

This drawing is on the very spot, the right forearm, where the symbol of one of the ghetto gangs that the future boxer was once a member of, as we mentioned above.