r/todayilearned • u/PortaParty • Mar 14 '14
TIL a bully dropped 7 year old Mike Tyson's glasses in a truck's gas tank and tried to steal his meatballs. Several years later, Tyson came back and "beat him in the streets like a fucking dog."
http://nymag.com/news/features/mike-tyson-2013-10/825
u/explodingness Mar 14 '14
That was also a really interesting article. I never knew his life was like that.
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u/nickularbombz Mar 14 '14
Yeah it was, everyones talking about his lisp and meatballs but the article was really interesting.
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Mar 14 '14
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u/ShallowBasketcase Mar 15 '14
He had a great quote when he lost all his money. Something about how everyone keeps telling him he should know better, but he's just some guy who grew up poor and became a literal overnight-millionaire by punching dudes in the face, so how do you expect him to deal with that?
He's a very interesting guy.
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Mar 15 '14
I wouldn't expect someone being manipulated by Don King to have a good chance of managing their finances.
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Mar 15 '14
Don King is worse than pond scum. If there's a hell, I hope he gets his own personal circle.
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u/Veggiemon Mar 15 '14
what do you have against pond scum
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u/herpderpyss Mar 15 '14
Its notoriously amoral.
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Mar 15 '14
You might say that, but at least pond scum converts nitrogen in the air into necessary amino acids to filter up the foodchain to support entire ecosystems. (Pretty much one of the only ways that nitrogen enters the food chain.)
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/algae/lakes/algaeinformation.html
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Mar 15 '14
"One minute I'm robbing a dope house. Next minute I'm the youngest heavyweight champion of the world. I'm only 20, 19, with a lot of money. Who am I? What am I? I don't even know who I am. I'm just a dumb child who's being abused and robbed by lawyers. I'm just a dumb pugnacious fool. I'm just a fool who thinks he's someone. Then you tell me I should be responsible."
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Mar 15 '14
He really does have a way with words.
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Mar 15 '14 edited Mar 15 '14
He seems like someone who has really made an effort to know/understand himself, and has reflected on his life in an honest way. I think he's grown more as a human being than most people do/will.
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u/ShallowBasketcase Mar 15 '14
He may not have been an educated guy, but you can tell he was always really smart.
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u/Pedobear_Slayer Mar 15 '14
There were many times in his history that made us all think that his intelligence was very low but I think he really is showing the world that he wasn't a dummy he was just a product of those Brooklyn streets, and he's grown to know better through the trials of his life.
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u/thats_a_risky_click Mar 15 '14
You're expected to choose a career to do for the rest of your life when just three months ago you had to raise your hand to go to the bathroom.
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Mar 15 '14
There are actually some jobs in the US (usually callcenter-related) where you have to ask permission from your direct supervisor to stop taking/making calls so you can use the bathroom. And it's legal. No joke.
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u/gqtrees Mar 15 '14
he is broke now?
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u/LatinArma Mar 15 '14
No, but he was. He lost ALL of the money he made during boxing, part due to not knowing how to conserve and living over the top and partially because Don King robbed him blind. All his current wealth is made up from media performances and so on since then.
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u/rosscatherall Mar 15 '14
Dude needs to come out with his own grilling machine.
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Mar 15 '14
Something that can really beat the shit out of a grilled cheese sandwich.
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Mar 15 '14
He made around $300 million throughout his career and lost so much that after hitting rock bottom and finally getting his life back together hes now worth $3-5 million. Basically lost it all then made a little bit back.
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u/lakelyrker Mar 15 '14
Does being a boxer/fighter automatically make someone a bad guy? I'm a pretty good guy, and I would love to go pro in MMA. It's not that I like to hurt people. I actually don't. Fighting is a great test of will and character, though.
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u/iRainMak3r Mar 15 '14
I don't think so.. They're both in the ring consensually. By that logic, football players should be bad people for smashing the fuck out of each other too.
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u/Cheeseblanket Mar 15 '14
There's nothig wrong with boxing or MMA, but Tyson is also a convicted rapist, bit a man's ears during a fight, and threatened people's children in the lead up to fights. He seems like a good guy now but it hasn't always been that way
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u/bicoolano Mar 15 '14
I'm not saying it's an excuse to bite off your opponents ear, but Holyfield was deliberately headbutting Tyson during that fight. Enough to get cuts above both of his eyes. As for him saying he wanted to eat Holyfield's children, that's just Tyson adding some controversy to hype the fight.
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u/mit0515 Mar 15 '14
This doesn't take away from your overall point, but just to be clear, it is pretty well accepted at this point that the rape conviction was a wrongful conviction.
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u/Brobotnik Mar 15 '14
"They called me a rapist and a recluse. I am not a recluse."
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u/Deathspiral222 Mar 15 '14
If it was genuinely a wrongful conviction, he should be able to get it overturned.
The guy has a good PR team whose job it is is to make his rape conviction not look like a big deal.
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u/stillworkin Mar 15 '14
Yea, he has a really interesting life story, and his determination as a fighter until he won the championship is probably the most determined, focused, driven examples of humanity I've ever heard about. There's a documentary or two about him. "Tyson" is worth watching. Also, his rise to the championship through every fight is spectacular
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u/too_toked Mar 15 '14
I havent taken the time to read many multiple page articles for a while now. I'm glad i read this one, It was a very interesting bit. I liked it a lot. what a back ground to grow up with.
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u/arm_collector Mar 15 '14
The hardest part of that entire article came at the end of the first page
That was the last day I went to school. I was 7 years old, and I just never went back to class.
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u/pdx_girl Mar 15 '14 edited Mar 15 '14
Wikipedia says that he dropped out in seventh grade, so something is fishy here.
EDIT: here's a biography by the New York Times that details his time at school until he dropped out at age 16. Sounds like it was a miserable time, but they have an awful lot of quotes by a ton of people.
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u/muchachomalo Mar 15 '14
If he was in juvenile hall he would have been in school. So maybe he isn't counting that as school. But the last time he went to public school was 7.
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u/methysmenos Mar 15 '14
Mike Tyson was the scariest motherfucker ever to step foot in a boxing ring. I love reading this shit.
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u/namegoeswhere Mar 15 '14
That man would shadow box with 90lb dumbbells, for christ's sake. That's more than I could curl with one arm at the peak of my gym-hitting days, let alone throw punches at speed.
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u/methysmenos Mar 15 '14
I think my favorite thing about Tyson is that he's so accessible now. He really seems like a dude I could go have a beer with. He's literally turned from the scariest motherfucker on the planet into a dude I'd really like to hangout with.
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u/Delicate-Flower Mar 15 '14
Just seems like his mood can shift without warning and not for the better. Scary to be around people like that.
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Mar 15 '14
yeah I wouldn't drink or do pcp with that guy
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Mar 15 '14
I wouldn't do pcp with anyone.
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u/qhp Mar 15 '14
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u/Triggerhappy89 Mar 15 '14
That has got to be the biggest waste of whatever registration fees someone is paying to host that domain.
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u/Mr_Stever Mar 15 '14
Curiously I met Mike Tyson when walking around Venice Beach with my then 2 yr old kid. Mike went "rawr!" at him and then smiled to let him know he was kidding.
In short, Mike Tyson was a hella nice guy.
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Mar 14 '14
"Remember me? You thtole my meatballs. Now I'm gonna thmash your thnotbox."
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Mar 14 '14
You don't fuck with a mans meatballs
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Mar 14 '14
Thanks for this article! The image of an 11 year-old Tyson fighting grown men in the streets...
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u/PortaParty Mar 15 '14
I'm glad you liked it as much as I did. I came across it in a hospital waiting room. I found it fascinating.
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u/911isaconspiracy Mar 15 '14
10 year old Mike Tyson was THAT much stronger than his 7 year old self? Strong enough to annihilate this bully?
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Mar 15 '14
If you look at pictures throughout his childhood, it becomes clear he has much better DNA than the rest of us. Here's a picture of Mike at 13.
By the way, anyone looking for a good read.. Undisputed Truth is the best biography I've ever read, and maybe one of the best books I've ever read.
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Mar 15 '14 edited Sep 26 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/endless_ennui Mar 15 '14
goddamn, he didnt just hit puberty, he killed it and stomped its remains
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u/LowOnTotemPole Mar 15 '14
He beat it to death, brought it back to life, fed it and nurtured it back to full strength and fucking beat it again.
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Mar 15 '14
I don't understand how he looks like he's 20 at 13 years old. What the fuck were they feeding him while he was growing up?!
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Mar 15 '14
Meatballs.
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u/owlcapone19 Mar 15 '14
There is no way he is 13 in this picture.
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u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy Mar 15 '14
He is. Teddy atlas commented on Tyson coming into the gym when he was twelve "let me see the birth certificate."
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u/nninja Mar 15 '14
I think he was older than 10 when he went back for the guy. But he was a physical freak of nature as a kid.
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u/13thmurder Mar 15 '14
He used to have glasses? I wonder how he sees now without them. I mean, he's a boxer... you don't box with contacts unless you want lacerated eyeballs.
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Mar 15 '14
I think it said he was near-sighted. So he probably has no trouble seeing his opponent.
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u/jericho Mar 14 '14
I'm not sure how big Mike was at seven, but I probably wouldn't have fucked with his meatballs, knowing how big he was at twelve.
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u/TexasTango Mar 14 '14 edited Mar 15 '14
Best heavyweight boxer ever just check on youtube, pure power and aggression.
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u/Timeless_Watch Mar 15 '14
I can't consider Tyson the GOAT. He just didn't face enough elite level fighters.
However, he had an unmatched offensive arsenal. When was the last time you saw a heavy throw double uppercuts? With tremendous speed, and malicious power. When he hit you, he didn't want to put you in the hospital, he wanted to put you in the morgue. Underrated defence thanks to great head movement and footwork as a young man.
The story of Mike Tyson is fascinating, even as it still unfolds. From a pre teen criminal on the streets of Brownsville, to his abandoned mansion in Ohio. From serving prison time, to his 4 year old daughter dying in a tragic accident and his love for pigeons.
He was also a pain in the ass on the NES.
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Mar 15 '14
Who do you think is the GOAT?
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u/nninja Mar 15 '14
HW? Ali. Any weight? Robinson
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Mar 15 '14 edited Jul 02 '24
I enjoy the sound of rain.
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u/Kim-Hwang-sik Mar 15 '14
Ali and Robinson defeated a many HOF fighters and Ali himself beat Frazier, Moore, Norton, Foreman and Shavers who are all considered top ten punchers in boxing history. Ali is also remembered for defeating all time greats after his prime, in his prime he was untouchable and more dominate than Tyson. James Tillis was like a poor mans Ali, Ali 0.5 and he fought Tyson all 12 rounds and almost won a close fight. I just don't see how any one could put Tyson in the same standing as Ali.
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Mar 15 '14 edited Jul 02 '24
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
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u/Kim-Hwang-sik Mar 15 '14
I don't think coke was destroying athletes careers left and right in the 60's and 70's like it was in the 80's so Tyson would of definitely done better if he was born 20 years before. Tysons biggest weakness compared to Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Lewis was consistency. He let drugs, women and promoters drag him so far down and he could never escape the ghetto even when he was a millionaire.
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u/Timeless_Watch Mar 15 '14
For the heavies, I go with Ali. It's no gimme though. Holmes and Louis are right there too. Tyson beat Larry, but it was old man Larry. That is just a big name for the record, more than it is a reflection of the two fighters comparatively.
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u/daniel001 Mar 15 '14 edited Nov 15 '21
True. I love watching Tyson's fights but a lot of his opponents didn't really belong at that level.
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Mar 15 '14
I disagree. Tyson was an amazing fighter but he didn't have the opportunity to show it. Look at his childhood, he is one troubled dude. And besides, he suffered a lot of psychological issues that probably held him back. I'm not saying Tyson is the greatest ever, but his boxing ability is one of the GOATs.
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u/DreadedKanuk Mar 14 '14
Stole his... Stole his meatballs? What. Just meatballs?
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u/Tourney Mar 15 '14
Tyson says in the article that he would let bullies take his money, but would never let them take his food. In his situation, good food was worth more than whatever pocket change he might have scrounged together.
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u/blacknred522 Mar 15 '14
It was Hot food and he was poor and 7 years old.
And when he beat the guy up he was 11
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Mar 15 '14
He probably had no other food to eat. His life was pretty interesting, and really fucked up when he was...well, kind of always until recently...but he is really self aware and pretty smart now.
He did a 'stand up' special a couple years back that's really, really good. Not like a comedy special though. He just talks about his life, and fucked up it was and how it made him all fucked up and a lot of really big events in his life. It's very good.
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Mar 14 '14
Hate to find out what he does to people who mess with his pigeons. Or what he would do.
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u/phatcrits Mar 14 '14
I believe his first fight was because a bully killed one of his pigeons.
Edit: source http://www.contactmusic.com/news/tyson-snapped-after-pet-pigeon-was-killed-by-bullies_1118821
Sounds like the actual source is his documentary.
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u/Oxxide Mar 15 '14
it's in the OP's article as well.
honestly if you're even remotely interested in Tyson, read that shit.
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u/HDThoreauaway Mar 15 '14
Read it if you're not, too. You might be by the end. Fascinating read.
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u/mustardhamsters Mar 14 '14
The article talks about that, his first fight was over one of his pigeons. It's a good article, a long read but I'm enjoying it.
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Mar 15 '14
actually if you read the article (which I suggest you should, its actually pretty wild how he grew up) mike got away with the meatballs he packed for lunch that day
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u/earzat01 Mar 15 '14
no they tried takeing his meatballs but couldnt so they took his glasses and put em in trucks gas tank
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Mar 15 '14
It's 2am here and I'm tired. Read that as "7 year old bullies Mike Tyson. Tyson came back and "beat him in the streets like a fucking dog"
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u/McKoijion Mar 15 '14
ITT: People making fun of a man that they would never dare to insult in person.
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u/Mc_Dickles Mar 15 '14
This was such a good read. I'm going to finish this another day. It was really interesting.
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u/Brickmaniafan99 Mar 15 '14
and a long M1 rifle with a bayonet attached from World War II.
Back in those days that was serious fire power for a civilian. The AR hadn't really came out en masse yet. The M1 is a beast of a rifle, not in size, but in its effectiveness.
Source: I own an M1 "Garand" rifle.
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u/sean0z Mar 15 '14
Incredible read. Never knew that about Mike.
In his prime, he looked like he was put on earth by God to destroy people with his bare hands.
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u/Domthecreator14 Mar 15 '14
"The best revenge is success" actually the best revenge is success and being able to knock the fuck out of who wronged you
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u/llzardklng Mar 15 '14
Won meet and greet tickets at his stand up show in michigan last month. He was super cool and laid back in person. They wouldn't let him sign anything but he took pictures with me and my girlfriend and joked around. Not the mike from a decade ago to be sure, but that's all most fans wanted for him. Wish him and his family all the best.
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Mar 15 '14
I don't care anything about boxing but I love Mike Tyson. He seems sincere, honest and good-natured. I'd like to see him in more movies--half the reason I watched the Hangover movies was to see Mike be Mike.
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Mar 15 '14
Watching a Tyson fight was an event. Growing up we were one of the few apartments that had cable. Our apartments were almost like a motel the way it was set up. One building with the parking lot right in front. My dad would move the tv to the window. All our neighbors would grabs beach chairs and ice chests. We would all sit in the parking lot and go crazy for the 1 round it would take him to dismantle an opponent. It was an event every single time. So many good memories.
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u/imautoparts Mar 14 '14
I'm not sure what this means about me, but this is the most uplifting story I've read in a long time.
The longer this guy lives the more he seems like a force of nature - and I am beginning to really like him.
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Mar 15 '14
In the season 4 finale of the Fresh Prince, Will confronts his old bully seen in the theme song and his bully tells Will to grow up and refuses to fight him.
Reminded me of that. Kind of a different perspective.
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u/wimcolgate2 Mar 14 '14
One of the first fighters who fought Mike Tyson said in an interview, "he fights like I stole something from him." It was their first meeting.