Mike Tyson may never have fulfilled the early promise that could have made him one of the finest heavyweight champions in history, but even by boxing's high standards his career was dramatic.
He turns 50 on 30 June, and even now, as a regular performer in one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, it is as "the baddest man on the planet" he is most widely remembered.
Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 as a fraction of the fighter who was once so feared having lost three of his final four fights. A sense of injustice surrounded the last of those, to the underwhelming Kevin McBride when he was significantly past his peak, but even then his impact on the sport was considered remarkable.
"Iron Mike" made his professional debut aged 18 in March 1985 and stopped Hector Mercedes in less than a round.
In a seemingly irresistable pursuit of history, he won his following 26 fights over the coming 20 months to secure a shot at WBC heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick. By winning in the second round, aged 20 years and four months, he beat Floyd Patterson's record to become the youngest world heavyweight champion of all time.
He swiftly followed that achievement by winning the WBA and IBF titles but, at a time when few felt he could be beaten, his troubled personal life undermined his focus and led to his gradual decline.
Tyson's marriage to television actress Robin Givens was falling apart, he went to court in 1988 to break his contract with manager Bill Cayton, and he had lost the positive influence of father figure and trainer Cus D'Amato when he died three years earlier.
As his fondness of partying grew, so did his reliance on one-punch knockouts. His split with Givens became official in 1989, and a year later, he lost the first fight of his professional career to 42-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas in what remains boxing's biggest upset.
"On January 8, 1990, I got aboard a plane to fly to Tokyo," Tyson recalled. "Kicking and screaming. I didn't want to fight; all I was interested in then was partying and women.
"I didn't consider Buster Douglas much of a challenge. I didn't even bother watching any of his fights on video. I had easily beaten everybody who had knocked him out."
Having barely trained, Tyson was sent to the canvas for the first time in his career, before eventually being stopped one minute and 22 seconds into the 10th round.
He won his following four fights before, in July 1991, he was accused of raping Miss Black American contestant Desiree Washington. After almost a year of trial proceedings he was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of deviant sexual conduct, and ordered to serve six years in prison.
Tyson was released in 1995 after serving three years of his sentence, and appeared to be more settled as he regained the WBC title in 1996 with his second defeat of Frank Bruno.
The long sought-after fight with Evander Holyfield, for which he was the favourite, was agreed for later that year. He lost for the second time in his career, via an 11th-round knockout, surrendering the WBA title he had previously won.
In their 1997 rematch, the incident for which he most widely known unfolded. It is no exaggeration to say that in one of the highest-profile fights in history, he shocked the world when biting a chunk out of Holyfield's ear in the third round.
Tyson argued he did so in retaliation for Holyfield headbutting him in their first fight. He was regardless disqualified, had his boxing licence revoked and fined $3million.
He returned to court the following year after filing a $100million lawsuit against Don King that was eventually settled out of court for $14million.
His boxing licence was reinstated in October 1998, but after he pleaded no contest for his attack on motorists after a car accident in Maryland, he served another nine months in prison before returning to the ring.
A run of six fights followed which included four victories and two no contests, the first because of an accidental foul by Tyson and the second because he tested positive for marijuana.
Eventually the 2002 superfight with IBF and WBC champion Lennox Lewis was secured. It was to prove Tyson's last at an elite level after he was stopped again, in eight rounds.
The win against Clifford Etienne in 2003 came as his second wife Monica Turner filed for divorce, on grounds of adultry, and as he filed for bankruptcy. Losses to Danny Williams in 2004 and McBride in 2005 followed before he announced his retirement.
In September 2007, having pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics and driving under the influence, Tyson was sentenced to 24 hours in prison, 360 hours of community service and three years' probation.
His life appeared to improve as he attended meetings at both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. In 2009, however, he suffered the tragedy of his four-year-old daughter Exodus dying after she accidentally strangled herself on a treadmill cord in her mother's home.
The American that year also married present wife Lakiha "Kiki" Spicer, who he has two children with. He had been working as an actor in The Hangover, Entourage, How I Met Your Mother and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, before making his Broadway debut with Undisputed Truth, which he is still performing to this day.
Source: PA
