Mike Tyson has a new vision for his legacy, and it has little to do with his legendary boxing career.
The former heavyweight champion spoke with Babcock about his second Mike Tyson Invitational amateur boxing showcase at SAHARA Las Vegas, where hundreds of young fighters train and compete in front of scouts and Tyson himself.
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“This is my legacy, God willing,” Tyson said. “I want this to be my legacy.”
It's a significant shift for a man who previously dismissed the concept of legacy as pure ego.
The first event in March was a success, and Tyson promises the second will be even bigger.
“Listen, you won’t believe the number of people we had sign up this time. 350 kids in a couple hours,” Tyson said.
“I was so gratefully honored by that. I want to help amateur boxing.
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I want it to be at the level it was when I was an amateur fighter.”
Tyson noted that amateur boxing was thriving in the early 1980s but has since declined, with the sport even facing removal from the Olympics.
“They’re about to take amateur fighting out to the Olympics,” Tyson says.
For Tyson, the invitational is not about photo opportunities or good press.
“I want to keep going even when I’m no longer around. This would be my legacy.
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Since people make legacy such a big thing, this would be my legacy.”
Tyson believes the young participants will gain life-changing benefits from the sport.
“You are not going to have no idea the benefits these young fighters are going to get from this.
It’s going to change their whole life.”
Once the youngest heavyweight champion and arguably the most feared man on the planet, Tyson is now focused on the next generation.
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“Mike Tyson had his turn. It’s time for these young guys now…”
