Mike Tyson is an American ex-professional boxer who played professional matches from 1985 until 2005. He was best known as Iron Mike and Kid Dynamite.
Before moving to prison after his conviction, Mike Tyson converted to Islam. Ever since then, he has been a devout Muslim.
A Brief into Tyson’s Life
Tyson entered the professional boxing world at the age of 18 in New York. In his first year as a boxer, he defeated Hector Mercedes via knockout in the first round and soon after was able to have 15 matches.
Tyson fought quite frequenţly and only lost 2 of his first 28 fights. After that, he got a ferocious fighting style that attracted media attention at an early age.
Tyson took to national television in February 1986, and he was fighting Jesse Ferguson. During the fifth round, Tyson broke Ferguson’s nose with an uppercut and knocked him down. Ferguson began to hold Tyson to avoid further hits, and the referee ended the fight.
Tyson won the round by TKO, which helped him maintain the streak of most knockout wins. However, judges decided that it would have ended in a knockout anyway if the fight had continued.
After he gained fame as a boxer, Tyson grew his ferocious fighting style even more. Tyson eventually became known as The Baddest Man on the Planet since he was the most feared boxer at the time.
His fortune didn’t last long as soon after, Buster Douglas was able to win over Mike Tyson with a knockout. But, unfortunately, around the same time, he was going through a divorce with Robin Givens.
His Trial and Prison
Mike Tyson got arrested In July 1991 for the rape of an 18-year-old girl Desiree Washington, who was ‘Miss Back Rhode Island’ at that time. The trial took place in 1992, from January 26 to February 10.
Tyson was sentenced to prison on March 26, 1992, for six years in jail and four years in probation. There are several rumors that state during this time, Mike Tyson converted to Islam and adopted the name, Malik Shabazz.
Conversion to Islam
Mike has spoken about his conversion later and stated that he had converted before going to prison. In this video, Tyson talks about why he became a Muslim and why he chose Islam.
He states that he finds religion beautiful and loves everything God has made. However, he has never spoken about whether he changed his name or not.
Since all his fights after being reformed stated his name as Mike Tyson and not Malik Shabazz, we can assume that he has not changed his fighting name, and it was simply a rumor.
Since then, Mike has become a devout man and has said that his religion is essential. After the reform, he made his comeback in the boxing world and played a cameo in the 2009 film The Hangover.