In March this year, Mike Tyson introduced Mike Bites, a line of pot gummies that are shaped like ears with a bite out of them to signify his infamous bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear in his 1997 WBA Heavyweight Championship bout.
Holyfield reacted to the introduced gummies saying it was ‘not funny’ but was quick to add that he appreciated how Tyson was helping people with his products. Months after Tyson introduced Mike Bites, the two heated boxing opponents are now collaborators on a cannabis product. Tyson’s 2.0 cannabis company will introduce Holy Ears, a line of THC- and Delta-8 THC-infused edibles.
Prior to partnering with Tyson, Holyfield admitted he had not tried cannabis until he got his first Holy Ears sample. “I wanted to make sure I got home and didn’t do anything to anyone,” he told huffpost. “I ate it and laid down. I woke up the next morning and was like, ‘Whoa.’”
Tyson’s cannabis company has a line in Arizona, Illinois, Nevada and New Jersey, cementing his position as one of the key black cannabis entrepreneurs in the United States. The ex-boxer has been in the cannabis industry for a while now, adding to the list of growing black celebrities who are venturing into the cannabis industry estimated to be worth billions of dollars.
As a kid, Tyson experimented with cannabis but gave it up for decades after being dropped out of the U.S Olympics boxing team. According to him, he came back to cannabis because he didn’t like the effect of other painkillers, such as opiates.
Tyson made his professional debut at the age of 18 years old; he maintained the record as the youngest heavyweight boxer ever. He is considered one of the greatest of all time and he is the third-longest unified championship reign in heavyweight history at eight consecutive defenses.
He won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round.
Despite his glittering career, Tyson was hit hard in 1991 after he was convicted of raping former beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in a hotel room – this was at the peak of his career.
After the judicial process, he was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. He served three years before he was released on parole. Before that, his wife, actress Robin Givens, in an interview in 1988, disclosed that she was a victim of spousal abuse.
After his retirement in 2005, Tyson was occasionally caught on the wrong side of the law.
Notwithstanding, the boxer is cashing in on the marijuana business. The 56-year-old in 2019 said he sells around $500,000 worth of cannabis each month.
The former heavyweight champion further disclosed that he smokes $40,000 worth of pot every month, around ten tons of weed at his 420-acre ranch in California called Tyson Ranch which accommodated cannabis-friendly hotels and a golf course.
Tyson recently ranked No. 15 in BoxRec’s ranking of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history.
After his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame, Sky Sports described him as “perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring”.
