‘The Baddest Man on The Planet’ Mike Tyson (50-6-2, 44 KOs) is undoubtedly one of the most iconic fighters to step foot inside the ring. While his sheer raw power and ring IQ are unarguably important aspects of his persona, it should be mentioned that Tyson’s face tattoo further amplifies his notoriety. And, as Youtuber turned boxer Jake Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) prepares to face Tyson, it looks like he is also gearing up to emulate this iconic feature of his upcoming opponent’s persona by getting a facial tattoo.
Paul was in conversation with his girlfriend, Jutta Leerdam, and rapper, Lil Pump, on the latest episode of his podcast, B/S with Jake Paul. During the conversation, Paul dropped the bomb about his plan to get a face tattoo in the week leading to the fight. This statement instantaneously earned him a nod of disapproval from Leerdam. Paul continued, “I’m not gonna get the Tyson one, but Tyson, like, got his legendary tattoo; he just.”
This was when the heavily tattooed Lil Pump pitched in by surprisingly trying to dissuade him from doing so and mentioned that Tyson got the tattoo done as he was one of the “faces of boxing.”
On the other hand, Paul seemed hell-bent on adding another piece of art to his temple.
“I’m just like, F*ck it, like, why not just do it because Tyson did it? It’s a story behind Tyson’s face tat. It was like Wednesday of his fight week, and he just got it, and he showed up to the presser the next day with the face tat, and he didn’t tell anybody. So I’m thinking about doing that in honor,” he said.
The Baddest Tattoo on The Planet
There is no denying that Tyson’s Māori style has become synonymous with his legacy. From memes to other snippets of pop culture, the tattoo has become an unmistakable aspect of the champ’s identity.
Tyson got the tattoo a few days before his 2003 fight with Clifford Etienne. While it created a buzz on fight night, the champ once revealed why he got the piece of facial art done.
“I just thought it was a cool tattoo. I was going to get a bunch of hearts and stuff. That would have been really stupid.” Tyson said in an interview with Graham Bensinger. “Victor Perez, the tattoo artist, said, ‘I ain’t doing that. I can’t do that.”
“I waited around, and two days later, he called and said, ‘Mike, I’ve got some tribal stuff.’ I said, ‘Woah, put another one over there’. I was like, ‘This is cool, I like this’. So he did it,” he added.
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