LAS VEGAS — When Mike Tyson was developing as a young fighter in New York in 1980s, he had plenty of chances to test the skills that would one day make him the world’s best and fiercest heavyweight.
Now Tyson looks at the state of boxing in the United States and doesn’t like what he sees. The title of heavyweight champion has gone from among the most prestigious in sports to one that’s nearly anonymous.
That’s what drove the 59-year-old Hall-of-Famer to help launch the Mike Tyson Invitational on March 12-14 in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas. Tyson’s team sought out the nation’s top amateur boxers to give them this forum to go against each other with the long-range goal of elevating boxing to where it used to stand as a conversation-driving sport.
“I was watching some of the amateur fights and I was wondering, ‘We don’t have enough boxing clubs,'” Tyson said Friday. “Before, when I was fighting, we could fight at the Ohio state fair. Then I’d go to Colorado the next two weeks and fight in the national tournament. That’s what we need to be able to compete with the other countries. We need more competition.”
He is particularly concerned about boxing’s future in the Olympics. Until the International Olympic Committee announced last March that boxing would be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, there was doubt whether the sport’s longtime presence in the quadrennial event would end.
Tyson’s main focus is making boxing big again in the U.S. There is the occasional major event, such as the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford unified super middleweight title fight Sept. 13 before 70,482 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
But those attention-grabbing bouts only temporarily push back on the notion that boxing is in trouble at the grassroots level.
“Listen, boxing is dying, and that is what’s driving me,” Tyson said. “If I can be involved in any way in the uplifting and development of boxing, I’ll be happy with that.”
That would include working with UFC CEO and President Dana White, who grew up loving boxing before building his mixed-martial arts empire. Through TKO, the company at that owns the UFC and WWE, White is in a multiyear agreement with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and Sela, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The Alvarez-Crawford card was their first under this partnership. Tyson was among a number of former boxing greats and celebrities in attendance.
While the UFC is a one-man show, boxing is much more splintered with different sponsoring organizations and promoters competing against each other.
“I kind of like that organization,” Tyson said of the UFC. “It’s just one guy and we deal with everything. That might not work for boxing, but I like the idea. In the UFC, if they have one bad fight, the guy might not be in the fold. It’s for entertainment. That’s what it’s about. In [boxing], if the guy stinks up the joint, they keep using him. So that has to be the criteria. Either you make exciting fights or you’re not able to participate.”
There was no lack of excitement when Tyson was putting together his career that resulted in a 50-7 record with 44 knockouts. The self-proclaimed “baddest man on the planet” came as advertised, winning his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 in the first round.
His fights became a must-watch event, and Tyson was all business entering the ring, once declaring, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched.”
“We’re all entertainers, trust me, especially fighters,” Tyson said. “If you don’t perform well, people give their opinion about you. You may not like it. My job was always to make the people happy as a fighter.”
Now he’s searching for the next Mike Tyson — or, rather, Mike Tysons — who can bring spark to the sport.
His invitational won’t be a cure-all, but it could be a start.
“I was taught as a kid, boxing is about putting asses in seats,” Tyson said. “That’s where greatness comes from.”