It would be accurate to describe legendary heavyweight champion Mike Tyson as a delinquent in his childhood. Long before becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history, Tyson grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn—a neighborhood infamous for its poverty, violence, and high crime rates. Life at home offered little relief from the chaos outside.

Tyson was the youngest of three siblings, raised primarily by his mother, Lorna, who struggled to make ends meet. Although his birth certificate listed Purcell Tyson as his father, he played no role in Mike’s life. Instead, Tyson regarded a man named Jimmy ‘Curlee’ Kirkpatrick—his mother’s partner at the time—as a father figure. But even Kirkpatrick didn’t stay long. He, too, eventually abandoned the family, leaving Lorna to raise Tyso

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