Impact The 1990’s saw the decline of an athlete who
had stood at the very pinnacle of success as the de-
cade began. Although his activities both inside and
outside the boxing ring kept him a well-known and
controversial celebrity for the remainder of the de-
cade, the story of his decline offers a sad example of
self-destructive behavior and financial exploitation.
After earning an estimated $400-500 million during
his boxing career, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003,
citing debts totaling some $23 million.
Further Reading
Cashmore, Ellis.Tyson: Nurture of the Beast.Malden,
Mass.: Polity Press, 2005. An episodic biography
that seeks to place Tyson’s life and career in their
larger social and historical context.
Dershowitz, Alan M.America on Trial: Inside the Legal
Battles That Transformed Our Nation. New York:
Warner Books, 2004. The chapter entitled “The
Trial of Mike Tyson” by a well-known criminal de-
fense attorney and Harvard Law School professor
argues that Tyson’s conviction in his 1992 rape
trial was a gross miscarriage of justice.
O’Connor, Daniel, ed.Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader.
New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002. A collec-
tion of articles on Tyson by a wide range of au-
thors covering many aspects of his career during
the 1990’s.
Scott WrightSee also African Americans; Boxing; Crime; Holy-
field, Evander; Scandals; Sports.878 Tyson, Mike The Nineties in America