One of the most iconic video games in history is Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!.
Nintendo released the Punch-Out!! video game in 1983 and struck a deal to use Tyson’s name in 1987. Released by Nintendo in 1987, the game still has a cult following.
After winning the WBC heavyweight title with a second-round TKO over Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
He rode 1987 as the “baddest man on the planet,” defeating four opponents, setting up his early January 1988 bout against Larry Holmes.
However, before Christmas in 1987, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! hit stores, and the world of video games was never the same. By 1990, Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream replaced Mike Tyson. Mr. Dream is the game’s final opponent, whom Little Mac faces in the Dream Fight at the end. His fighting style was designed emulates Mike Tyson’s.
“It broke all the records,” Tyson said on a recent Vlad TV episode. “We anticipate them doing a new one too. They were discussing taking me out of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, and it was a hailstorm of negative reviews for that, and so we’re contemplating doing it with someone else, and no one can be angry, and then we can go our separate ways happy.”
Tyson claims he’s received the short end of the video game deal. He says he lost royalties from the millions of copies sold over decades. Unfortunately, that was a harsh introduction to capitalism for a kid who came from nothing and rose to iconic status pulverizing people. The champ was often preyed upon by those savvier from a business standpoint.
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