True story behind Mike Tyson's face tattoo that was almost something else

It might be one of the most famous tattoos in sport, but Mike Tyson’s tribal facial etching nearly looked very different.

Nicked ‘Iron Mike’ and the ‘Baddest man on the planet’, the body art inspired fear among Tyson’s opponents in the boxing ring before he retired in 2005.

However, it might not have been quite so effective had the boxer gone with his first choice.

During a 2012 interview, the former heavyweight world champion explained how he decided to get the tattoo just days before his bout with Clifford Etienne.

The iconic design is based on Maori tattooing, which often refers to traditional mythology and is considered sacred within the community.

Unsurprisingly, Iron Mike didn’t have such spiritual meaning when he got the body art back in 2003 and actually left it to tattoo artist Victor Perez to come up with the piece.

“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,” Tyson admitted to talkSport.

Associated Press / Alamy

It wasn’t the only reason that made Tyson get his infamous ink, with the 56-year-old revealing that he’d also thought it would be a hit with the ladies.

“I thought it was so hot,” he explained, adding: “I would be in these dens, these clubs and strip places sometimes and all the girls said ‘oh you are very exotic’…. They said I looked like some tribesman or s**t.”

Continuing, he even revealed that the body art had been approved by two women from the Maori community.

Tyson said that he’d ran into them on a night out, with the ladies instantly recognising the origins of his face tattoo.

“…they said ‘hey, you’ve got some of my tribe on your face’ and the lady pulled her pants down and she has this tattoo on her butt,” he candidly confessed.

Associated Press / Alamy

However, he might have been laughed out of the club had he gone with his original design as the Hangover star admitted that he initially wanted hearts on his face.

Calling the idea ‘really stupid’, Tyson also revealed that it was his tattooist, Perez, who’d put him off the artwork.

“I was going to be the man of hearts, baby,” he revealed, adding: “I was very close… Victor Perez, the tattoo artist said ‘I ain’t doing that. I can’t do that’.”

Not sure hearts would have had the same effect, as Tyson later went on to knock out Etienne in 49 seconds – his last big win before retiring.