Why Was a Statue of Mike Tyson Put up at Resorts World?

Why was a statue of Mike Tyson put up at Resorts World?

Former heavyweight champion of the world and long-time Las Vegas resident Mike Tyson, 55, has been honored with a 10-foot statue, which was unveiled over the weekend of October 23-24 outside the Mulberry Street Pizzeria at Resorts World.

Tyson and the owner of Mulberry Street Pizza, Richie Palmer, have known each other since they were teenagers in New York and Palmer, also an avid boxing fan, wanted to recognize Tyson's contributions to Las Vegas. Resorts World agreed and worked with Palmer to make it happen.

Palmer praised his long-time friend. "People don't know what a great, great, great human being he is. Generous to a fault. Kind. He will never say no to anyone for a picture. People don't get that. All they see is the ferociousness, the craziness, the bad moments."

The response has been ambivalent. Many observers can't see a resemblance between the statue and the man himself. Some have gone so far as to say that the statue actually looks more like Evander Holyfield, Tyson's boxing rival.

The boxing world has honored Tyson with induction into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Nov-20-2021

Accuracy

Does the statue have a piece of human ear in its mouth?

David Miller Nov-20-2021

Great???

  Tyson is a thug - nothing great about him.

Christopher Sterbenz Nov-20-2021

Tyson?

A convicted rapist gets honored with a statue. Hmm.

Roy Furukawa Nov-20-2021

Naysayers

Can’t excuse him for rape and maybe not statue worthy, but as a boxer his talent was unreal. Today he seems to have rehabilitated himself and his likeability with the public.

Texas Transplant Nov-20-2021

Fame is fleeting

You know what they say, "Ear today, gone tomorrow".

Sorry, this was so obvious, I couldn't help myself.

Deke Castleman Nov-20-2021

This in via email from Jeff

For those making smug, moralizing comments about Mike Tyson...this is Las Vegas.  Sin City! for crying out loud. It was built by and for crooks, criminals, murderers, rapists and thieves. The Mike Tyson statue is located on the Stardust site, just feet from a "wonderful, nostalgic" Stardust sign! People who can quote the Stardust, Lefty Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro stories chapter and verse; who know the movie Casino frontwards, backwards and sideways are suddenly moved to express offense at a statue of Mike Tyson? Talk about can't see the forest for the trees.

David Sabo Nov-20-2021

ONE STRIKE AND YOUR OUT?

Seems to me that Mike Tyson did his time and by all accounts it made an impact on him. No means no I get that but I can only imagine what it's like to be rich, famous, and made a living off being aggressive. As far as I know he has not had any issues since being incarcerated. He did his time and seems like he learned his lesson. Maybe we should judge him by his improvement as a person.I had a chance to speak to Evander Holyfield and his brother at a convention in Vegas a few years ago. I did a few circles and when no one was there I got a chance to speak to them. Evander had nothing but good things to say about Mike. Evander's BBQ sauce was pretty good too!

Question of the Day - 20 November 2021

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