“The very copyrightability of tattoos is a novel issue,” says the Warner Bros. brief. “There is no legal precedent for Plaintiff’s radical claim that he is entitled, under the Copyright Act, to control the use of a tattoo that he created on the face of another human being.”
Right after that sparring session, we went to Cus’s house for lunch. He lived in a big white Victorian house on ten acres. You could see the Hudson River from the porch. I had never seen a house like that in my life.
The lawsuit drew attention to issues of intellectual property rights and the use of tattoos for commercial purposes. Although the case was eventually settled out of court, it raised important questions about the rights of tattoo artists and their work.
Deontay Wilder, another former world heavyweight champion—whose career has been trending down recently—questioned whether enough people give a damn about Tyson potentially getting injured. He said that Tyson was “too old for this.”
Joyce was looking for the quickest route possible to a world title shot after turning professional late, following his silver-medal achievement at the 2016 Olympics. But a lack of head movement cost Joyce, and he has now slipped further along the queue for a title shot.
“I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas,” Tyson said in a statement. “He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT. It’s a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him off on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him.”
The studio raises a host of defenses for why the tattoo on Helms’ face is legitimate, including that it is a fair use parody, that it is permitted by Tyson’s implied license as a result of (Spoiler Alert) appearing in the film, and that the plaintiff is estopped from asserting a claim because of a failure to object to use of the tattoo in the first film.
Tyson is referring to one of his cannabis company’s best-selling products: gummies shaped to look like the ear of Evander Holyfield, which Tyson infamously bit off part of during their 1997 fight. Tyson has turned what was a casual and box therapeutic appreciation for cannabis into a big business at a time when legalization has swept across the United States. His Tyson 2.0–brand products are now being sold at 745-odd retailers. He’s parlayed his celebrity in the cannabis space into a popular podcast, Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, that recently wrapped up. He’s even taken on advocacy. Earlier this year, Tyson called on President Biden to grant clemency for all federal marijuana offenders.
Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KO) basically couldn’t miss with his left hand, and though Joyce (15-1, 14 KO) has the deserved reputation for maybe having the best chin in boxing, you can’t do much about an eye that winds up such a mess that a physician and referee basically have no choice but to stop the fight.
Parker lost his next fight, too, a decision setback to Dillian Whyte that seemed to end any hope of a future title shot. But now, Parker is well-positioned while the trio of top heavyweights settle bragging rights as he looks toward another bout with Zhang.
Tyson is proud as he talks about how his daughter is now the avid reader in the family, joking about how reading Machiavelli and Tolstoy will make her feel superior to other people just like he did. The bout with Paul will be the first time the children he has with Kiki will get to see a real fight of his, but he hasn’t thought about what that’ll mean to him. I ask him about the importance of Kiki in his life. For the first moment in our time together, Tyson is almost speechless, trying to find the right words: “No one would think I would be with a woman for the rest of my life. It was almost inconceivable that this happened.”
Earlier this month, Jake Paul appeared in social media videos sitting in a tattoo parlor, with the artist applying what seemed like an identical design to the one already synonymous with Mike Tyson. It was quickly revealed to be the same tribal pattern that Tyson has on the left side of his face, a tattoo the former boxer first got in 2003.
Tyson has been sharing clips and photos from training, including several shirtless photos showing off his ripped physique. Many have wondered if Tyson would be healthy enough at 58 to fight Paul, who is just 27, but little by little those questions appear to be growing smaller. While appearing at a meet-and-greet event for Fiterman Sports Group in Chantilly, Virginia, Tyson took photos without a shirt.
Zhang was scheduled to fight Filip Hrgović in an IBF title eliminator on 7 May 2022. However, Hrgović pulled out of the fight on 2 May, after his father died and his training suffered. Scott Alexander was chosen as the replacement on the Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard, with the fight being dropped from the co-main to the undercard. Zhang won the bout via first-round knockout. His fight against Hrgović was rescheduled for 20 August 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II. On that night, Zhang knocked Hrgović down in the first round with a big right. After a close-fought battle over twelve rounds, the judges awarded the fight to Hrgović with two scores of 115–112 and one of 114–113, in what was described as a “generous” decision by broadcaster Sky Sports after a “bizarre” performance by Hrgović.