Mike Tyson Case Study
Nie-shia Randolph
Colorado Technical University Online

Mike Tyson Case Study Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York to parents Jimmy Kirkpatrick and Lorna Tyson. When Mike was two years old his father left his family, leaving his mother to take care of him and his two siblings Rodney and Denise. Struggling to stay afloat Tyson’s mother moved her family to Brownsville, a section in Brooklyn (Mike Tyson biography, 1996-2013)

As a child Tyson was small and shy this cause him to be the target of bullying. Tyson decided to learn how to fight to protect him from the bully’s in his neighborhood. This helped him to develop his own style of street fighting. Tyson stated to indulge in more criminal activities. He ran with a gang called the Jolly stompers. Tyson role with the gang was to clean out cash registers while the older people in the gang held victims at gun point. Tyson was only 11 years old at the time. His involvement with the gang has caused Tyson to develop a criminal background. At the age of 13 Tyson had been arrested more than 30 times. His criminal behavior landed in a reform school in upstate New York. At the reform school Tyson met counselor Bob Stewart. Bob was an amateur boxing champion. Tyson began to show interest in boxing he asked Bob to teach him how to use his fists. Bob agree to teach Tyson what he knew if Mike agreed to stay out of trouble and work harder in school. Mike managed to stay out of trouble and he got good grades in school. Mike dedicated his every waking moment to practicing his punches and learning the in’s and out of professional boxing
In 1980 Bob introduce Tyson to the legendary boxing manager Constantine D’Amato. Constantine allowed Tyson to move in with him. During his stay Constantine taught Tyson everything he needed to know about boxing. A rigorous training schedule was set up for him to work on his boxing skills. In 1980 Tyson was entered into his first amateur boxing match this was set up for Tyson to get experience with competing with older opponents. (Mike Tyson biography, 1996-2013)

By 1985 Tyson made his professional debut in Albany New York against Hector Mercedes he was 18 years old. He knocked Mercedes out in the first round after the fight Tyson earned the name of Iron Mike. From the beginning of Tyson career he showed everyone why he is a force to be reckoned with .Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champ at the age of 20. He held many different titles in his boxing career to name a few WBC) world boxing champion. (Safane, 2010) Mike Tyson boxing career gave him instant wealth. Tyson average winnings per fight was 10.6 million dollars, Tyson received endorsement deals with Pepsi and Nintendo, his career earnings were between 300 and 400 million dollars.
At the present Mike is trying to save what is life of his career. Mike appeared in Hangover 1 and Hangover 2 and he also did a one-man show on Broadway that was directed by Spike Lee. Mike signed a deal to write a memoir of his life, the book will be titled ‘Undisputed Truth” It said to be release this year. (Mike Tyson biography, 1996-2013)
I chose Mike Tyson to conduct a case study because he captivated the nation with his boxing skills and punching power. He was also raised in a rough neighborhood and against all odds he has proven to be a great definition of a success story.

Behavioristic-
I chose behavioristic as the perspective to write about because it explain as human we either learn from rewards or punishments associated with specific behaviors
Growing up without a father in the household left Mike Tyson feeling incomplete. At the age of 11 the streets became the father figure that Tyson so desperately wanted. He started running with older guys in his neighborhood committing petty crimes; this landed Tyson in jail. By the age of 13 jail had become an involving door for Tyson. If his father was