When a whole era of boxing bears your name, you have cemented your legacy. At just 20, Mike Tyson’s historic heavyweight title win catapulted him to global fame, transcending the boxing world. Inspiring everyone, Tyson even made Muhammad Ali rely on him to avenge his loss to Larry Holmes. However, it was not the only thing the Baddest Man on the Planet did.

Akin to ‘The Greatest,‘ Iron Mike went beyond sport—so beyond, there are movies, TV shows, and even games made about him. Not only that, he wrote a book named ‘Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth‘ (co-written with Larry Sloman), which became a Sunday Times best-selling autobiography. But one thing that took over the world quickly was a Nintendo game named ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!‘ However, things didn’t work in his favor despite the game earning a fortune. So, what went wrong?

Mike Tyson comes clean on his earnings from Nintendo’s ‘Punch-Out!!’

From $300 million net worth ($685 million after adjusting for inflation per Forbes) to bankruptcy to now $10 million, Mike Tyson’s history with money is a secret to none. Additionally, ‘Kid Dynamite‘ was robbed of his $100 million by Don King. But the controversial promoter wasn’t the only one to give Tyson the short end of the stick. Similar was the case with his Nintendo deal.

In a sit down on VladTV, interviewer Zab Judah claimed the legendary boxer only earned $50,000, to which Mike Tyson responded: “Hey, that was a bad deal, but I don’t think it was 50 G’s… I think it was $1.2 million or something in that range.”

How much money did ‘Punch-Out!!‘ generate?

Initially, ‘Punch-Out!!‘ didn’t include Mike Tyson. The final boss in the limited-edition giveaway was Super Macho Man. Later, Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa introduced Iron Mike as the final boss. It was after the president witnessed ‘Kid Dynamite‘ annihilate all his opponents in 1986. The deal was officially signed shortly before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion later that year.

After changing their marketing strategy by renaming the name of the game from ‘Punch-Out!!‘ to ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!’, they gained worldwide recognition quickly. In the boxing legend’s own words, “It broke all the records.” Once sold for $34 in 1987, and even now worth $80,000, the game eventually generated $1.7 billion in revenue over the years.

Mike Tyson looks back at the “bad” game deal

Earning less than 1% of the game’s revenue is a stark reminder of how poorly Tyson was compensated compared to the value he brought. But Mike Tyson was not new to such treatment. After being duped by his once-trusted promoter, the Nintendo game was another deal gone wrong for the fan-favorite Uncle Mike.

Looking back on his deal with ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!’, the boxing legend said, “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.”

“It was just a really bad deal. I didn’t know nothing about business, what the hell,” concluded Tyson. However, that’s not the only shocking fact about ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!’ So what’s more? 

In an interview with Patrick Bet-David at the 2023 Vault Conference, Tyson had everyone in the room scratching their head with a startling confession. Responding to one of the attendee’s questions, the boxing icon made a rather unexpected revelation. “I never played the game…never played,” said Tyson, leaving everyone flabbergasted.

However, now, the 58-year-old boxing icon seems to be in a better place personally and financially. With a $10 million revived net worth, Iron Mike plans to go upward as he steps into multiple international business ventures. Having his wife, Lakiha ‘Kiki’ Spicer, do the managerial work, Tyson plans not to be duped ever again.

How much do you think Mike Tyson should have earned from the ‘Punch-Out!!‘s $1.7 billion fortune?