Joseph Parker was floored twice by Zhilei Zhang but otherwise outboxed his foe for large stretches of the heavyweight fight to earn a majority-decision victory on Friday evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He started the sport late but was soon a fighter to be reckoned with, with an Olympic silver medal at Beijing 2008, losing to the legendary Roberto Cammarelle in the final. He then took the next step to turn professional.

“This is what we’re here for, we’re professional fighters. We came to entertain the crowd and we did it. I hope everyone enjoyed my performance. Thank you to everyone who came here today and witnessed my greatness in front of Chinese social media.”

Mike Tyson is considered one of the greatest boxers in boxing of all time. Fear is what he instilled in every opponent who had the courage to face ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ in the squared circle. It might be hard to imagine, but even an intimidating guy like Tyson once had a childhood laden with insecurities. One of the many chinks in the armor of ‘Iron Mike’ during his childhood had to do with his speech impediment for which he was picked on as a kid.

The Mike Tyson tattoo on his face has had a decisive impact on popular culture and fashion, becoming a different kind of individuality and boldness. This unique pattern not only enhanced his formidable image, but also inspired many people to experiment with tattoos and self-expression. In the world of fashion and art, Tyson’s tattoo became a symbol of boldness and non-acceptance of the standard, prompting designers and artists to create new trends and collections inspired by the motifs present. The emergence of facial tattoos in music, movies and even on runways is partly due to the influence of Tyson, who showed with his invention that such tattoos can be a powerful expression of personal history and inner strength.

Kurbanov (25-1, 13 KOs) entered the bout on the heels of a career-best win, a split-decision over Michel Soro. The 27-year-old Kurbanov also owns wins over former titleholders Liam Smith and Patrick Teixeira. Kurbanov is ESPN’s No. 7 junior middleweight.

Promotion promotion promotion if I’m being honest it don’t need that.. The biggest fight of the 21st century, in the biggest NFL stadium in the US, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world…that’s the MVP way. Whether you’re tuning in on Netflix or showing… pic.twitter.com/DQLKMnyWfO

In the co-main event, Mikaela Mayer returned to winning ways with a unanimous decision victory over late replacement Lucy Wildheart to win the interim WBC lightweight title, putting her in the mix for a shot at pound-for-pound superstar Katie Taylor.

“Don’t be amazed to see him make this look easy on June 1,” Hearn said. “I think it’s going be a very very tough fight, but he has all the ability to stand that man on his head while he’s trying to hunt him down. But while he’s doing it, he’s going to be very very dangerous.”

During his year away from the sport, Tyson made some changes. After earning an estimated $200 million in the ring, he found that he was cash poor and $13 million in debt from back taxes. He pointed the finger at King and the two parted ways in a flurry of lawsuits. He married again, this time to a pediatrician. His training regimen became steadier and he returned to the ring again making mountains of cash against opponents who offered little opposition.

If you pay close attention to the way he speaks, Tyson sometimes sounds slurry on his podcast and many interviews he has given. It is a rare condition that he had carried through his childhood well into his adult life. However, the reputation that he had amassed inside the boxing ring by knocking out his opponents has whitewashed any complications that might arise with the rare condition he suffers from. However, Tyson seems to have made his peace with it and even hosts his own podcast named ‘Hotboxin with Mike Tyson’.

It seems that some get into professional sports and entertainment for the applause, while others for the money. But presumably, there are a good number of folks, like Mike Tyson, who love the craft and competition of it all. Tyson once tweeted about his early career and said that money wasn’t his motivator, but that changed eventually.

Build-up to the fight had forecast a potential match-up with the likes of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua for Joyce, but this was Zhang’s night and the victor made known his own intentions to chase down the title holders.

Mike and Monica got separated and divorced in early 2003. After being in a relationship for a long time, Tyson walked down his wedding aisle with Lakiha Spicer. Since 2009, they have been sharing the relationship of a husband and a wife.

“Of course, that’s a great fight and facing the winner will be great,” he said. “I think all of us prospects, you have a few who are considered the best like Fury, Usyk, Joshua, but all the rest of us we need to fight each other to get the best to get the chance to fight for a world title.