There have been many speculations surrounding the iconic tribal ink. Mike's former trainer Jeff Fenech told Fox Sports that the boxer got the tattoo because he did not want to fight Clifford Etienne at the time.

Tyson's face tattoo quickly proved iconic and has become strongly associated with him. Its Māori influence has been controversial, spurring claims of cultural appropriation. In 2011, Whitmill filed a copyright suit against Warner Bros. for using the design on the character Stu Price in The Hangover Part II. Warner Bros. responded with a number of defenses, including that tattoos are not copyrightable; supporting them, scholar David Nimmer argued that it violated the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution—which prohibits slavery—to give Whitmill copyright over part of Tyson's body. After initial comments by Judge Catherine D. Perry denying an injunction but affirming that tattoos are copyrightable, Whitmill and Warner Bros. settled for undisclosed terms, without disruption to the release of the film.

Apparently, Whitmill had Tyson sign something back in the day, acknowledging that Whitmill owned the rights to the design. Armed with this agreement and copyright registration, Whitmill argued that Warner Bros. had no right to reproduce his work without crediting him or getting his go-ahead.

From immense raw power to a contentious history with his coach. He has a lot of history. However, his tattoo is his USP, which a fan would recognize even from afar. The question arises, what happened to mike tyson face tattoo other tattoos does he have?

Tyson has another tattoo that perfectly matches the Maori martial ornament on his face - the image of an aggressive tiger preparing to jump. The drawing evokes Eastern traditions, reminiscent of the idea of the dragon, which signifies nobility, bravery, strength, and power.

Tyson’s face tattoo has sparked countless conversations, debates, and even controversy. It challenges the status quo and invites people to question their own perceptions of beauty and self-expression.

Monica Turner became one of the few who did not turn away from Mike then. After all the years of imprisonment, the girl visited Mike in prison, and after his release, the couple married, but their marriage did not last long - only six years. After the divorce, he disappeared and tattooed a portrait of his wife, over which the boxer put a new drawing.

Of course tattoos can be copyrighted. I don't think there is any reasonable dispute about that. They are not copyrighting Mr. Tyson's face, or restricting Mr. Tyson's use of his own face, as the defendant argues, or saying that someone who has a tattoo can't remove the tattoo or change it, but the tattoo itself and the design itself can be copyrighted, and I think it's entirely consistent with the copyright law.

I feel like that’s how it’s gonna go, it’s gonna be competitive early. 58 is old and he’s probably gonna get tired and, yeah. It’s a because everybody loves Mike Tyson. You’re beating up a 58-year-old. He hasn’t been actively competitive in twenty years."

For decades, the iconic face tattoo of former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, has been the epitome of his fierce and fearless persona inside and outside of the ring. The tribal-inspired tattoo that sprawls across his left eye and cheek has become synonymous with his name, almost as recognizable as his lightning-fast punches and knockout power.

Tyson got his face tattoo from artist S. Victor Whitmill of Las Vegas, Nevada, shortly before Tyson's 2003 fight with Clifford Etienne (which would be his 50th and last victory), having previously suggested that he would get a face tattoo if he won Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson. Tyson had originally wanted hearts (which he "just thought ... were cool" ), but, according to Tyson, Whitmill refused and worked for a few days on a new design. Whitmill proposed a tribal design inspired by tā moko, a Māori tattoo style. The design is not based on any specific moko and was created directly on Tyson's face. Tyson saw the tattoo as representing the Māori, whom he described as a "warrior tribe", and approved of the design, which consists of monochrome spiral shapes above and below his left eye. According to Tyson, it was his idea to use two curved figures rather than one.

But an iconic tattoo having a whole different shape takes the cake. Just imagine a prime boxer with raw power, arrested multiple times, but sporting cute hearts on his face! A prime sentiment on X (@JiujitsuOtter) reacted "I’d buy him a beer for having the heart not to do it and made the most iconic tattoo in sports history instead."

Some tā moko artists differed, seeing it not as appropriative of moko but rather a hybrid of several tattoo styles; Rangi Kipa saw no Māori elements at all. The perspective of those like Te Awekotuku highlights the conflict between Māori conception of moko—which reflect a person's genealogy—as collective property and the Anglo-American view of copyright as belonging to a single person. While Warner Bros. initially said they would investigate whether the tattoo was a derivative of any Māori works, there was no further discussion of the matter prior to the case settling.