Iron Mike 2.0: How Cannabis Gave Tyson the Greatest Comeback of All Time

The first time the world truly feared Mike Tyson, he was 20 years and four months old. November 22, 1986. Trevor Berbick never saw the uppercut coming. In two brutal rounds, the Brooklyn kid trained by Cus D’Amato became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. “Iron Mike” didn’t just win belts; he rewrote what intimidation looked like. Lightning footwork, a peek-a-boo guard that swallowed punches, and a right hand that detonated like a landmine. For a moment, he was the most famous, most feared man on the planet.

Then came the fall: prison, bankruptcy, that infamous night with Evander Holyfield’s ear, and a 2005 retirement speech where he admitted he no longer even liked boxing. By the early 2010s, Tyson was broke, suicidal, and 380 pounds. “I was dying,” he later said. “I didn’t want to live.”

Enter the plant that saved him.

Cannabis didn’t just calm Mike Tyson; it rebuilt him from the inside out. His business partner Rob Hickman watched the metamorphosis in real time: “The vicious, selfish person disappeared. Mike became the perfect human being – focused, present, and hungry to create instead of destroy.” The same hands that once shattered jaws now rolled joints and dreamed of empires.

Round One: Tyson Ranch

In 2016, Tyson and Hickman launched Tyson Holistic Holdings. Two arms: Tyson Holistic (hemp investments) and Tyson Ranch – 418 acres of California desert they proudly called “420 acres” for the culture. Located in Desert Hot Springs, the ranch was supposed to be cannabis Eden: premium flower, edibles, concentrates, a wellness line called Iron Mike Genetics, the Kind Music Festival, glamping under the stars, and long-term plans for a full-blown cannabis research university. Their first product, CopperGel Ice CBD topical, dropped in 2018 and flew off shelves.

The vision was beautiful, but the execution was too ambitious, too fast. By 2021 the ranch shuttered its gates. Most legends would’ve stayed down. Not Mike!

Round Two: Tyson 2.0 – Leaner, Meaner, Unstoppable

In 2021, Tyson came back swinging with Tyson 2.0: a tighter, smarter brand built around what he actually loves – smoking the loudest, frostiest flower on Earth. He partnered with Columbia Care (now The Cannabist Company) for nationwide distribution and former NHL enforcer Daniel Carcillo’s Wesana Health to explore psilocybin for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Why TBI? Because Iron Mike estimates he took 50,000+ punches to the head. “I’m trying to heal my own brain,” he says, “and every fighter who came before and after me.”

Today Tyson 2.0 is everywhere. Strains like Tiger Mintz, Knockout OG, and the legendary Toad (named after the 5-MeO-DMT venom from the Sonoran Desert toad that Tyson has smoked over 50 times) sell out in hours. The Toad trip, he claims, killed his ego and suicidal thoughts in one 15-minute blast: “I died and came back. Everything changed.” He even sells edibles shaped like bitten ears – Mike Bites delta-8 gummies – turning his darkest moment into dark humor and serious revenue.

He’s inked deals with Hudson Cannabis (owned by Abby Rockefeller) for legacy-grown, small-batch flower in New York’s Hudson Valley. Limited drops at Strain Stars and Conbud disappear before the Instagram stories even load. The merch game is strong: Tyson 2.0 hoodies, rolling trays, and a clothing line that moves faster than his old jab.

And then there’s the podcast. Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson is pure chaos and wisdom: Snoop Dogg, Rick Rubin, Tony Hawk, Post Malone – all passing blunts while Iron Mike drops gems like, “Weed taught me humility. The toad showed me God.” Episodes regularly crack top-10 charts.

The numbers speak for themselves. Tyson 2.0 is now in over 20 states, expanding into Europe and Canada, and the brand is valued north of nine figures. The man who once blew $400 million on Bengal tigers and gold bathtubs now talks cash flow, terpene profiles, and giving back. He funds youth boxing programs, mental-health initiatives, and speaks openly about his own battles with addiction and depression.

From the darkest corners of a jail cell to the brightest shelves in America’s dispensaries, Mike Tyson pulled off the greatest comeback in sports history – not in the ring, but in the boardroom and the grow room. Cannabis didn’t soften Iron Mike; it revealed the real one: a survivor, a healer, a 59-year-old kid from Brownsville who finally found peace in a perfectly rolled joint and a second chance.

The final bell never rang. Tyson 2.0 is just getting started.

Ding ding.

By Monica Cherry