When did Mike Tyson get his face tattoo?

Mike Tyson reached the pinnacle of success after he established himself as one of the most intimidating boxers in the world. The former heavyweight champion flaunts a unique personality that has always made him the center of attention. His iconic facial tattoo doesn't hurt either.

Just a week before his fight against Clifford Etienne in 2003, Tyson decided to get a tattoo on his face, according to Fox Sports.

Jeff Fenech, a former professional boxer, was training 'Iron Mike' ahead of his clash opposite Etienne. He later claimed that Tyson got himself a face tattoo because he didn't wish to fight Etienne, as tattoos "scab up", which is not considered safe for a boxer.

"My first impression was that I’ve never had a tattoo in my life, but I thought we are fighting in a week, and when you get a tattoo, you can’t fight because they snap up and it wouldn’t be healthy to do that. We sat down and spoke, and he didn’t really want to fight and he wasn’t prepared to, and that was one of the reasons he got the tattoo," Fenech told Fox Sports.

🥊 🗓 #OnThisDay in 2003: @MikeTyson revealed his tribal tattoo for the first time, before registering the 50th and final victory of his career.A round one KO of Clifford Etienne. pic.twitter.com/BE0kKjiuZ4

— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) February 22, 2021

Despite not wanting to share the boxing ring with Etienne, Mike Tyson agreed to fight him. He knocked out his fellow American in the first round, taking just 49 seconds to register another victory. It was the 50th and final win of his professional boxing career.

Mike Tyson wanted tattoos of hearts on his face

Initially, Mike Tyson wanted Victor Perez (his tattoo artist) to tattoo hearts on his face. However, Perez refused to do so, and later suggested Tyson get a tribal tattoo, which the legendary boxer eventually agreed upon.

In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Mike Tyson noted that he thought he was going to be a "man of hearts".

"I just thought it was a cool tattoo. I was going to get a bunch of hearts and stuff, and that would have been really stupid. I was going to be the man of hearts, baby. Victor Perez, the tattoo artist said 'I ain’t doing that. I can’t do that'. I waited around and two days later (Victor Perez) called and said 'Mike, I’ve got some tribal stuff'. I said 'woah, put another one over there'. I was like 'this is cool, I like this'. So he did it," said Tyson.

Along with a facial tattoo, Mike Tyson boasts several other tattoos on his body, including a tattoo of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong on his right arm. In 2013, the former boxer joked about removing his symbolic tribal tattoo on the occasion of April Fools' Day.

At the doctors office this morning. Getting this tattoo removed from my face. This is going to be painful.

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) April 1, 2013