The product at the top of the gondola of this store in Amsterdam in the Netherlands will have a strange success. These are cannabis chewing gums. Two clues suggest the name of the owner of the premises. The name: “Mike Bites”, “Mike’s bites”. The shape: ears with a torn lobe at the top. Like that of the right ear of Evander Holyfiled, which… Mike Tyson had bitten during a memorable fight in 1997. The pack of 25 erasers is on sale for 29.99 dollars (27.63 euros). They come in strawberry, apple or watermelon flavours.
The name of the shop? “Tyson 2.0 coffee shop”. Welcome to Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson opens its first legal cannabis store in Europe. On the Spuistraat, in the city center of Amsterdam, it is a store of 111 m2. “For me, says the former world champion, it’s a dream come true. The “Coffee-shop” immerses fans in a complete experience where they can enjoy my favorite products like I do. »
“I have tried and tested them all”
Tyson has not skimped on customer satisfaction testing of its products. “I have tried and tested them all,” he confirms. I can’t wait to share the most loved ones with Europe. It’s been a long time since Mike Tyson, who also sells his brand’s clothing, converted to the cannabis business. In the United States, he owns a ranch entirely dedicated to this illegal product in France. In California, where he resides in Orange County, cannabis has been authorized for therapeutic purposes since 1998. In the Netherlands, the possession of a small amount has been legal since 1976. From next May 1, it will not be however, it is no longer allowed to consume weed in the streets of old Amsterdam, where Tyson’s store is located.
In the United States, several states have legalized consumption and another former champion has started his business: Floyd Landis, the disqualified winner of the Tour de France 2006. “After 2006, I fell low, very, very low, he told us at the beginning of 2020. I sank into great suffering. I took a lot of crap that cannabis replaced. Marijuana allowed me to sleep. »
Up to $40,000 a month worth of cannabis
Depression is also what led Mike Tyson to this herb. At 56, “Iron Mike” has had a life of fame, fortune and decay or prison for rape. Cannabis kept him going, or so he says. “I fought at the highest level for over 20 years. To calm the nerves and relieve the pain, I started to consume it, ”he explains. In 2018, he admitted to smoking $40,000 worth of weed a… month. After nearly losing his mind – cannabis is a prohibited drug in France – he reduced his consumption. But he remains his first client.
Born into poverty in 1966 in Brooklyn, Tyson was a thug before becoming a beloved boxer. On November 22, 1986, at 20 years, 4 months and 23 days, he became the youngest heavyweight world champion in history. His record still stands. He defended his title half a dozen times. He is a multimillionaire, protected by Donald Trump. But the demons of his youth caught up with him: a complaint for rape and domestic violence sent him to prison for 6 years in 1991. “I should have gone to prison for many other things, I deserved it. But not for this one. I did nothing”, he claims 32 years later. Released for good behavior in 1995, he returned to the ring but the dramas continued to accompany him. Ruined, he lost his 4-year-old daughter to the strangulation of a treadmill strap in 2009.
In 1997, Mike Tyson caused controversy by biting the right ear of Evander Holyfield by tearing off a piece of the lobe. For this bite, he was banned from the rings and fined $3 million. Today, he trades in it…
