Lakiha Spicer loves the tattoos on boxing legend Mike Tyson’s face, turning the infamous, incarcerated man into a kind husband and father.

The heavyweight boxing legend has repeatedly praised his wife’s contributions to his life. Known as one of the greatest boxers of all time, “Iron Mike” has also caused controversy with accusations of rape, abuse and his past battle with drug addiction. Since dating the 11-year-younger beauty and later his third wife Lakiha Spicer, Mike Tyson’s life has changed in a positive direction. The man once nicknamed “the worst in the world” has become calmer and gradually distanced himself from scandals and turned to his family.

“Without a wife, I’m a wild animal. The older I get, the more I look at women differently. When I was young, I saw them as fun, now I see them as my other half. This makes me realize I’m a man. At this stage of my life, they are my teachers. If a man is not a little afraid of his wife, he is not living a proper life,” the boxing legend said in 2020.

The beauty nicknamed Kiki first met Mike Tyson in 1995 when she was 18 years old at a boxing match. Lahika’s father was a big boxing fan and often took his daughter to martial arts competitions. By early 2000, Kiki and Mike began dating. In a conversation with the New York Post in 2012, Lakiha Spicer described her relationship with Mike Tyson as “a moth flying to a flame”. The beauty said: “I couldn’t get him out of my mind, I tried, but then we came back together. He was the only person I could love again and again.”

In the summer of 2009, Mike Tyson and Lakiha Spicer married at La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. They exchanged vows in a private ceremony after welcoming their first daughter, Milan. Both had legal troubles before the wedding. Mike Tyson was on three years probation after being arrested for cocaine possession and pleading guilty to driving under the influence. Meanwhile, Lakiha Spicer was sentenced to six months in federal prison in 2008 for embezzling money from a company owned by her father. While serving her sentence, she was pregnant with Milan. They had another son, Morocco, in early 2011.

His wife co-wrote the 2012 play Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth About the Life of Mike Tyson with screenwriter Randy Johnson. The play was brought to Broadway and made into a film.

Mike Tyson has a Maori-inspired tattoo on the left side of his face. It scares many people, but Lakiha Spicer finds it charming and considers it a clever move by her husband to make him stand out and be unique.

According to People, Mike Tyson and his wife are currently working together on several businesses, including a clothing line and a line of boxing gloves. The beauty is said to have contributed to helping the boxing legend recover financially after declaring bankruptcy due to debt in 2003. Before fighting Jake Paul last weekend, Mike Tyson’s fortune was estimated at $10 million.

When Mike Tyson decided to return to the ring against Jake Paul, Lakiha Spicer was both supportive and worried because he was almost 60 years old and had not fought in the ring for nearly 20 years. “This fight is not going to change my life financially. My wife always tells me that I don’t need to fight this fight. But this is what I want to do, this is me and I’m trying to regain my glory,” Mike Tyson said. The former world champion eventually lost to an opponent who was only the age of his daughter and earned an additional $20 million.