:''For the Canadian channel of this name, see ESPN Classic (Canada). For the British channel, see ESPN Classic (UK). For the Italian channel, see ESPN Classic (Italy).''

name	ESPN Classic
logofile	ESPN Classic Logo.svg
logosize	180px
logocaption	ESPN Classic logo
launch	1995 (as Classic Sports Network)
owner	ESPN Inc.
country	United States
language	American English
broadcast area	North America, The UK, The Republic of Ireland, Ukraine and Africa
headquarters	Bristol, Connecticut
former names	Classic Sports Network (1995-2000)
sister names	ESPNESPN2ESPNUESPNewsESPN PlusESPN on ABCESPN (UK)ESPN Classic ESPN America ESPN America HD
web	ESPN Classic
web	ESPN Classic in Europe
sat serv 1	DirecTV
sat chan 1	Channel 614
sat serv 2	Dish Network
sat chan 2	Channel 143
sat serv 3	DSTV
sat chan 3	Channel 231
cable serv 1	Verizon FiOS
cable chan 1	71
cable serv 2	Available on most other cable systems
cable chan 2	Check local listings for details
cable serv 3	UPC Poland
cable chan 3	Channel 570

ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event. As of late 2009, ESPN Classic is the only remaining member of the ESPN family that is not available in high definition (one of only two overall Disney-owned networks, the other being SOAPnet), due to the majority of its content being vintage footage produced before the days of high definition television.

Launched in 1995 as Classic Sports Network by Brian Bedol and Steve Greenberg, with partial funding from Allen & Company, it was purchased for $175 million and renamed by ESPN (80% owned by Disney, 20% owned by Hearst) in 2000. The current logo incorporates the "boxer" logo that Classic Sports Network used. (Bedol and Greenberg went on to found CSTV (now CBS College Sports Network).

Programming

:''See also ESPN significant programming rights''

In a cost-cutting move, the schedule (as of December, 2008) is largely composed of ESPN original programming, highlighting sports such as poker, bowling, and boxing, with less emphasis on re-airing classic major league sporting events (a practice which has however, been adopted by sports networks associated with a league or individual teams, among other channels). Since 2005, it has also frequently broadcast overflow programming from the main ESPN channels, and reruns of ESPN-produced telecasts of recent sporting events that the network has declared an "Instant Classic".

It is the only U.S.-based ESPN network (and one of two Disney-owned cable channels in the U.S.; ABC Family being the other) to air infomercials; they air from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. ET, seven days a week.

Older sports programming from the nineties and earlier have almost entirely moved to their respective networks. These networks include The Big Ten Network, MLB Network, NBA TV, NHL Network, NFL Network, and The Tennis Channel.

Shows

Currently airing

''AWA Championship Wrestling'' (originally aired on ESPN from 1986–1990)

''Celebrity Bowling'' (2010–present)

''60 Minutes on Classic'' (2004–2008, in reruns)

''Friday Night Lights''

''Home Run Derby'' (2009–present)

''Jim Rome Classics''

''The Joe Namath Show''

''Stump the Schwab'' (2006, originally aired on ESPN2 from 2004–2005)

''Reel Classics''

''Ringside'' (2005–present)

''SportsCentury

''Sunday Morning Classics''

''2 Minute Drill'' (2006, 2009–present; originally aired on ESPN from 2000–2001)

''The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame...'' (2009–present; originally aired on ESPN2 from 2005–2007)

''Who's No. 1?''

Formerly airing

''American Gladiators'' (2007–2009, originally aired in syndication from 1989–1996)

''Arliss''

''Cheap Seats''

''Classic Now'' (2005–2006)

''ESPN Classic Remembers''

''Fantasy Insider''

''Greatest Sports Legends''

''Home Run Derby''

''Instant Classic''

''Missing Link'' (2007)

''NCAA on Campus'' (formerly on Fox Sports Net, currently on CBS College Sports)

''NFL Films''

''NFL Films Game of the Week'' (reruns of 1970s-era episodes, dates unknown)

''Schaap One-on-One''

''SportsCenter of the Decade''

''Sports Challenge''

''UWF Wrestling'' (2008, originally aired on ESPN2 in 1995)

''The Way It Was'' (2004–2006; 2009)

''This Week In Baseball''

Broadcasting of live events

The first live event to be shown on ESPN Classic was the implosion of the Seattle Kingdome in March 2000. By 2005 however, ESPN Classic began to broadcast more live sporting events, such as special "ESPN Classic Live" telecasts of college basketball games which featured veteran commentators and older-styled graphics. At this time, ESPN Classic also began to be used as an overflow channel for programming that could not be shown on ESPN or ESPN2 due to scheduling conflicts; these have additional college football and basketball games, the "ESPN Classic Game of the Week" (a Sunday rebroadcast of a ESPN/ABC-televised college football game from the past Saturday), IRL events, live coverage of selected HBCU games (especially since the term "classic" is used for special neutral-site HBCU games), and tape-delayed UEFA Champions League soccer games. ESPN Classic was also the official broadcaster of the annual Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony until 2009 (when these moved to MLB Network).

While not a live event, in 2008 ESPN Classic also notably broadcast an originally untelevised college basketball game played on January 23, 2008 between Baylor and Texas A&M;, which was won by Baylor 116-110 in five overtimes. Due to an unlikely set of circumstances, the actual game, held at Reed Arena on the A&M; campus, was never televised. ESPN Classic used the feeds from the arena's in-house cameras, normally used to allow highlights to be displayed on Jumbotron screens, and the original play-by-play and commentary from A&M;'s radio broadcasters to create a complete telecast. The telecast aired on March 5, 2008 on ESPN Classic before the rematch between the two teams at Baylor aired on ESPN2.

Fan interactive specials

A recent development of ESPN Classic is a series of specials in which fan balloting determines the greatest teams in the history of particular sports. In March 2006, the 1981-82 North Carolina Tar Heels won the fan poll for best-ever college basketball team, in October 2006, the 1927 New York Yankees won for best Major League Baseball team, and in December 2006, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers won the fan poll for best-ever college football team.

Each of these programs features expert analysis and live interactive voting online at ESPN.com. The first votes are cast one week before the scheduled live show, and balloting continues online and via text messaging until the end of the show.

Cessation of original programming

On January 14, 2007, Deadspin.com reported that ESPN Classic would no longer create or air original programming. It was not immediately clear what would replace that programming, however, it was assumed that such shows already produced, but not yet aired, would be broadcast at least for a few more months.

Over the next few months, new episodes of ''Missing Link'', ''Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame'', and ''Ringside'' did air as scheduled. However, ''Missing Link'' was cancelled in June 2007, at which time production was also halted on the other two shows. The long-term future of ESPN Classic appears to be uncertain.

However, ESPN Classic still airs occasional live sporting events if neither ESPN nor ESPN2 are available to carry them. Some examples from the third quarter of 2007:

WNBA basketball, Sacramento Monarchs at Seattle Storm, July 31 (originally on ESPN2, moved due to a game in which Barry Bonds attempted to tie the all-time Major League Baseball home run record and ESPN's airing of an episode of ''The Bronx is Burning''). Also, game 1 of that league's Western Conference final between the Phoenix Mercury and the San Antonio Silver Stars on August 30 was moved here, as ESPN2 aired college football between Tulsa and Louisiana-Monroe. (Also, the WNBA did not want the game to start at the originally-scheduled time of 10 p.m. ET as it was being played in San Antonio, Texas, where the local time was 9 p.m. Had the game started at 10 p.m., it would have aired on ESPN2.)

IndyCar racing, Firestone Indy 400, August 5 (moved from ESPN2 due to rain delay)

Two preliminary round games of USA Basketball in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 22 and 23 and the USA vs. Puerto Rico semifinal on September 1 (ESPN2 had obtained rights, but had other program commitments)

The third quarter of the WNBA playoff game between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun on August 23, 2007. Again, this was scheduled for ESPN2, but there was a game in the Little League World Series preceding it. After an entire half went untelevised, ESPN Classic decided to pull a rebroadcast of a Major League Soccer game in favor of replacing ESPN2 as Chinese Taipei and Japan continued a game that went very long by Little League standards. Japan would win the game in 10 innings, and ESPN2 picked up the coverage in the fourth quarter. Ironically, the WNBA game would set a record for longest playoff game as the Sun defeated the Fever in triple overtime.

Two Champ Car World Series races in September and one in October (as mentioned above).

Since then, these games or events have been shown live on ESPN Classic:

The 2008 Indy Japan 300, which was won by Danica Patrick (first female winner of an Indy Car event.

The entirety of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Lipton Tea 250. The race was simulcasted with Speed and ESPN360.com, as ESPN2 was obligated to an NBA playoff game during the scheduled time of the race. (ESPN2 would later join the race in progress and air it in its entirety on tape delay.) In addition, the network had planned to air the 2008 Sharpie Mini 300, picking up the coverage from ABC, had it continued; however, NASCAR called the race before its conclusion (171 out of 300 laps) because of rain. Clint Bowyer was declared the race winner.

The College World Series game between the University of Georgia and Fresno State University on June 22, 2008, as there were a couple of days of rain-outs, and due to a baseball game on ESPN, and drag racing on ESPN2, the game was forced to air on ESPN Classic.

The following World Cup qualifying matches: United States and Cuba on October 11, 2008, the November 19 match between the United States and Guatemala, and the USA-El Salvador match on September 5, 2009.

The opening 5 minutes of Winter X Games, on January 30, 2010. The event aired on ESPN2 a few minutes later, due to a Indiana-Illinois game running late.

The first hour of the Super Regional game between Texas A&M; and Florida State on June 11, 2011, due to a rain delay in the Virginia-UC Irvine game.

NFL Network partnership

In a report from ''The Wall Street Journal'', Steve Bornstein, chief executive of the NFL Network, has been in “high-level discussions” with NFL and Disney executives including CEO Robert Iger and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. An analyst quoted in the report suggested combining NFL Network with ESPN Classic which has a wide distribution on expanded basic cable line-ups but attracts a modest audience. ESPN could use its market weight and demand more than the 16 to 17 cents per month that it currently receives from ESPN Classic. Though a full merger has, as of yet, not materialized, ESPN networks and NFL Network have begun sharing programming (for instance, an episode of ''NFL's Greatest Games'' will air on NFL Network one night, then air on ESPN2 the next).

Dish Network lawsuit

On August 4, 2009 Dish Network sued ESPN for $1 million in a federal lawsuit, alleging that ESPN breached its contract by not extending the same carriage terms the programmer provided to Comcast and DirecTV for ESPNU and ESPN Classic. The lawsuit claims ESPN violated the "Most Favored Nations" clause.

The next day, ESPN announced they will fight the lawsuit and said in a press release: "We have repeatedly advised Dish that we are in full compliance with our agreement and have offered them a distribution opportunity with respect to ESPNU and ESPN Classic consistent with the rest of the industry. We will not renegotiate settled contracts and will vigorously defend this legal action, the apparent sole purpose of which is to get a better deal."

In popular culture

In a recurring series of ''Saturday Night Live'' skits ESPN Classic is parodied. The scenes are archived obscure women's sportscasts from the 1980s such as bowling, weight lifting and curling, with announcers who know nothing about the sport, and instead focus on promoting the sponsors, which are always women's hygiene products.

References

External links

Official Site

ESPN Classic (across Europe)

Category:ESPN media outlets Category:Television channels and stations established in 1995 Category:English-language television stations in the United States Category:Sports television networks in the United States

de:ESPN Classic es:ESPN Classic fr:ESPN Classic it:ESPN Classic nn:ESPN Classic pl:ESPN Classic sv:ESPN Classic tr:ESPN Classic

Width	200
Position	Shooting guard / Small forward
Height ft	6|height_in 6
Weight lbs	216
Number	23, 45, 9, 12
Birth date	February 17, 1963
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York
High school	Emsley A. Laney
League
Career start	1984
Career end	2003
Draftyear	1984
Draftround	1
Draftpick	3
Draftteam	Chicago Bulls
College	North Carolina (1981–1984)
Years1	–, – |team1 Chicago Bulls
Years2	– |team2 Washington Wizards
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	32,292 (30.1 ppg)
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	6,672 (6.2 rpg)
Stat3label	Assists
Stat3value	5,633 (5.3 apg)
Letter	j
Bbr	jordami01
Highlights	6× NBA Champion (–, –) 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (, –, , ) 14× NBA All-Star (–, –, –) 6× NBA Finals MVP (–, –) 10× NBA scoring champion (–, –) 3× NBA steals champion (, , ) NBA Defensive Player of the Year () 10× All-NBA First Team (–, –) All-NBA Second Team () 9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (–, –) NBA Rookie of the Year () NBA All-Rookie First Team () 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (, , ) 2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (–) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team #23 Retired by Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat NCAA Champion (1982) 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1983–1984) ACC Player of the Year (1984) Oscar Robertson Trophy (1984) Naismith College Player of the Year (1984) John R. Wooden Award (1984) Adolph Rupp Trophy (1984)
Hof player	michael-jordan }}

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player, active businessman, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a standout career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' National Championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.

Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances, three All-Star Game MVP awards, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film ''Space Jam'' as himself. He is the majority owner and head of basketball operations for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, having won a bidding war to buy controlling interest in the team from founding owner Robert L. Johnson.

Early years

Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Deloris (née Peoples), who worked in banking, and James R. Jordan, Sr., an equipment supervisor. His family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was a toddler. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he anchored his athletic career by playing baseball, football, and basketball. He tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but at 5'11" (1.80 m), he was deemed too short to play at that level. His taller friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was the only sophomore to make the team.

Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity squad, and tallied several 40 point games. The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged about 20 points per game over his final two seasons of high school play. As a senior, he was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team During his three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0 rebounds per game (rpg). He was selected by consensus to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA Draft. The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick, after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986.

Professional career

During his first season in the NBA, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting. He quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas, and appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' with the heading "A Star is Born" just over a month into his professional career. Jordan was also voted in as an All-Star starter by the fans in his rookie season. Controversy arose before the All-Star game when word surfaced that several veteran players, led by Isiah Thomas, were upset by the amount of attention Jordan was receiving. This led to a so called "freeze-out" on Jordan, where players refused to pass him the ball throughout the game. The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted Rookie of the Year. The Bulls finished the season 38–44, and lost in the first round of the playoffs in four games to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jordan's second season was cut short by a broken foot which caused him to miss 64 games. Despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record, the Bulls made the playoffs. Jordan recovered in time to participate in the playoffs and performed well upon his return. Against a 1985–86 Boston Celtics team that is often considered one of the greatest in NBA history, Jordan set the still-unbroken record for points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2. The Celtics, however, managed to sweep the series.

Jordan had recovered completely by the 1986–87 season, and had one of the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA history. He became the only player other than Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a season, averaging a league high 37.1 points on 48.2% shooting. In addition, Jordan demonstrated his defensive prowess, as he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season. Despite Jordan's success, Magic Johnson won the league's Most Valuable Player Award. The Bulls reached 40 wins, and advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year. However, they were again swept by the Celtics.

Mid-career: Pistons roadblock

Jordan led the league in scoring again in the 1987–88 season, averaging 35.0 ppg on 53.5% shooting and won his first league MVP award. He was also named the Defensive Player of the Year, as he had averaged 1.6 blocks and a league high 3.16 steals per game. The Bulls finished 50–32, and made it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in Jordan's career, as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. However, the Bulls then lost in five games to the more experienced Detroit Pistons, who were led by Isiah Thomas and a group of physical players known as the "Bad Boys".

In the 1988–89 season, Jordan again led the league in scoring, averaging 32.5 ppg on 53.8% shooting from the field, along with 8 rpg and 8 assists per game (apg). The Bulls finished with a 47–35 record, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks along the way. The Cavaliers series included a career highlight for Jordan when he hit a series-winning shot over Craig Ehlo in the closing moments of the deciding fifth game of the series. However, the Pistons again defeated the Bulls, this time in six games, by utilizing their "Jordan Rules" method of guarding Jordan, which consisted of double and triple teaming him every time he touched the ball.

The Bulls entered the 1989–90 season as a team on the rise, with their core group of Jordan and young improving players like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, and under the guidance of new coach Phil Jackson. Jordan averaged a league leading 33.6 ppg on 52.6% shooting, to go with 6.9 rpg and 6.3 apg in leading the Bulls to a 55–27 record. They again advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals beating the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers en route. However, despite pushing the series to seven games, the Bulls lost to the Pistons for the third consecutive season.

First three-peat

In the 1990–91 season, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 ppg on 53.9% shooting, 6.0 rpg, and 5.5 apg for the regular season. The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in 16 years and set a franchise record with 61 wins in the regular season. With Scottie Pippen developing into an All-Star, the Bulls had elevated their play. The Bulls defeated the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where their rival, the Detroit Pistons, awaited them. However, this time the Bulls beat the Pistons in a surprising sweep. In an unusual ending to the fourth and final game, Isiah Thomas led his team off the court before the final minute had concluded. Most of the Pistons went directly to their locker room instead of shaking hands with the Bulls.

The Bulls compiled an outstanding 15–2 record during the playoffs, and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they beat the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one. Perhaps the best known moment of the series came in Game 2 when, attempting a dunk, Jordan avoided a potential Sam Perkins block by switching the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air to lay the shot in. In his first Finals appearance, Jordan posted per game averages of 31.2 points on 56% shooting from the field, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks. Jordan won his first NBA Finals MVP award, and he cried while holding the NBA Finals trophy.

Jordan and the Bulls continued their dominance in the 1991–92 season, establishing a 67–15 record, topping their franchise record from 1990 to 91. Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with averages of 30.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game on 52% shooting. After winning a physical 7-game series over the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs and finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals in 6 games, the Bulls met Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers in the Finals. The media, hoping to recreate a Magic-Bird rivalry, highlighted the similarities between "Air" Jordan and Clyde "The Glide" during the pre-Finals hype. In the first game, Jordan scored a Finals-record 35 points in the first half, including a record-setting six three-point field goals. After the sixth three-pointer, he jogged down the court shrugging as he looked courtside. Marv Albert, who broadcast the game, later stated that it was as if Jordan was saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this." The Bulls went on to win Game 1, and defeat the Blazers in six games. Jordan was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row and finished the series averaging 35.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.5 apg, while shooting 53% from the floor.

In 1992–93, despite a 32.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 5.5 apg campaign, Jordan's streak of consecutive MVP seasons ended as he lost the award to his friend Charles Barkley. Coincidentally, Jordan and the Bulls met Barkley and his Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. The Bulls captured their third consecutive NBA championship on a game-winning shot by John Paxson and a last-second block by Horace Grant, but Jordan was once again Chicago's catalyst. He averaged a Finals-record 41.0 ppg during the six-game series, and became the first player in NBA history to win three straight Finals MVP awards. He scored more than 30 points in every game of the series, including 40 or more points in 4 consecutive games. With his third Finals triumph, Jordan capped off a seven-year run where he attained seven scoring titles and three championships, but there were signs that Jordan was tiring of his massive celebrity and all of the non-basketball hassles in his life.

Gambling controversy

During the Bulls' playoff run in 1993, controversy arose when Jordan was seen gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey the night before a game against the New York Knicks. In that same year, he admitted to having to cover $57,000 in gambling losses, and author Richard Esquinas wrote a book claiming he had won $1.25 million from Jordan on the golf course. In 2005, Jordan talked to Ed Bradley of the CBS evening show ''60 Minutes'' about his gambling and admitted that he made some reckless decisions. Jordan stated, "Yeah, I've gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I've pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you're willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah." When Bradley asked him if his gambling ever got to the level where it jeopardized his livelihood or family, Jordan replied, "No."

First retirement and baseball career

On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, citing a loss of desire to play the game. Jordan later stated that the murder of his father earlier in the year shaped his decision. James R. Jordan, Sr. was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina, by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery. The assailants were traced from calls they made on James Jordan's cellular phone, caught, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. Jordan was close to his father; as a child he had imitated his father's proclivity to stick out his tongue while absorbed in work. He later adopted it as his own signature, displaying it each time he drove to the basket. In 1996 he founded a Chicago area Boys & Girls Club and dedicated it to his father.

In his 1998 autobiography ''For the Love of the Game'', Jordan wrote that he had been preparing for retirement as early as the summer of 1992. The added exhaustion due to the Dream Team run in the 1992 Olympics solidified Jordan's feelings about the game and his ever-growing celebrity status. Jordan's announcement sent shock waves throughout the NBA and appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world.

Jordan then further surprised the sports world by signing a minor league baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox. He reported to spring training and was assigned to the team's minor league system on March 31, 1994. Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player. The White Sox were another team owned by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan's basketball contract during the years he played baseball. In 1994, Jordan played for the Birmingham Barons, a Double-A minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, batting .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, and 11 errors. He also appeared for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 1994 Arizona Fall League, batting .252 against the top prospects in baseball.

"I'm back": Return to the NBA

In the 1993–94 season, the Bulls, without Jordan, achieved a 55–27 record, and lost to the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs. But the 1994–95 version of the Bulls was a shell of the championship squad of just two years earlier. Struggling at mid-season to ensure a spot in the playoffs, Chicago was 31–31 at one point in mid-March. The team received a lift, however, when Jordan decided to return to the NBA for the Bulls.

On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a pithy press release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points. The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.

Although he had not played in an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back. He then scored 55 points in his fifth game back against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995 (his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since retiring). Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls went 13-4 to make the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic. At the end of the first game of the series, though, Orlando's Nick Anderson would strip Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan", after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number (23). Jordan averaged 31 points per game in that series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.

Second three-peat

Freshly motivated by the playoff defeat, Jordan trained aggressively for the 1995–96 season. Strengthened by the addition of rebound specialist Dennis Rodman, the Bulls dominated the league, starting the season 41–3, and eventually finishing with the best regular season record in NBA history: 72–10. Jordan led the league in scoring with 30.4 ppg, and won the league's regular season and All-Star Game MVP awards. In the playoffs, the Bulls lost only three games in four series, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Finals to win the championship. Jordan was named Finals MVP for a record fourth time, surpassing Magic Johnson's three Finals MVP awards. He also achieved only the second sweep of the MVP Awards in the All-Star Game, regular season and NBA Finals, Willis Reed having achieved the first, during the 1969–70 season. Because this was Jordan's first championship since his father's death, and it was won on Father's Day, Jordan reacted very emotionally upon winning the title, including a memorable scene of him sobbing on the locker room floor with the game ball.

In the 1996–97 season, the Bulls started out 69–11, but narrowly missed out on a second consecutive 70-win season by losing their final two games to finish 69–13. However, this year Jordan was beaten for the NBA MVP Award by Karl Malone. The team again advanced to the Finals, where they faced Malone and the Utah Jazz. The series against the Jazz featured two of the more memorable clutch moments of Jordan's career. He won Game 1 for the Bulls with a buzzer-beating jump shot. In Game 5, with the series tied 2–2, Jordan played despite being feverish and dehydrated from a stomach virus. In what is known as the "flu game", Jordan scored 38 points including the game-deciding three-pointer with less than a minute remaining. The Bulls won 90–88 and went on to win the series in six games. For the fifth time in as many Finals appearances, Jordan received the Finals MVP award. During the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, Jordan posted the first triple double in All-Star Game history in a victorious effort; however, he did not receive the MVP award.

Jordan and the Bulls compiled a 62–20 record in the 1997–98 season. Jordan led the league with 28.7 points per game, securing his fifth regular-season MVP award, plus honors for All-NBA First Team, First Defensive Team and the All-Star Game MVP. The Bulls captured the Eastern Conference Championship for a third straight season, including surviving a grueling seven-game series with Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals; it was the first time Jordan had played in a Game 7 since the 1992 series with the Knicks. After prevailing, they moved on for a rematch with the Jazz in the Finals.

The Bulls returned to Utah for Game 6 on June 14, 1998 leading the series 3–2. Jordan executed a series of plays, considered to be one of the greatest clutch performances in NBA Finals history. With the Bulls trailing 86–83 with 40 seconds remaining, coach Jackson called a timeout. When play resumed, Jordan received the inbound pass, drove to the basket, and hit a layup over several Jazz defenders. The Jazz brought the ball upcourt and passed the ball to forward Karl Malone, who was set up in the low post and was being guarded by Rodman. Malone jostled with Rodman and caught the pass, but Jordan cut behind him and swatted the ball out of his hands for a steal. Jordan then slowly dribbled upcourt and paused at the top of the key, eyeing his defender, Jazz guard Bryon Russell. With fewer than 10 seconds remaining, Jordan started to dribble right, then crossed over to his left, possibly pushing off Russell, although the officials did not call a foul. Jordan then made what would become the climactic shot of his career. After a desperation three-point shot by John Stockton missed, Jordan and the Bulls claimed their sixth NBA championship, and secured a second three-peat. Once again, Jordan was voted the Finals MVP, having led all scorers by averaging 33.5 points per game, including 45 in the deciding Game 6. Jordan's six Finals MVPs is a record; Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan are tied for second place with three apiece. The 1998 Finals holds the highest television rating of any Finals series in history, and Game 6 holds the highest television rating of any game in NBA history.

Second retirement

With Phil Jackson's contract expiring, the pending departures of Scottie Pippen (who stated his desire to be traded during the season) and Dennis Rodman (who would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent) looming, and being in the latter stages of an owner-induced lockout of NBA players, Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999.

On January 19, 2000, Jordan returned to the NBA not as a player, but as part owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards. Jordan's responsibilities with the Wizards were comprehensive. He controlled all aspects of the Wizards' basketball operations, and had the final say in all personnel matters. Opinions of Jordan as a basketball executive were mixed. He managed to purge the team of several highly paid, unpopular players (such as forward Juwan Howard and point guard Rod Strickland), but used the first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft to select high schooler Kwame Brown, who did not live up to expectations and was traded away after four seasons.

Despite his January 1999 claim that he was "99.9% certain" that he would never play another NBA game, in the summer of 2001 Jordan expressed interest in making another comeback, this time with his new team. Inspired by the NHL comeback of his friend Mario Lemieux the previous winter, Jordan spent much of the spring and summer of 2001 in training, holding several invitation-only camps for NBA players in Chicago. In addition, Jordan hired his old Chicago Bulls head coach, Doug Collins, as Washington's coach for the upcoming season, a decision that many saw as foreshadowing another Jordan return.

Washington Wizards comeback

On September 25, 2001 Jordan announced his return to professional play with the Wizards, indicating his intention to donate his salary as a player to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. In an injury-plagued 2001–02 season, he led the team in scoring (22.9 ppg), assists (5.2 apg), and steals (1.42 spg). However, torn cartilage in his right knee ended Jordan's season after only 60 games, the fewest he had played in a regular season since playing 17 games after returning from his first retirement during the 1994–95 season.

Playing in his 14th and final NBA All-Star Game in 2003, Jordan passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in All-Star game history. That year, Jordan was the only Washington player to play in all 82 games, starting in 67 of them. He averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He also shot 45% from the field, and 82% from the free throw line. Even though he turned 40 during the season, he scored 20 or more points 42 times, 30 or more points nine times, and 40 or more points three times. On February 21, 2003, Jordan became the first 40-year-old to tally 43 points in an NBA game. During his stint with the Wizards, all of Jordan's home games at the MCI Center were sold out, and the Wizards were the second most-watched team in the NBA, averaging 20,172 fans a game at home and 19,311 on the road. However, neither of Jordan's final two seasons resulted in a playoff appearance for the Wizards, and Jordan was often unsatisfied with the play of those around him. At several points he openly criticized his teammates to the media, citing their lack of focus and intensity, notably that of the number one draft pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Kwame Brown.

With the recognition that 2002–03 would be Jordan's final season, tributes were paid to him throughout the NBA. In his final game at his old home court, the United Center in Chicago, Jordan received a four-minute standing ovation. The Miami Heat retired the number 23 jersey on April 11, 2003, even though Jordan had never played for the team. At the 2003 All-Star Game, Jordan was offered a starting spot from Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, but refused both; in the end, however, he accepted the spot of Vince Carter, who decided to give it up under great public pressure.

Jordan's final NBA game was on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia. After scoring only 13 points in the game, Jordan went to the bench with 4 minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter and with his team trailing the Philadelphia 76ers, 75–56. Just after the start of the fourth quarter, the First Union Center crowd began chanting "We want Mike!". After much encouragement from coach Doug Collins, Jordan finally rose from the bench and re-entered the game for Larry Hughes with 2:35 remaining. At 1:45, Jordan was intentionally fouled by the 76ers' Eric Snow, and stepped to the line to make both free throws. After the second foul shot, the 76ers in-bounded the ball to rookie John Salmons, who in turn was intentionally fouled by Bobby Simmons one second later, stopping time so that Jordan could return to the bench. Jordan received a three-minute standing ovation from his teammates, his opponents, the officials and a crowd of 21,257 fans.

Olympic career

Jordan played on two Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams. As a college player he participated, and won the gold, in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Jordan led the team in scoring averaging 17.1 ppg for the tournament.

In the 1992 Summer Olympics he was a member of the star-studded squad that included Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and David Robinson and was dubbed the "Dream Team". Playing limited minutes due to the frequent blowouts, Jordan averaged 12.7 ppg, finishing fourth on the team in scoring. Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and fellow Dream Team member Chris Mullin are the only American men's basketball players to win Olympic gold as amateurs (all in 1984) and professionals.

In addition, Jordan and fellow Dream Team member (and Bulls teammate) Scottie Pippen are the only players to have won both NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year (1992).

After retiring as a player

After his third retirement, Jordan assumed that he would be able to return to his front office position of Director of Basketball Operations with the Wizards. However, his previous tenure in the Wizards' front office had produced the aforementioned mixed results and may have also influenced the trade of Richard "Rip" Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse (although Jordan was not technically Director of Basketball Operations in 2002). On May 7, 2003, Wizards owner Abe Pollin fired Jordan as Washington's President of Basketball Operations. Jordan later stated that he felt betrayed, and that if he knew he would be fired upon retiring he never would have come back to play for the Wizards.

Jordan kept busy over the next few years by staying in shape, playing golf in celebrity charity tournaments, spending time with his family in Chicago, promoting his Jordan Brand clothing line, and riding motorcycles. Since 2004, Jordan has owned Michael Jordan Motorsports, a professional closed-course motorcycle road racing team that competes with two Suzukis in the premier Superbike class sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). Jordan and his then-wife Juanita pledged $5 million to Chicago's Hales Franciscan High School in 2006, and the Jordan Brand has made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. On June 15, 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the team's second-largest shareholder behind majority owner Robert L. Johnson. As part of the deal, Jordan was named "Managing Member of Basketball Operations," with full control over the basketball side of the operation. Despite Jordan's previous success as an endorser, he has made an effort not to be included in Charlotte's marketing campaigns.

In February 2010, it was reported that Jordan was seeking majority ownership of the Bobcats. As February wore on, it emerged that the leading contenders for the team were Jordan and former Houston Rockets president George Postolos. On February 27, the Bobcats announced that Johnson had reached an agreement with Jordan and his group, MJ Basketball Holdings, to buy the team pending NBA approval. On March 17, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan's purchase, making him the first former NBA player ever to become the majority owner of a league franchise.

Player profile

Jordan was a shooting guard who was also capable of playing small forward (the position he would primarily play during his second return to professional basketball with the Washington Wizards). Jordan was known throughout his career for being a strong clutch performer. He decided numerous games with last-second plays (e.g., The Shot) and performed at a high level even under adverse circumstances (e.g., Flu Game). His competitiveness was visible in his prolific trash-talk and well-known work ethic.

Jordan had a versatile offensive game. He was capable of aggressively driving to the basket, as well as drawing fouls from his opponents at a high rate; his 8,772 free throw attempts are the ninth highest total of all time. As his career progressed, Jordan also developed the ability to post up his opponents and score with his trademark fadeaway jump shot, using his leaping ability to "fade away" from block attempts. According to Hubie Brown, this move alone made him nearly unstoppable. Despite media criticism as a "selfish" player early in his career, Jordan's 5.3 assists per game also indicate his willingness to defer to his teammates. In later years, the NBA shortened its three-point line to 22 feet (from 23 feet, 9 inches), which coupled with Jordan's extended shooting range to make him a long-range threat as well—his 3-point stroke developed from a low 9 / 52 rate (.173) in his rookie year into a stellar 111 / 260 (.427) shooter in the 1995–96 season. For a guard, Jordan was also a good rebounder (6.2 per game).

In 1988, Jordan was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; Olajuwon is the only player other than Jordan to win both during the same season). In addition he set both seasonal and career records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player. His 2,514 steals are the second highest total of all-time behind John Stockton, while his steals per game average is third all-time. Jerry West often stated that he was more impressed with Jordan's defensive contributions than his offensive ones.

Legacy

Jordan's basketball talent was clear from his rookie season. In his first game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Jordan received a prolonged standing ovation, a rarity for an opposing player. After Jordan scored a playoff record 63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986, Celtics star Larry Bird described him as "God disguised as Michael Jordan."

Jordan led the NBA in scoring in 10 seasons (NBA record) and tied Wilt Chamberlain's record of seven consecutive scoring titles. He was also a fixture on the NBA All-Defensive First Team, making the roster nine times (NBA record shared with Gary Payton). Jordan also holds the top career regular season and playoff scoring averages of 30.1 and 33.4 points per game, respectively. By 1998, the season of his Finals-winning shot against the Jazz, he was well known throughout the league as a clutch performer. In the regular season, Jordan was the Bulls' primary threat in the final seconds of a close game and in the playoffs, Jordan would always demand the ball at crunch time. Jordan's total of 5,987 points in the playoffs is the highest in NBA history. He retired with 32,292 points in regular season play, placing him third on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

With five regular-season MVPs (tied for second place with Bill Russell; only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has won more, six), six Finals MVPs (NBA record), and three All-Star MVPs, Jordan is the most decorated player ever to play in the NBA. Jordan finished among the top three in regular-season MVP voting a record 10 times, and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

Many of Jordan's contemporaries label Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time. An ESPN survey of journalists, athletes and other sports figures ranked Jordan the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century, above icons such as Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. Jordan placed second to Babe Ruth in the Associated Press's list of 20th century athletes. In addition, the Associated Press voted him as the basketball player of the 20th century. Jordan has also appeared on the front cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' a record 49 times. In the September 1996 issue of ''Sport'', which was the publication's 50th anniversary issue, Jordan was named the greatest athlete of the past 50 years.

Jordan's athletic leaping ability, highlighted in his back-to-back slam dunk contest championships in 1987 and 1988, is credited by many with having influenced a generation of young players. Several current NBA All-Stars have stated that they considered Jordan their role model while growing up, including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. In addition, commentators have dubbed a number of next-generation players "the next Michael Jordan" upon their entry to the NBA, including Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Grant Hill, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Vince Carter, and Dwyane Wade. Although Jordan was a well-rounded player, his "Air Jordan" image is also often credited with inadvertently decreasing the jump shooting skills, defense, and fundamentals of young players, a fact which Jordan himself has lamented. Although Jordan has done much to increase the status of the game, some of his impact on the game's popularity in America appears to be fleeting. Television ratings in particular increased only during his time in the league and have subsequently lowered each time he left the game.

In August 2009, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit containing items from his college and NBA careers, as well as from the 1992 "Dream Team". The exhibit also has a batting glove to signify Jordan's short career in baseball. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in September 2009, with former Bulls teammates Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc in attendance.

Personal life

Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and a younger sister, Roslyn. Jordan's brother James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army.

He married Juanita Vanoy in September 1989, and they have two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and a daughter, Jasmine. Jordan and Vanoy filed for divorce on January 4, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences, but reconciled shortly thereafter. They again filed for divorce and were granted a final decree of dissolution of marriage on December 29, 2006, commenting that the decision was made "mutually and amicably". It is reported that Juanita received a $168 million settlement, making it the largest celebrity divorce settlement in history at the time on public record.

On July 21, 2006, a Cook County, Illinois judge determined that Jordan did not owe his alleged former lover Karla Knafel $5 million. Jordan had allegedly paid Knafel $250,000 to keep their relationship a secret. Knafel claimed Jordan promised her $5 million for remaining silent and agreeing not to file a paternity suit after Knafel learned she was pregnant in 1991. A DNA test showed Jordan was not the father of the child.

As of 2007, Jordan lived in Highland Park, Illinois, and both of his sons attended Loyola Academy, a private Roman Catholic high school located in Wilmette, Illinois. Jeffrey graduated as a member of the 2007 graduating class and played his first collegiate basketball game on November 11, 2007, for the University of Illinois. After two seasons, Jeffrey left the Illinois basketball team in 2009. He later rejoined the team for a third season, then received a release to transfer to the University of Central Florida, where Marcus was attending. Marcus transferred to Whitney Young High School after his sophomore year and graduated in 2009. He began attending UCF in the fall of 2009.

Media figure and business interests

Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Like Mike" commercials in which a song was sung by children wishing to be like Jordan.

Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the ''Air Jordan''. One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes". The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of "shoe-jackings" where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the "Jordan Brand". The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, Cincinnati, Cal, St. John's, Georgetown, and North Carolina A&T;.

Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. A Nike commercial shown during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball against a group of Martian characters. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie ''Space Jam'', which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI.

Jordan's yearly income from the endorsements is estimated to be over forty million dollars. In addition, when Jordan's power at the ticket gates was at its highest point the Bulls regularly sold out every game they played in, whether home or away. Due to this, Jordan set records in player salary by signing annual contracts worth in excess of $30 million US$ per season. An academic study found that Jordan’s first NBA comeback resulted in an increase in the market capitalization of his client firms of more than $1 billion.

Most of Jordan's endorsement deals, including the first deal with Nike, were engineered by his agent, David Falk. Jordan has said of Falk that "he's the best at what he does", and that "marketing-wise, he's great. He's the one who came up with the concept of 'Air Jordan.'"

In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Brand Jordan generates $1 billion in sales for Nike.

Honors and awards

Jordan won numerous awards and set many records during his career. The following are some of his achievements:

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2009

2 Olympic Gold Medals – 1984, 1992

6-time NBA Champion

6-time NBA Finals MVP

5-time NBA MVP

10 NBA Scoring Titles

3-time steals leader

3-time minutes leader

14 NBA All-Star Selections

3-time NBA All-Star Game MVP

11 All-NBA Selections

9 All-Defensive First Team Selections

2-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion – 1987, 1988

NBA Rookie of the Year – NBA Defensive Player of the Year –

NCAA National Championship – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 1981–82

ACC Freshman of the Year – 1981–82

2-time Consensus NCAA All-American First Team – 1982–83, 1983–84

ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year – 1983–84

USBWA College Player of the Year – 1983–84

Naismith College Player of the Year – 1983–84

John R. Wooden Award – 1983–84

Adolph Rupp Trophy – 1983–84

''Sports Illustrated'' Sportsman of the Year – 1991

Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996

Ranked No.1 by SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time

Ranked No.1 by ESPN Sportscentury's Top 100 Athletes of the 20th century

Elected to North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

See also

Michael Jordan Steakhouse

Michael Jordan's Restaurant

''Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City''

''Michael Jordan in Flight''

''NBA 2K11''

References

Further reading

External links

Michael Jordan biography at NBA Encyclopedia

Michael Jordan player profile at NBA.com

Michael Jordan Motorsports

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Name	Mike Tyson
Realname	Michael Gerard Tyson
Nationality	American
Nickname	Kid DynamiteIron MikeThe Baddest Man on the Planet
Height
Weight	Heavyweight
Reach
Birth date	June 30, 1966
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Style	Orthodox
Total	58
Wins	50
Ko	44
Losses	6
Draws	0
No contests	2

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (also known as Malik Abdul Aziz) (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old. Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, with 12 of them occurring in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. In 1987, Tyson added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold and only Heavyweight to individually unify the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

In 1988, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in the first 91 seconds of the fight. Tyson successfully defended the world heavyweight championship nine times, including victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. Tyson lost his titles to 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, by a knockout in round 10. Tyson continued in his quest to regain the titles, defeating Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991. Tyson was then scheduled to take on the undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield but pulled out due to injury.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years. After being released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. In 1996, Tyson won the WBC and WBA titles after defeating Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon by knockout. After being stripped of the WBC title, Tyson lost his WBA crown to Evander Holyfield in November, 1996 by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting off part of Holyfield's ear.

In 2002, he fought for the world heavyweight title at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2006 after he was knocked out in consecutive matches against Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career.

Throughout his career, Tyson became well known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior both inside and outside the ring. Tyson is considered to have been one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time. He is ranked No. 16 on ''The Ring'''s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Early years

Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He has a brother, Rodney, who is five years older than he. His sister, Denise, died of a heart attack at age 25 in 1991. Tyson's father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, abandoned his family when Tyson was 2, leaving his mother, Lorna Smith Tyson, to care for them on her own. The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. Tyson's mother died six years later, leaving 16-year-old Tyson in the care of boxing manager and trainer Cus D'Amato, who would become his legal guardian. Tyson has been quoted saying, "I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something: She only knew me as being a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew I didn't pay for. I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it's crushing emotionally and personally."

Throughout his childhood, Tyson lived in and around high-crime neighborhoods. According to an interview in ''Details'' his first fight was with a bigger youth who had pulled the head off one of Tyson's pigeons. He was repeatedly caught committing petty crimes and fighting those who ridiculed his high-pitched voice and lisp. By the age of 13, he had been arrested 38 times. He ended up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, New York. It was at the school that Tyson's emerging boxing ability was discovered by Bobby Stewart, a juvenile detention center counselor and former boxer. Stewart considered Tyson to be an outstanding fighter and trained him for a few months before introducing him to Cus D'Amato.

Tyson was later removed from the reform school by Cus D'Amato. Kevin Rooney also trained Tyson, and he was occasionally assisted by Teddy Atlas, although he was dismissed by D'Amato when Tyson was 15. Rooney eventually took over all training duties for the young fighter.

Tyson's brother is a physician assistant in the trauma center of the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He has always been very supportive of his brother's career and was often seen at Tyson's boxing matches in Las Vegas, Nevada. When asked about their relationship, Mike has been quoted saying, "My brother and I see each other occasionally and we love each other," and "My brother was always something and I was nothing."

Education

Although Mike Tyson dropped out of high school as a junior and never graduated, in 1989, along with Don King, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane letters from Central State University, in Wilberforce, Ohio by university President Arthur E. Thomas.

Career

Amateur career

Tyson competed at the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympic Games, and won the gold medal twice: in 1981 against Joe Cortez and in 1982 against Kelton Brown, whose corner threw in the towel within the first round. He holds the Junior Olympic quickest knockout record with 8 seconds. In addition he won every bout at the Junior Olympic Games by knockout.

He fought Henry Tillman twice as an amateur losing both bouts by close decision. Tillman went on to win heavyweight Gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Rise to stardom

Tyson made his professional debut as an 18 year old on March 6, 1985, in Albany, New York. He defeated Hector Mercedes via a first round knockout. He had 15 bouts in his first year as a professional. Fighting frequently, Tyson won 26 of his first 28 fights by KO/TKO – 16 in the first round. The quality of his opponents gradually increased to journeyman fighters and borderline contenders, like James Tillis, David Jaco, Jesse Ferguson, Mitch Green and Marvis Frazier. His win streak attracted media attention, leading to his being billed as the next great heavyweight champion. D'Amato died in November 1985, relatively early into Tyson's professional career; some speculate that his death was the genesis of many of the troubles Tyson was to experience later as his life and career progressed.

Tyson's first nationally televised bout took place on February 16, 1986, at Houston Field House in Troy, New York against journeyman heavyweight Jesse Ferguson. Tyson knocked down Ferguson with an uppercut in the fifth round that broke Ferguson's nose. During the sixth round, Ferguson began to hold and clinch Tyson in an apparent attempt to avoid further punishment. After admonishing Ferguson several times to obey his commands to box, the referee finally stopped the fight near the middle of the sixth round. Initially ruled a win for Tyson by disqualification (DQ) of his opponent, the ruling was subsequently "adjusted" as a win by technical knockout (TKO) after Tyson's corner protested that a DQ win would end Tyson's string of knockout victories, and that a knockout would have been the inevitable result. The rationale offered for the revised outcome was that the fight was actually stopped because Ferguson could not (rather than would not) continue boxing.

On November 22, 1986, Tyson was given his first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by second round TKO, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Tyson's dominant performance brought many accolades. Donald Saunders wrote: "The noble and manly art of boxing can at least cease worrying about its immediate future, now [that] it has discovered a heavyweight champion fit to stand alongside Dempsey, Tunney, Louis, Marciano and Ali."

Because of Tyson's strength, many fighters were intimidated by him. This was backed up by his outstanding hand speed, accuracy, coordination, power, and timing. Tyson was also noted for his defensive abilities. Holding his hands high in the Peek-a-Boo style taught by his mentor Cus D'Amato, he slipped and weaved out of the way of the opponent's punches while closing the distance to deliver his own punches. One of Tyson's trademark combinations was to throw a right hook to his opponent's body, then follow it up with a right uppercut to his opponent's chin; very few boxers would remain standing if caught by this combination. Boxers knocked down with this combination include Jesse Ferguson and Jose Ribalta.

Undisputed champion

:''See also: Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks'' Expectations for Tyson were extremely high, and he embarked on an ambitious campaign to fight all the top heavyweights in the world. Tyson defended his title against James Smith on March 7, 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He won by unanimous decision and added Smith's World Boxing Association (WBA) title to his existing belt. 'Tyson mania' in the media was becoming rampant. He beat Pinklon Thomas in May with a knockout in the sixth round. On August 1 he took the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from Tony Tucker in a twelve round unanimous decision. He became the first heavyweight to own all three major belts – WBA, WBC, and IBF – at the same time. Another fight, in October of that year, ended with a victory for Tyson over 1984 Olympics Super Heavyweight gold medalist Tyrell Biggs by knockout in the seventh round.

During this time, Tyson came to the attention of gaming company Nintendo: after witnessing one of Tyson's fights, Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa was impressed by the fighter's "power and skill", prompting him to suggest Tyson be included in the upcoming Nintendo Entertainment System port of the ''Punch Out!!'' arcade game. The idea was implemented, and in 1987 Nintendo released ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'', which was well-received and sold more than a million copies.

Tyson had three fights in 1988. He faced Larry Holmes on January 22, 1988, and defeated the legendary former champion by a fourth round KO. This was the only knockout loss Holmes suffered in 75 professional bouts. In March, Tyson then fought contender Tony Tubbs in Tokyo, Japan, fitting in an easy two-round victory amid promotional and marketing work.

On June 27, 1988, Tyson faced Michael Spinks. Spinks, who had taken the heavyweight championship from Larry Holmes via a 15-round decision in 1985, had not lost his title in the ring but was not recognized as champion by the major boxing organizations. Holmes had previously given up all but the IBF title, and that was eventually stripped from Spinks after he elected to fight Gerry Cooney (winning by a 5th-round TKO) rather than IBF Number 1 Contender Tony Tucker, as the Cooney fight provided him a larger purse. However, Spinks did become the lineal champion by beating Holmes and many (including ''Ring'' magazine) considered him to have a legitimate claim to being the true heavyweight champion. The bout was, at the time, the richest fight in history and expectations were very high. Boxing pundits were predicting a titanic battle of styles, with Tyson's aggressive infighting conflicting with Spinks' skillful outfighting and footwork. The fight ended after 91 seconds when Tyson knocked Spinks out in the first round; many consider this to be the pinnacle of Tyson's fame and boxing ability. Spinks, previously unbeaten, would never fight professionally again.

Controversy and upset

During this period, Tyson's problems outside boxing were also starting to emerge. His marriage to Robin Givens was heading for divorce, and his future contract was being fought over by Don King and Bill Cayton. In late 1988, Tyson parted with manager Bill Cayton and fired longtime trainer Kevin Rooney, the man many credit for honing Tyson's craft after the death of D'Amato. Without Rooney, Tyson's personal discipline declined. In 1989, Tyson had only two fights amid personal turmoil. He faced the popular British boxer Frank Bruno in February in a fight where Bruno managed to stun Tyson at the end of the 1st round, although Tyson went on to knock out Bruno in the fifth round. Tyson then knocked out Carl "The Truth" Williams in one round in July. In 1989, Tyson was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Central State University in Ohio.

By 1990, Tyson seemed to have lost direction, and his personal life and training habits were in disarray. In a fight on February 11, 1990, he lost the undisputed championship to Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson was a huge betting favorite, but Douglas (priced at 42/1) was at an emotional peak after losing his mother to a stroke 23 days prior to the fight, and fought the fight of his life. Tyson failed to find a way past Douglas's quick jab that had a reach advantage over his own. Tyson did send Douglas to the floor in the eighth round, catching him with an uppercut, but Douglas recovered sufficiently to hand Tyson a heavy beating in the subsequent two rounds (after the fight, the Tyson camp would complain that the count was slow and that Douglas had taken longer than ten seconds to get to his feet). Just 35 seconds into the 10th round, Douglas unleashed a brutal combination of hooks that sent Tyson to the canvas for the first time in his career. He was counted out by referee Octavio Meyran. Though Tyson has been reputed to have been out of shape for this fight, in fact he weighed in at 220 and 1/2 pounds, only 2 pounds more than he had weighed when he beat Michael Spinks 20 months earlier. Mentally, however, he was not prepared for the inspired Douglas.

The knockout victory by Douglas over Tyson, the previously undefeated "baddest man on the planet" and arguably the most feared boxer in professional boxing at that time, has been described as one of the most shocking upsets in modern sports history.

After Douglas

After the loss, Tyson recovered by knocking out Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart in the first round in his next two fights. Tyson's victory over the 1984 Olympics Boxing Heavyweight gold medalist (and 1983 Boxing Heavyweight silver medalist of the Pan American Games) Tillman enabled Tyson to avenge his early career amateur losses at Tillman's hands. These bouts set up an elimination match for another shot at the undisputed world heavyweight championship, which Evander Holyfield had taken from Douglas in his first defense of the title.

Tyson, who was the No.1 contender, faced No.2 contender Donovan "Razor" Ruddock on March 18, 1991, in Las Vegas. Ruddock at the time was seen as the most dangerous heavyweight around and was thought of as one of the hardest punching heavyweights. Tyson and Ruddock went back and forth for most of the fight, until referee Richard Steele controversially stopped the fight during the seventh round in favor of Tyson. This decision infuriated the fans in attendance, sparking a post-fight melee in the audience and the referee had to be escorted from the ring.

Tyson and Ruddock met again on June 28 that year, with Tyson knocking down Ruddock twice and winning a 12 round unanimous decision. A fight between Tyson and Holyfield for the undisputed championship was arranged for the autumn of 1991.

The match between Tyson and reigning champion Holyfield did not occur, with Tyson pulling out of the scheduled November 8, 1991 title fight at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, with a rib cartilage injury sustained during training.

Rape conviction, prison, and conversion

Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island, in an Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson's rape trial took place in the Indianapolis courthouse from January 26 to February 10, 1992. As part of its case, the prosecution documented Tyson's history of problems with attractive young women. Tyson's defense contended that Tyson was the victim and that Washington was a cold and calculated vixen out to hurt Tyson for publicity.

Desiree Washington testified that she received a phone call from Tyson at 1:36 am on July 19, 1991 inviting her to a party. Having joined Tyson in his limousine, Washington testified that Tyson made sexual advances towards her. She testified that upon arriving at his hotel room, Tyson pinned her down on his bed and raped her despite her pleas to stop. She afterwards ran out of the room and asked Tyson's chauffeur to drive her back to her hotel.

Partial corroboration of Washington's story came via testimony from Tyson's chauffeur, Virginia Foster, who confirmed Desiree Washington's state of shock. Further testimony came from Thomas Richardson, the emergency room physician who examined Washington more than 24 hours after the incident and confirmed that Washington's physical condition was consistent with rape.

Taking the witness stand, under Tyson's lead defense lawyer Vincent Fuller's direct examination, Tyson claimed that everything had taken place with Washington's full cooperation and he claimed not to have forced himself upon her. When he was cross-examined by the lead prosecutor, Gregory Garrison, Tyson denied claims that he had misled Washington and insisted that she wanted to have sex with him. Because of Tyson's hostile and defensive responses to the questions during cross-examination, some have speculated that his behavior made him unlikable to the jury who saw him as brutish and arrogant.

Tyson was convicted on the rape charge on February 10, 1992 after the jury deliberated for nearly 10 hours.

Alan Dershowitz filed an appeal on Tyson's behalf alleging that the victim had a history of at least one false accusation of rape and that the judge had blocked testimony from witnesses who would have contradicted Washington. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled against Tyson in a 2–1 vote.

Under Indiana law, a defendant convicted of a felony must begin serving his prison sentence immediately after the sentence is imposed. On March 26, he was given a sentence of 10 years, six in prison and four on probation. He was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center (now the Plainfield Correctional Facility) in April 1992, and he was released in March 1995 after serving three years. During his incarceration, Tyson converted to Islam. On July 2, 2010 he visited Mecca to perform the Umrah (Minor Islamic pilgrimage).

Comeback

Tyson did not fight again until later in 1995 after he was paroled from prison. He had two comeback bouts against Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr., which he won easily. Interest in Tyson's first comeback fight since his incarceration was high enough that it grossed more than US$96 million worldwide, including a United States record $63 million for PPV television. The fight was purchased by 1.52 million homes, setting both PPV viewership and revenue records for that time. The brief, 89-second fight wherein McNeeley swiftly crumpled on facing Tyson, elicited criticism that Tyson's management lined up "Tomato Cans", easily defeatable and unworthy boxers for his return. ''TV Guide'' included the Tyson-McNeeley fight in their list of the 50 Greatest TV Sports Moments of All Time in 1998.

He regained one belt by easily winning the WBC title from Frank Bruno (their second fight) in March 1996 by knocking him out in the third round. Tyson added the WBA belt by defeating champion Bruce Seldon in one round in September that year. Seldon was severely criticized and mocked in the popular press for seemingly collapsing to innocuous punches from Tyson in the fight.

Tyson–Holyfield fights

''Tyson vs. Holyfield I''

Tyson attempted to defend the WBA title against Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was in the fourth fight of his own comeback after retiring in 1994 following the loss of his championship to Michael Moorer (who subsequently lost to George Foreman by knockout during his first defense). It was said that Don King and others saw Holyfield, the former champion, who was 34 at the time of the fight and a huge underdog, as a washed-up fighter.

On November 9, 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tyson faced Holyfield in a title bout dubbed '' 'Finally.' '' In a surprising turn of events, Holyfield, who was given virtually no chance to win by numerous commentators, defeated Tyson by TKO when referee Mitch Halpern stopped the bout in round 11. Holyfield made history with the upset win by being the second person ever to win a heavyweight championship belt three times, after Muhammad Ali. However Holyfield's victory was marred by allegations from Tyson's camp of Holyfield's frequent headbutts during the bout. Although the headbutts were ruled accidental by the referee, they would become a point of contention in the subsequent rematch.

''Tyson vs. Holyfield II'' and aftermath

Tyson and Holyfield fought again on June 28, 1997. Originally, Halpern was supposed to be the referee, but after Tyson's camp protested, Halpern stepped aside in favor of Mills Lane. The highly anticipated rematch was dubbed ''The Sound and the Fury'', and was held at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, site of the first bout. It was a lucrative event, drawing even more attention than the first bout and grossing $100 million. Tyson received $30 million and Holyfield $35 million—the highest paid professional boxing purses ever until 2007. The fight was purchased by 1.99 million households, setting a pay-per-view buy rate record that stood until the May 5, 2007, De La Hoya-Mayweather boxing match.

Soon to become one of the most controversial events in modern sports, the fight was stopped at the end of the third round, with Tyson disqualified for biting Holyfield on both ears. The first time he bit him the match was temporarily stopped. Referee Mills Lane deducted two points from Tyson and the fight resumed. However, after the match resumed, Tyson did it again: this time Tyson was disqualified and Holyfield won the match. One bite was severe enough to remove a piece of Holyfield's right ear, which was found on the ring floor after the fight. Tyson later stated that his actions were retaliation for Holyfield repeatedly headbutting him without penalty. In the confusion that followed the ending of the bout and announcement of the decision, a near riot erupted in the arena and several people were injured in the ensuing melee.

Tyson's former trainer, Teddy Atlas, had predicted that Tyson would be disqualified. "He planned this," Atlas said. "That's the only reason he went through with this fight. This was a charade so he could get out and live with himself as long as in his world he would be known as savage and brutal. In his world, he was the man who attacked like an animal and people would say he was trying to annihilate Holyfield, trying to kill him, when nothing could be further from the truth."

As a subsequent fallout from the incident, US$3 million was immediately withheld from Tyson's $30-million purse by the Nevada state boxing commission (the most it could legally hold back at the time). Two days after the fight, Tyson issued a statement, apologizing to Holyfield for his actions and asked not to be banned for life over the incident. Tyson was roundly condemned in the news media but was not without defenders. Novelist and commentator Katherine Dunn wrote a column that criticized Holyfield's sportsmanship in the controversial bout and charged the news media with being biased against Tyson.

On July 9, 1997, Tyson's boxing license was rescinded by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in a unanimous voice vote; he was also fined US$3 million and ordered to pay the legal costs of the hearing. As most state athletic commissions honor sanctions imposed by other states, this effectively made Tyson unable to box in the United States. The revocation was not permanent, as a little more than a year later on October 18, 1998, the commission voted 4–1 to restore Tyson's boxing license.

During his time away from boxing in 1998, Tyson made a guest appearance at WrestleMania XIV as an enforcer for the main event match between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. During this time, Tyson was also an unofficial member of D-Generation X. Tyson was paid $3 million for being guest enforcer of the match at WrestleMania XIV.

1999 to 2005

After Holyfield

In January 1999, Tyson returned to the ring to fight the South African Francois Botha, in another fight that ended in controversy. While Botha initially controlled the fight, Tyson allegedly attempted to break Botha's arms during a tie-up and both boxers were cautioned by the referee in the ill-tempered bout. Botha was ahead on points on all scorecards and was confident enough to mock Tyson as the fight continued. Nonetheless, Tyson landed a straight right-hand in the fifth round that knocked out Botha.

Legal problems caught up with Tyson once again. On February 5, 1999, Tyson was sentenced to a year's imprisonment, fined $5,000, and ordered to serve two years probation and perform 200 hours of community service for assaulting two motorists after a traffic accident on August 31, 1998. He served nine months of that sentence. After his release, he fought Orlin Norris on October 23, 1999. Tyson knocked down Norris with a left hook thrown after the bell sounded to end the first round. Norris injured his knee from the off-the-clinch-punch when he went down and said he was unable to continue the fight. Consequently, the bout was ruled a no contest.

In 2000, Tyson had three fights. The first was staged at the MEN Arena, Manchester, England against Julius Francis. Following controversy as to whether Tyson should be allowed into the country, he took four minutes to knock out Francis, ending the bout in the second round. He also fought Lou Savarese in June 2000 in Glasgow, winning in the first round; the fight lasted only 38 seconds. Tyson continued punching after the referee had stopped the fight, knocking the referee to the floor as he tried to separate the boxers. In October, Tyson fought the similarly controversial Andrzej Gołota, winning in round three after Gołota refused to continue after his jaw was broken. The result was later changed to no contest after Tyson refused to take a pre-fight drug test and then tested positive for marijuana in a post-fight urine test. Tyson fought only once in 2001, beating Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen with a seventh round TKO.

Lewis vs. Tyson

Tyson once again had the opportunity to fight for a heavyweight championship in 2002, against Lennox Lewis, who held the WBC, IBF, IBO & Lineal titles at the time. As promising amateurs, Tyson and Lewis had sparred together at a training camp, in a meeting arranged by Cus D'Amato in 1984. Tyson sought to fight Lewis in Nevada for a more lucrative box-office venue, but the Nevada boxing commission refused him a license to box as he was facing possible sexual assault charges at the time.

Two years prior to the bout, in a post-fight interview following the Savarese fight, Tyson had made several inflammatory remarks to Lewis, "I want your heart, I want to eat your children." On January 22, 2002, a brawl involving the two boxers and their entourages occurred at a press conference held in New York to publicize the planned event. The melee put to rest any chance of a Nevada fight and alternative arrangements had to be made, with the fight eventually occurring on June 8 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis dominated the fight and knocked out Tyson with a right hook in the eighth round. Tyson was magnanimous after the fight and praised Lewis on his victory. This fight was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history at that time, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the USA.

Late career, bankruptcy and retirement

On February 22, 2003, Tyson beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne 49 seconds into round one, once again in Memphis. The pre-fight was marred by rumors of Tyson's lack of fitness and that he took time out from training to party in Las Vegas and get a new facial tattoo. This would be Tyson's final professional victory in the ring.

In August 2003, after years of financial struggles, Tyson finally filed for bankruptcy. In 2003, amid all his economic troubles, he was named by ''Ring Magazine'' at number 16, right behind Sonny Liston, among the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

On August 13, 2003, Tyson entered the ring for a face to face confrontation against then K-1 fighting phenom Bob Sapp immediately after Sapp's win against Kimo Leopoldo in Las Vegas. K-1 signed Tyson to a contract with the hopes of making a fight happen between the two, but Tyson's status as a convicted felon made him unable to obtain a visa to enter Japan, where the fight would have been most profitable. Alternate locations were discussed, but the fight never came to fruition. It is unknown if he actually profited from this arrangement.

On July 30, 2004, Tyson faced the British boxer Danny Williams in another comeback fight, this time staged in Louisville, Kentucky. Tyson dominated the opening two rounds. The third round was even, with Williams getting in some clean blows and also a few illegal ones, for which he was penalized. In the fourth round, Tyson was unexpectedly knocked out. After the fight, it was revealed that Tyson was trying to fight on one leg, having torn a ligament in his other knee in the first round. This was Tyson's fifth career defeat. He underwent surgery for the ligament four days after the fight. His manager, Shelly Finkel, claimed that Tyson was unable to throw meaningful right-hand punches after the knee injury.

On June 11, 2005, Tyson stunned the boxing world by quitting before the start of the seventh round in a close bout against journeyman Kevin McBride. After losing the third of his last four fights, Tyson said he would quit boxing because he no longer had "the fighting guts or the heart anymore."

Exhibition tour

To help pay off his debts, Tyson returned to the ring on a world tour in a series of four-round exhibitions against journeyman heavyweight Corey "T-Rex" Sanders in Youngstown, Ohio 2006. Tyson, without headgear at 5 ft 10.5 in and 216 pounds, was in great shape, but far from his prime against Sanders, with headgear at 6 ft 8 in and 293 pounds, a loser of his last seven pro bouts and nearly blind from a detached retina in his left eye. Tyson appeared to be "holding back" in these exhibitions to prevent an early end to the "show". "If I don't get out of this financial quagmire there's a possibility I may have to be a punching bag for somebody. The money I make isn't going to help my bills from a tremendous standpoint, but I'm going to feel better about myself. I'm not going to be depressed," explained Tyson about the reasons for his "comeback".

Legacy

A 1998 ranking of "The Greatest Heavyweights of All-Time" by Ring magazine placed Tyson at No.14 on the list.

In Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years, released in 2002, Tyson was ranked at No. 72. He is ranked No. 16 on ''Ring Magazine'''s 2003 list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

After professional boxing

On the front page of ''USA Today'' on June 3, 2005, Tyson was quoted as saying: "My whole life has been a waste – I've been a failure." He continued: "I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed with myself and my life. I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. I want to get this part of my life over as soon as possible. In this country nothing good is going to come of me. People put me so high; I wanted to tear that image down." Tyson began to spend much of his time tending to his 350 pigeons in Paradise Valley, an upscale enclave near Phoenix, Arizona.

Tyson has stayed in the limelight by promoting various websites and companies. In the past Tyson had shunned endorsements, accusing other athletes of putting on a false front to obtain them. He has also done entertainment boxing shows at a casino in Las Vegas and started a tour of exhibition bouts to pay off his numerous debts.

On December 29, 2006, Tyson was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, on suspicion of DUI and felony drug possession after he nearly crashed into a police SUV shortly after leaving a nightclub. According to a police probable-cause statement, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, "[Tyson] admitted to using [drugs] today and stated he is an addict and has a problem." Tyson pleaded not guilty on January 22, 2007, in Maricopa County Superior Court to felony drug possession and paraphernalia possession counts and two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of drugs. On February 8 he checked himself into an in-patient treatment program for "various addictions" while awaiting trial on the drug charges.

On September 24, 2007, Mike Tyson pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and driving under the influence. He was convicted of these charges in November 2007 and sentenced to 24 hours in jail, 360 hours community service and 3 years probation. Prosecutors had requested a year-long jail sentence, but the judge praised Tyson for seeking help with his drug problems.

On November 11, 2009, Mike Tyson was arrested after getting into a scuffle at Los Angeles International airport with a photographer. No charges were filed.

Tyson appeared on WWE Monday Night Raw as the guest host on January 11, 2010 and even made his return to the ring in a tag team match with Chris Jericho against D-Generation X. At first, the duo had their way until Tyson revealed a DX T-shirt he was wearing underneath a black shirt he was wearing and knocked-out Jericho, which allowed Shawn Michaels to pin Jericho, giving DX the win.

On June 12, 2011, Tyson was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, alongside legendary Mexican champion Julio César Chávez, light welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, and actor/screenwriter Sylvester Stallone.

On August 7, 2011, CBS aired an episode of The Same Name, featuring Mike Tyson.

This year, Mike participed in the Argentinian dance TV program Bailando 2011

On the Janurary 30, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw, after ESPN, TMZ, and others had leaked the news earlier in the day, it was confirmed that Tyson will be inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Tyson has been legally married three times and he had eight children with several different women.

His first marriage was to actress Robin Givens from February 7, 1988 to February 14, 1989. Givens was known for her work on the sitcom ''Head of the Class''. Tyson's marriage to Givens was especially tumultuous with allegations of violence, spousal abuse and mental instability on Tyson's part. Matters came to a head when Tyson and Givens gave a joint interview with Barbara Walters on the ABC TV newsmagazine show ''20/20'' in September 1988, in which Givens described life with Tyson as "torture, pure hell, worse than anything I could possibly imagine." Givens also described Tyson as "manic depressive" on national television while Tyson looked on with an intent and calm expression. A month later, Givens announced that she was seeking a divorce from the allegedly abusive Tyson. They had no children but she claims to have had a miscarriage while Tyson claims she was never pregnant and only used that to get him to marry her. During their marriage, the couple lived in a mansion in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

His second marriage was to Monica Turner from April 19, 1997 to January 14, 2003. At the time of the divorce filing, Turner worked as a pediatric resident at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC. She is also the sister of Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and former Republican National Committee Chairman. Turner filed for divorce from Tyson in January 2002, claiming that he committed adultery during their five-year marriage, an act that "has neither been forgiven nor condoned." The couple had two children: Rayna and Amir.

Tyson appears in the 2009 film The Hangover as a caricature of himself. In the film his character pursues the main characters after they have stolen a tiger from his home. He appears in their hotel room, where he threatens them if they do not return the tiger in one hour, and later at his home when they return the tiger and try to get information from him about their missing friend.

On May 25, 2009, Tyson's 4-year-old daughter, Exodus, was found by her 7-year-old brother, Miguel, unconscious and tangled in a cord, dangling from an exercise treadmill. The child's mother untangled her, administered CPR and called for medical attention. Exodus was listed in "extremely critical condition" and was on life support at Phoenix's St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. She subsequently died of her injuries on May 26, 2009. Ten days later, Tyson wed for the third time, to girlfriend Lakiha Spicer, age 32, exchanging vows on Saturday, June 6, 2009, in a short, private ceremony, at the La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino. Spicer was a resident of nearby suburban Henderson, Nevada. County marriage records in Las Vegas show the couple got a marriage license 30 minutes before their ceremony. Spicer is the mother of Tyson's daughter, Milan and son, Morocco. His other children include Mikey (born 1990), Miguel (born 2002) and D'Amato (born 1990). He has a total of eight children including the deceased Exodus.

While on the American talk show ''The View'' in early May 2010, Tyson revealed that he is now forced to live paycheck to paycheck. He went on to say: "I'm totally destitute and broke. But I have an awesome life, I have an awesome wife who cares about me. I'm totally broke. I had a lot of fun. It (losing his money) just happened. I'm very grateful. I don't deserve to have the wife that I have; I don't deserve the kids that I have, but I do, and I'm very grateful."

In March 2011, Tyson appeared on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' to discuss his new Animal Planet reality series ''Taking on Tyson''. In the interview with DeGeneres, Tyson discussed some of the ways he had improved his life in the past two years, including sober living and a vegan diet.

Also, in March 2011, Mike Tyson appeared at the SXSW Screenburn Arcade for the launch of his new iPhone app Mike Tyson: Main Event.

In May 2011, Tyson sent an autographed boxing gloves to soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. 'To Cristiano' is what written on the gloves, along with Tyson's signature.

Also, in May 2011, Tyson was a contestant in the Argentinian dance contest Bailando 2011, and he was paired with his wife, Lahika Spicer. The couple withdrew from the competition after the second round.

In September 2011, Tyson gave an interview in which he made comments about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin that included crude and violent descriptions of interracial sex. These comments were then reprinted on the Daily Caller website. Journalist Greta van Susteren criticized Tyson and the Daily Caller over the comments, which she described as "smut" and "violence against women".

Popular culture

At the height of his fame and career in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Tyson was one of the most recognized sports personalities in the world. Apart from his many sporting accomplishments, his outrageous and controversial behavior in the ring and in his private life has kept him in the public eye and in the courtroom. As such, Tyson has appeared in myriad popular media in cameo appearances in film and television. He has also been featured in video games and as a subject of parody or satire.

Published in 2007, author Joe Layden's book ''The Last Great Fight: The Extraordinary Tale of Two Men and How One Fight Changed Their Lives Forever'', chronicled the lives of Tyson and Douglas before and after their heavyweight championship fight. The book received positive reviews and claimed the fight was essentially the beginning of the end of boxing's popularity in mainstream sports.

In 2008, the documentary ''Tyson'' premiered at the annual Cannes Film Festival in France. The film was directed by James Toback and has interviews with Tyson and clips of his fights and from his personal life. It received high critical praise, scoring an 86% approval rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes from a pool of over 100 film critics.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|50 Wins (44 knockouts, 5 decisions, 1 disqualification), 6 Losses, 0 Draws, 2 No Contests |- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponnent | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Round | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes |- align=center |Loss |50–6 |align=left| Kevin McBride |TKO |6 | |align=left| MCI Center, Washington, D.C.}} |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |50–5 |align=left| Danny Williams |KO |4 | |align=left| Freedom Hall State Fairground, Louisville, Kentucky}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |50–4 |align=left| Clifford Etienne |KO |1 | |align=left| The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee}} |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |49–4 |align=left| Lennox Lewis |KO |8 | |align=left| The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |49–3 |align=left| Brian Nielsen |RTD |7 | |align=left| Parken Stadium, Copenhagen}} |align=left| |- align=center |style="background:#ddd;"|NC |48–3 |align=left| Andrew Golota |NC |3 | |align=left| The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |48–3 |align=left| Lou Savarese |TKO |1 | |align=left| Hampden Park, Glasgow}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |47–3 |align=left| Julius Francis |TKO |2 | |align=left| M.E.N. Arena, Manchester}} |align=left| |- align=center |style="background:#ddd;"|NC |46–3 |align=left| Orlin Norris |NC |1 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |46–3 |align=left| Francois Botha |KO |5 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |45–3 |align=left| Evander Holyfield |DQ |3 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |45–2 |align=left| Evander Holyfield |TKO |11 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |45–1 |align=left| Bruce Seldon |TKO |1 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |44–1 |align=left| Frank Bruno |TKO |3 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |43–1 |align=left| Buster Mathis, Jr. |KO |3 | |align=left| Core States Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |42–1 |align=left| Peter McNeeley |DQ |1 | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |41–1 |align=left| Donovan Ruddock |UD |12 | |align=left| Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |40–1 |align=left| Donovan Ruddock |TKO |7 | |align=left| Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |39–1 |align=left| Alex Stewart |TKO |1 | |align=left| Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |38–1 |align=left| Henry Tillman |KO |1 | |align=left| Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |37–1 |align=left| Buster Douglas |KO |10 | |align=left| Tokyo Dome, Tokyo}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |37–0 |align=left| Carl Williams |TKO |1 | |align=left| Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |36–0 |align=left| Frank Bruno |TKO |5 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |35–0 |align=left| Michael Spinks |KO |1 | |align=left| Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |34–0 |align=left| Tony Tubbs |TKO |2 | |align=left| Tokyo Dome, Tokyo}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |33–0 |align=left| Larry Holmes |TKO |4 | |align=left| Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |32–0 |align=left| Tyrell Biggs |TKO |7 | |align=left| Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |31–0 |align=left| Tony Tucker |UD |12 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |30–0 |align=left| Pinklon Thomas |TKO |6 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |29–0 |align=left| James Smith |UD |12 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |28–0 |align=left| Trevor Berbick |TKO |2 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win |27–0 |align=left| Alfonso Ratliff |TKO |2 | |align=left| Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada}} | |- align=center |Win |26–0 |align=left| José Ribalta |TKO |10 | |align=left| Trump Plaza Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |25–0 |align=left| Marvis Frazier |KO |1 | |align=left| Civic Center, Glens Falls, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |24–0 |align=left| Lorenzo Boyd |KO |2 | |align=left| Stevensville Hotel, Swan Lake, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |23–0 |align=left| William Hosea |KO |1 | |align=left| Houston Field House, Troy, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |22–0 |align=left| Reggie Gross |TKO |1 | |align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |21–0 |align=left| Mitch Green |UD |10 | |align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |20–0 |align=left| James Tillis |UD |10 | |align=left| Civic Center, Glens Falls, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |19–0 |align=left| Steve Zouski |KO |3 | |align=left| Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |18–0 |align=left| Jesse Ferguson |TKO |6 | |align=left| Houston Field House, Troy, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |17–0 |align=left| Mike Jameson |TKO |5 | |align=left| Trump Plaza Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |16–0 |align=left| David Jaco |TKO |1 | |align=left| Plaza Convention Center, Albany, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |15–0 |align=left| Mark Young |TKO |1 | |align=left| Latham Coliseum, Latham, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |14–0 |align=left| Sammy Scaff |TKO |1 | |align=left| Felt Forum, New York, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |13–0 |align=left| Conroy Nelson |TKO |2 | |align=left| Latham Coliseum, Latham, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |12–0 |align=left| Eddie Richardson |KO |1 | |align=left| Ramada-Houston Hotel, Houston, Texas}} | |- align=center |Win |11–0 |align=left| Sterling Benjamin |TKO |1 | |align=left| Latham Coliseum, Latham, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |10–0 |align=left| Robert Colay |KO |1 | |align=left| Atlantis Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |9–0 |align=left| Donnie Long |TKO |1 | |align=left| Trump Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |8–0 |align=left| Michael Johnson |KO |1 | |align=left| Atlantis Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |7–0 |align=left| Lorenzo Canady |KO |1 | |align=left| Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |6–0 |align=left| Larry Sims |KO |3 | |align=left| Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |5–0 |align=left| John Alderson |TKO |2 | |align=left| Trump Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |4–0 |align=left| Ricardo Spain |TKO |1 | |align=left| Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} | |- align=center |Win |3–0 |align=left| Don Halpin |KO |4 | |align=left| Albany, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |2–0 |align=left| Trent Singleton |TKO |1 | |align=left| Albany, New York}} | |- align=center |Win |1–0 |align=left| Hector Mercedes |TKO |1 | |align=left| Plaza Convention Center, Albany, New York}} |align=left|

Boxing championships and accomplishments

Tyson established an impressive list of accomplishments, mostly early in his career:

Titles

Junior Olympic Games Champion Heavyweight 1982

National Golden Gloves Champion Heavyweight 1984

Undisputed Heavyweight champion (held all three major championship belts; WBA, IBF, and WBC) – August 1, 1987 – February 11, 1990

WBC Heavyweight Champion – November 22, 1986 – February 11, 1990, March 16, 1996 – September 24, 1996 (Vacated)

WBA Heavyweight Champion – March 7, 1987 – February 11, 1990, September 7, 1996 – November 9, 1996

IBF Heavyweight Champion – August 1, 1987 – February 11, 1990

Records

Youngest Heavyweight champion – 20 years and 4 months

Junior Olympic quickest KO – 8 seconds

Awards

Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year—1986 & 1988

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality—1989

Ring magazine Prospect of the Year—1985

References

External links

Official website

Mike Tyson's Amateur Boxing Record

Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson, 1986–1997

June 2005 SI Tyson Retrospective Photo Gallery

Mike Tyson Film Takes a Swing at His Old Image by Tim Arango, ''The New York Times'', May 11, 2008

Profile at Online World of Wrestling

"The Suburbanization of Mike Tyson," New York Times Magazine, March 15, 2011

{{s-ttl | title=WBC Heavyweight Champion | years=November 22, 1986 – February 11, 1990}} {{s-ttl | title=WBA Heavyweight Champion | years=March 7, 1987 – February 11, 1990}} {{s-ttl | title=IBF Heavyweight Champion | years=August 1, 1987 – February 11, 1990}} |- {{s-ttl | title=Undisputed Heavyweight Champion | years=August 1, 1987 – February 11, 1990}} {{s-ttl | title= WBC Heavyweight Champion | years=March 16, 1996 – September 24, 1996Vacated}}

Category:1966 births Category:African American boxers Category:African American Muslims Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American rapists Category:American sportspeople in doping cases Category:American vegans Category:Boxers from New York Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity Category:D-Generation X members Category:Doping cases in boxing Category:International Boxing Federation Champions Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Category:Living people Category:National Golden Gloves champions Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Category:People from Bernardsville, New Jersey Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:people who did not finish High school Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:World heavyweight boxing champions Category:Vegan sportspeople

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Name	Martina Hingis
Nickname	''Swiss Miss''''Chucky''
Country	Switzerland
Residence	Hürden, Switzerland
Birth date	September 30, 1980
Birth place	Košice, (then Czechoslovakia, now in modern Slovakia)
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	1994
Retired	2007
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$20,130,657(7th in all-time rankings)
Singlesrecord	548–133 (80.5%)
Singlestitles	43 WTA, 2 ITF
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (31 March 1997)
Australianopenresult	W (1997, 1998, 1999)
Frenchopenresult	F (1997, 1999)
Wimbledonresult	W (1997)
Usopenresult	W (1997)
Othertournaments	Yes
Wtachampionshipsresult	W (1998, 2000)
Olympicsresult	2R (1996)
Doublesrecord	286–54 (84.1%)
Doublestitles	37 WTA, 1 ITF
Highestdoublesranking	No. 1 (8 June 1998)
grandslamsdoublesresults	9
australianopendoublesresult	W (1997, 1998, 1999, 2002)
frenchopendoublesresult	W (1998, 2000)
wimbledondoublesresult	W (1996, 1998)
usopendoublesresult	W (1998)
| mixed	yes
mixedtitles	1
australianopenmixedresult	W (2006)
Updated	8 June 2011 }}

Martina Hingis (born 30 September 1980) is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Opens, one Wimbledon, and one US Open). She also won nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar year doubles Grand Slam in 1998, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title.

Hingis set a series of "youngest-ever" records before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to withdraw temporarily from professional tennis in 2002 at the age of 22. After several surgeries and long recuperations, Hingis returned to the WTA tour in 2006. She then climbed to world number 6 and won three singles titles. On 1 November 2007, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis after testing positive for cocaine during Wimbledon in 2007. She denied using the drug, but decided not to appeal the imminent ban.

In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by ''Time''.

Childhood and early career

Hingis was born in Košice, (then part of Czechoslovakia, now in modern Slovakia), to accomplished tennis players Melanie Molitorová and Karol Hingis. Molitorová was a professional tennis player, who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy. Her father was ranked as high as nineteenth in the Czechoslovakian tennis rankings. Hingis's parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother relocated around a year later to Trübbach in Switzerland. Her father, who continued to live in Košice as a tennis coach, said in 1997 that he had seen little of his daughter after the split.

Hingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four. In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title: the girls' singles at the French Open. In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open.

She made her professional debut in October 1994, two weeks after her 14th birthday. She ended the year ranked World No. 87, and in January 1995, she became the youngest player to win a match at a Grand Slam tournament when she advanced to the second round of the Australian Open.

Personal life

Hingis has dated Spanish golf player Sergio García and British footballer Sol Campbell. She was briefly engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek, but split from him in August 2007. She has also dated former tennis players Magnus Norman, Ivo Heuberger and Julian Alonso. In March 2010, Hingis announced that she was engaged to marry Andreas Bieri, a Swiss attorney, but the engagement was later broken off.

On 10 December 2010 she married showjumper, 24 year-old Thibault Hutin, in an intimate ceremony in Paris.

Grand Slam success and period of dominance

In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, when she teamed with Helena Suková at Wimbledon to win the women's doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months. She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the singles quarterfinals at the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles in the final at Oakland. Hingis then lost to Graf at the year-end WTA Tour Championships.

In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women's tennis player. She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final). In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final. She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.

In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so, (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lučić and the other three events with Novotná), and she became only the third woman to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final. Hingis, however, lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport. Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No. 1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.

1999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with Anna Kournikova). She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set before losing to Steffi Graf. During the match, Hingis had infuriated an already partisan crowd by arguing with the umpire over several line calls. In the second set, she crossed to the other side of the net to inspect her own ball mark, thereby incurring a mandatory one-point penalty. She was also booed for taking a bathroom break early in the final set, and twice delivering underhand serves. After the match, Hingis rushed from the court in tears, and only returned to the court for the trophy ceremony after being comforted by her mother . Following the French Open, Martina revealed at Wimbledon that her mother was no longer her coach. After a shock first-round 6–2, 6–0 loss to Jelena Dokić at Wimbledon, Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to Serena Williams. Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No. 1 singles ranking. She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.

In 2000, Hingis again found herself in both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open. This time, however, she lost both. Her three-year hold on the singles championship ended when she lost to Davenport. Later, Hingis and Mary Pierce, her new doubles partner, lost to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Hingis captured the French Open women's doubles title with Pierce and produced consistent results in singles tournaments throughout the year. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams. Although she did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament, she kept the year end No. 1 ranking because of nine tournament championships, including the WTA Tour Championships where she won the singles and doubles titles.

Injuries and hiatus from tennis

In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup. Hingis was undefeated in singles during the event, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nicole Pratt, Amanda Coetzer, and Monica Seles.

Hingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, defeating both of the Williams sisters en route, before losing to Jennifer Capriati. She briefly ended her coaching relationship with her mother Melanie early in the year but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open. 2001 was a her least successful year in several seasons, with only three tournament victories in total. She lost her No. 1 ranking for the last time (to Jennifer Capriati) on October 14, 2001. In that same month, Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle.

Coming back from injury, Hingis won the Australian Open doubles final at the start of 2002 (again teaming with Anna Kournikova) and reached a sixth straight Australian Open final in singles, again facing Capriati. Hingis led by a set and 4–0 and had four match points but lost 4–6, 7–6, 6–2. In May 2002, she needed another ankle ligament operation, this time on her left ankle. After that, she continued to struggle with injuries and was not able to recapture her best form.

In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain. "I want to play tennis only for fun and concentrate more on horse riding and finish my studies" In several interviews, she indicated she wanted to go back to her country and coach full time.

During this segment of her tennis career, Hingis won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles events. She held the World No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks (fourth most following Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert). In 2005, ''Tennis'' magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.

Return to the game

2005

In February 2005, Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingärtner in the first round. After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans for a comeback.

Hingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navratilova in singles on 7 July. With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on 29 November her return to the WTA Tour in 2006.

2006

At the Australian Open, Hingis lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Kim Clijsters. However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India. This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women's doubles, 1 mixed doubles).

The week after the Australian Open, Hingis defeated World No. 4 Maria Sharapova in the semifinals of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo before losing in the final to World No. 9 Elena Dementieva. Hingis competed in Dubai then, reaching the quarter-finals before falling to Sharapova. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Hingis defeated World No. 4 Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round before again losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.

At the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals, beating World No. 18 Flavia Pennetta, and subsequently won the tournament with wins over Venus Williams in the semifinals and Dinara Safina in the final. This was her 41st Women's Tennis Association tour singles title and first in more than four years. Hingis then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to Kim Clijsters.

At Wimbledon, Hingis lost in the third round to Ai Sugiyama.

Hingis's return to the US Open was short lived, however, as she was upset in the second round by World No. 112 Virginie Razzano of France.

In her first tournament after the US Open, Hingis won the second title of her comeback at the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India. She defeated unseeded Russian Olga Poutchkova in the final. The following week in Seoul, Hingis notched her 50th match win of the year before losing in the second round to Sania Mirza.

Hingis qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid as the eighth seed. In her round robin matches, she lost in three sets to both Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo but defeated Nadia Petrova.

Hingis ended the year ranked World No. 7. She also finished eighth in prize money earnings (U.S.$1,159,537). Hingis too ranked as number 7 on the Annual Top Google News Searches in 2006.

2007

At the Australian Open, Hingis won her first three rounds without losing a set before defeating China's Na Li in the fourth round. Hingis then lost a quarterfinal match to Kim Clijsters. This was the second consecutive year that Hingis had lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that Clijsters had eliminated Hingis in the quarterfinals.

Hingis won her next tournament, the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating Ana Ivanović in the final. This was Hingis's record fifth singles title at this event.

A hip injury that troubled her at the German Open caused her to withdraw from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was the defending champion, and the French Open, the only important singles title that eluded her.

In her first round match at Wimbledon, Hingis saved two match points to defeat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday, apparently not having fully recovered from the hip injury that prevented her from playing the French Open. In the third round, Hingis lost to Laura Granville of the United States, and stated afterwards she should not have entered the tournament.

Hingis's next tournament was the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, which she had won ten years ago for the first time. Hingis lost in the third round to Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka. Hingis did not play any tournaments after the China Open, as she was beset by injuries for the rest of the year.

In November, Hingis admitted that she was under investigation for testing positive for cocaine. She decided to retire. Hingis was handed a 2 year ban by the ITF for testing positive at Wimbledon, back dated to October at the start of 2008.

But Hingis maintained her innocence, saying, "I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent." She also said, "I would personally be terrified of taking drugs. When I was informed [about the test] I was shocked and appalled." She is not planning to contest the positive drug test because it could take years. "Because of my age and my health problems, I have also decided to retire from professional tennis." The drug test results were released to Hingis after her third round loss to Laura Granville at Wimbledon, with both "A" and "B" urine samples failing the tests.

Retirement

Hingis played an exhibition match at the Liverpool International tournament on 13 June 2008. Although this event was a warm-up for Wimbledon, it was not part of the WTA Tour. This allowed Hingis to participate without breaching the rules of her ban. In a rematch of their 1997 Wimbledon final, Hingis defeated Jana Novotná.

In 2009 Hingis partook in the BBC's dancing competition, Strictly Come Dancing. She was the bookies favourite for the competition, but she went out in the first week after performing a Waltz and a Rumba. Despite vowing to win the competition, she promised to apply the same gritty approach to the dance show that had taken her to five grand slams on the tennis court. "Everything I do I do to win. I am very competitive."

2010

At the start of the year Hingis defeated former world number one Lindsay Davenport, and hinted at a possible return to tennis. In February, Martina announced she has committed to a full year with the World TeamTennis Tour in 2010. She had previously played for World Team Tennis in 2005 to assist her first comeback. Sparking thoughts that she was trying to come back to the WTA tour, she committed to playing at the Nottingham Masters. On 5 May 2010, it was announced that Anna Kournikova would reunite with her doubles partner Hingis. Kournikova was participating in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years, in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon. Hingis also confirmed that she would play at the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International championship in June 2010, preceding Wimbledon, before playing in the Manchester Masters after Wimbledon. Liverpool like the Nottingham and Manchester Masters are organised by her management company Northern Vision. At the Nottingham Masters, Hingis faced Michaëlla Krajicek (twice), Olga Savchuk and Monika Wejnert. Hingis won just once in the event, against Wejnert. After the Nottingham event Billie Jean King stated that she believed that Hingis may return to the WTA Tour on the doubles circuit, after competing in the WTT.

During Wimbledon in an interview with doubles partner Anna Kournikova, Hingis stated that she will not be returning to the tour; she has had her comeback before and it was fun.

2011

On 5 June, Hingis, in team with Lindsay Davenport, won the Roland Garros Women's Legends title, defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna in the final, 6–1, 6–2. Before facing Navratilova/Novotna, Hingis and Davenport won two round robin matches in the tournament: first against Gigi Fernandez / Natasha Zvereva (6:1 6:3), and then in the next match they prevailed over Andrea Temesvari / Sandrine Testud 6:3 6:7 and 10:0 in the Super tie-break. On 3 July, Hingis partnering Lindsay Davenport won the Wimbledon Ladies' Invitation Doubles title defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna in the final, 6–4, 6–4.

Playing style

Hingis was renowned for her cerebral approach to the game of tennis and for her technical skills, enabling her to produce a wide array of shots with finesse. She lacked the power possessed by many of her contemporaries; therefore, she relied on low error-rates and good shot selection to keep opponents off-balance. She often used change of direction and pace to catch opponents off guard and sharp angles to open up the court. She was also well known for her ability to break long rallies by hitting accurate drop shots and coming to the net, where she was a skilled volleyer. A signature play of Hingis was the drop shot followed by a lob, often resulting in an easy volley or overhead to finish the point. Hingis often hit the ball extremely early by standing close to the baseline (or inside it) in order to take reaction time away from her opponent because she did not have sufficient power to hit winners past her opponents.

Hingis's strongest groundstroke was her two-handed backhand, which had an extremely low error-rate and great variety. Her backhand down-the-line was among her signature shots and often the shot she chose to hit with greater pace to surprise opponents during a rally.

Controversies

As a teenager, Martina Hingis was also well known for usually being outspoken. During her career, Hingis has made a number of statements about her fellow players that have subsequently become the focus of attention and the source of controversy, such as:

Referring to Amélie Mauresmo's muscular build on the eve of their 1999 Australian Open final, Hingis told reporters, "She's half a man." When asked in the late 1990s how she felt about the budding rivalry between herself and the then-up-and-coming Anna Kournikova, Hingis responded, "What rivalry? I win all the matches." After the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) had complained of discrimination against them, Hingis told ''Time'' magazine in 2001: "Being black only helps them. Many times they get sponsors because they are black. And they have had a lot of advantages because they can always say, 'It's racism.' They can always come back and say, 'Because we are this color, things happen.'" At the peak of the Williams sisters' and Hingis' competitive and fierce rivalry, Hingis stated in a press conference during the 1999 US Open referring to the sisters' remarks, "They always have big mouths. They always talk a lot. It's happened before, so it's gonna happen again. I don't really worry about that." On the long-dominant player, Steffi Graf, Hingis said, "Steffi has had some results in the past, but it's a faster, more athletic game now than when she played. She is old now. Her time has passed." (Hingis made this comment in 1998 while Graf was on an injury-related hiatus from tennis, and before she lost against the German player in the 1999 French Open final). Responding in a 1999 press conference on why she terminated her doubles partnership with former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotná, Hingis remarked, "She's old and slow."

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% !Tournament!!1994!!1995!!1996!!1997!!1998!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!Career SR!!Career W-L |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|Australian Open |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|2R | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:thistle;"|F |A |A |A | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF !3 / 10 !52–7 |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|French Open |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|3R | style="background:#afeeee;"|3R | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:yellow;"|SF |A |A |A |A | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF |A !0 / 8 !35–8 |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|Wimbledon |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|1R | style="background:#afeeee;"|4R | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:#afeeee;"|1R | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | style="background:#afeeee;"|1R |A |A |A |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|3R | style="background:#afeeee;"|3R !1 / 9 !23–8 |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|US Open |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|4R | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:#afeeee;"|4R |A |A |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|2R | style="background:#afeeee;"|3R !1 / 10 !43–9 |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|Grand Slam W-L !0–0 !6–4 !14–4 !27–1 !23–3 !19–3 !20–4 !16–4 !9–2 !0–0 !0–0 !0–0 !11–4 !8–3 !5 / 37 !153–32 |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|WTA Tour Championships |A |A | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:#0f0;"|'''W |A |A |A |A |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|RR |A !2 / 6 !16–5 |}

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

²If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 12–2; Carpet: 6–1) and Fed Cup (10–0) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 548–133.

Grand Slam singles finals

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- |width=100|'''Outcome |width=60|'''Year |width=200|'''Championship |width=75|'''Surface |width=200|'''Opponent in the final |width=200|'''Score in the final |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||1997||Australian Open||Hard|| Mary Pierce||6–2, 6–2 |- style="background:#ebc2af;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||1997||French Open||Clay|| Iva Majoli||6–4, 6–2 |- style="background:#cfc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||1997||Wimbledon||Grass|| Jana Novotná||2–6, 6–3, 6–3 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||1997||US Open||Hard|| Venus Williams||6–0, 6–4 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||1998||Australian Open (2)||Hard|| Conchita Martínez||6–3, 6–3 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||1998||US Open||Hard|| Lindsay Davenport||6–3, 7–5 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||1999||Australian Open (3)||Hard|| Amélie Mauresmo||6–2, 6–3 |- style="background:#ebc2af;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||1999||French Open (2)||Clay|| Steffi Graf||4–6, 7–5, 6–2 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||1999||US Open (2)||Hard|| Serena Williams||6–3, 7–6(4) |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2000||Australian Open||Hard|| Lindsay Davenport||6–1, 7–5 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2001||Australian Open (2)||Hard|| Jennifer Capriati||6–4, 6–3 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2002||Australian Open (3)||Hard|| Jennifer Capriati||4–6, 7–6(7), 6–2 |}

Records

These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

{|class=wikitable |- style="background:#efefef;" |width=200|Grand Slam||width=50|Years||width=200|Record accomplished||width=200|Player tied |- |Australian Open||1997-02||6 consecutive finals||Evonne Goolagong Cawley |- |Australian Open||1997–99||3 consecutive wins||Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles |- |Grand Slam||1997||Won two slams in the same calendar year in straight sets||Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Serena Williams Justine Henin |}

By winning Wimbledon doubles title in 1996 with Helena Suková became youngest doubles winner at 15 years, 282 days and youngest ever Grand Slam winner in the Open era. By winning Australian singles title in 1997, became youngest winner there in tennis history at 16 years and 3 months.

By defeating Monica Seles 6–2, 6–1 in 1997 at Key Biscayne, ascended the no. 1 spot as the youngest ever in tennis history.

By winning the US Open against Venus Williams in 1997, Hingis contended all Grand Slam tournament finals that year; second youngest winner in the US Open at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days. Won the Australian and US Open in 1997 without losing a set. In 1997, from Sydney to the final of Roland Garros created a 37-match winning streak, best from 1995 until present. By winning the US Open doubles title in 1998 with Jana Novotná, completed a doubles Grand Slam third in the Open Era.

Held simultaneously the no. 1 position for singles and doubles in 1998.

Most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.

Ended her career with 103 top-10 wins (behind Lindsay Davenport at 129), 43 singles titles, 37 doubles titles, 1 mixed title, and 209 weeks at no.1 (4th behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert).

Awards and accolades

1992

Swiss Champion together with the tennisclub TC Schützenwiese (from Winterthur) in the Interclub-Championsships.

1994 ITF Junior Girls Singles World Champion. Won Wimbledon junior singles title (youngest junior champion there at 13 years, 276 days). Won French Open junior singles and doubles titles. Runner-up at US Open junior singles tournament. 1995 ''Tennis'' magazine. Female Rookie of the Year. 1996 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour Most Improved Player. WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award. 1997 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

Selected as the Player of the Year by the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation, and ''Tennis'' magazine.

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. 1998 First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998. WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year with Jana Novotná. 1999 WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year with Anna Kournikova. 2000 One of five female tennis players named to the 2000 Forbes magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No. 51. WTA Tour Diamond ACES Award. 2002 Elected to Tour Players' Council. 2006 World Comeback of the Year Award at the 2006 Laureus World Sports Awards. 2007 Surpassed US$20 million in career earnings at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the fourth female player to do so (after Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Lindsay Davenport). She was fourth in the all-time money list at $20,033,600 after the tournament. Meredith Inspiration Award for inspiring women around the world – Family Circle Cup/''Family Circle'' magazine Others

Except for the French Open, has won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).

Except for Berlin, has won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).

1999 French Open final (Graf d. Hingis 4–6, 7–5, 6–2) was voted by worldwide fans as the Greatest Match in 30-Year History of the Tour (online voting spanned two months and included a ballot of 16 memorable matches).

To celebrate the WTA Tour's 30th Anniversary, attended on-court ceremony at 2003 season-ending WTA Tour Championships that honored 13 world No. 1 champions (past and present), and founding members of the tour.

See also

List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

External links

ITF Press release: Decision in the case of Martina Hingis, with link to PDF document

{{navboxes|title=Martina Hingis in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Martina Hingis Achievements |list1= }}

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Doping cases in tennis Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Olympic tennis players of Switzerland Category:People from Košice Category:Strictly Come Dancing participants Category:People from the Canton of St. Gallen Category:20th-century Swiss people Category:21st-century Swiss people Category:Swiss sportspeople in doping cases Category:Swiss tennis players Category:Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players

als:Martina Hingis ar:مارتينا هينجيز bn:মার্টিনা হিঙ্গিস zh-min-nan:Martina Hingis bg:Мартина Хингис ca:Martina Hingis cv:Мартина Хингис cs:Martina Hingisová da:Martina Hingis de:Martina Hingis et:Martina Hingis es:Martina Hingis eo:Martina Hingis eu:Martina Hingis fa:مارتینا هینگیس fr:Martina Hingis ko:마르티나 힝기스 hi:मार्टिना हिंगिस hr:Martina Hingis io:Martina Hingis id:Martina Hingis it:Martina Hingis he:מרטינה הינגיס lv:Martina Hingisa hu:Martina Hingis my:မာတီနာ ဟင်းဂစ်စ် nl:Martina Hingis ja:マルチナ・ヒンギス no:Martina Hingis oc:Martina Hingis pl:Martina Hingis pt:Martina Hingis ro:Martina Hingis rm:Martina Hingis ru:Хингис, Мартина simple:Martina Hingis sk:Martina Hingisová sr:Мартина Хингис fi:Martina Hingis sv:Martina Hingis te:మార్టినా హింగిస్ tr:Martina Hingis uk:Мартіна Хінгіс vi:Martina Hingis zh:玛蒂娜·辛吉斯

name	Si Begg
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Simon Begg
alias	Buckfunk 3000, Cabbage Boy, S.I. Futures
born	1972, Leicester
genre	ElectronicaDanceExperimental technoDrum and bass
occupation	Record producer, DJ
years active	1993 to present
label	CaipirinhaNovamuteNtone
website	http://www.sibegg.com/ }}

Si Begg (born 1972) is electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer Simon Begg, from Leicester, England. His music combines elements of Experimental, Downtempo, Breakbeat Ambient, Drum and bass, Turntablism and Jazz. Begg grew up in Leamington Spa and moved to London in 1991. His recording career began in 1993 and he has used a number of different pseudonyms and band names, and released music in different styles on several record labels.

He has also recorded music for a short films, television advertisements and has performed sound design work for television channels including the BBC, Channel 4 and MTV.

History

Si Begg studied at Trinity School and Mid Warwickshire college, becoming interested in electronic music from an early age. Begg confessed that the first electronic-based record he ever heard was "Probably Jean Michel Jarre; my uncle used to be into his stuff, and used to play it in the car. My brother's mate's dad also had ''Tubular Bells'' and stuff like that. I remember being really into all the sounds and noises, the total futurism. And I was right into ''Star Wars'' and ''Tron'' and all those kinda kids' sci-fi things."

Listening to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in the late 1980s, Begg was introduced to early Chicago acid and bands like Warp's LFO, Cabaret Voltaire, Severed Heads and Negativland. This influenced him to move away from playing guitar and drums with schoolmates and toward creating cut-up electronica with fellow electronic musicians, under the group name Cabbage Head Collective.

Career

Begg initially gained experience working as a sound engineer in the early 1990s, helping to produce live music and studio albums for other artists, and began DJing in 1991. He began creating his own music in 1993, and a year later, released 3 EPs with Techno artist, and fellow-Cabbage Head alumni, Cristian Vogel, under the band name "Inevitable Technology". The pair later founded a record company, Mosquito, in 1997. During this time, Begg assembled a recording studio (which is now located in Harrow, in northwest London), and learned about A&R; and label management.

He moved to London in the 1990s, where he met Jonathan More and Matt Black of Coldcut through the local music scene. Begg's works as Cabbage Boy were subsequently released on their Ninja Tune sub-label, Ntone. Begg released his solo debut album ''Commuter World'' on Caipirinha Productions in 1998. He continued to release 12" singles on a variety of small independent record labels (including his own).

In 2001, he released ''The Mission Statement'' on the Mute Records subsidiary, mute Records, going by the name of as S. I. Futures. This was followed by another Si Begg album, ''Director's Cut'' (2003)

Since 2005, he has also released mp3 files on Digital Distortions and further singles on another label that he founded himself, Noodles Recordings and its sub-labels, Noodles Institute of Technology and Noodles Discothèque, which he called "the stupidest recording organisation in the world". The description comes from that fact that the label releases such a wide variety of musical styles, a tactic most labels would avoid.

In addition to working as a recording artist, he also performs live DJ sets throughout Europe. He currently has two DJ residencies in London, ''Big Beat Boutique'' at Scala and ''Freakin the Frame'' at The End. He has also worked as a remixer for over 40 different electronic artists including Alloy Mental, Atmosfear, DJ Rush, Faultline, Michael Forshaw, Lamb, Little Nobody, Moguai, Radio 4, Tipper, Sven Väth, Cristian Vogel, Jennifer Delano, Neuflex, Jason Sparks, Bolz Bolz and Stewart Walker.

Pseudonyms and collaborations

Begg has recorded under variety of names, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He explains that it is a "necessity because of the way the industry kind of works. Because a lot of people want exclusive names and there's just no way I could. If there was one label that I felt was my home and I didn't want to do stuff for other labels then that would be fine, but no single label is willing to release my full output – my full kind of range. So I have to come up with these different projects all the time.",

Solo recording names include:

Si Begg

Bigfoot

Bigfoot Futures Ltd

Buckfunk 3000

Cabbage Boy / Cabbageboy

Culture Cruncher

Dr. Nowhere versus The Maverick DJ

Lenny Logan / Lenny "The Stylus" Logan (one Lenny Logan track featured "Zygmunt Janowski", who, again, is actually Si Begg)

S. I. Futures

Band names include:

Bigfoot & Maverick

Cabbage Head Collective (with Cristian Vogel, Tim Wright (of Germ, Neil Landstrumm and Anthony Michael Alexander)

Inevitable Technology (with Cristian Vogel)

State of the Art (with Tony Thorpe of The Moody Boys)

Discography

Releases as Si Begg

Albums

''Commuter World'' (1998, Caipirinha Productions)

''Director's Cut'' (2003, Novamute Records)

Singles and EPs

''Nothing is True Zen Say'' (1996, Position Chrome)

''Opus EP'' (1996, Tresor)

''Cuntok 5 EP'' (1997, Algorithme)

''Question the Nature of Your Formula'' (1997, Drought Records)

''Working on The Front Line EP'' (1997, Mosquito)

''B-Boy of Tomorrow / Strawhead'' (1998, Hydrogen Dukebox)

''Commuter World'' (1998, Caipirinha Productions)

''Untitled'' (1998, Mosquito)

''Network Southeast Vol. 1'' (1999, Under 5's)

''Bad Doo Doo'' (2000, Mosquito)

''Network Southeast Vol. 2'' (2000, Under 5's)

''Testosterone Testicles'' (2000, Drought Records)

''Restoration EP (2001, Mosquito)

''Welcome to the Discothèque'' (2001, Feis)

''You Aint Got this Shit in Yo Crate / Sumba Lo Remix'' (2002, Howlin' Records)

''Moveup'' (2003, Novamute Records)

''Trigger / Lost in Time'' (2003, Trigger Recordings)

''Buss'' (2004, Novamute Records)

''John Peel Session 003'' (2004, Noodles Recordings)

''Revolution'' (2004, Novamute Records)

''The Third Paper'' (2004, Noodles Institute of Technology)

''Revelation'' (2005, Novamute Records)

''The Fourth Paper'' (2005, Noodles Institute of Technology)

''The Tyranny of Pesto'' (2005, Digital Distortions)

''Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 1'' (2006, Noodles Recordings)

''Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 2'' (2007, Noodles Recordings)

''Signals 002'' (2007, Uncharted Audio)

''Jetlag and Tinnitus Part 3'' (2008, Noodles Recordings)

''24 bit error'' (2009 sibegg.com)

As Bigfoot

Singles and EPs

''Franks Birthday'' (1995, Eukatech)

''I Can't Get In EP'' (1996, Eukatech)

''Sasquatch EP '' (1996, Eukatech)

As Bigfoot Futures Ltd

Singles and EPs

''Interplanetary Music'' (1996, Eukatech)

''Tommy Crunch 2'' (1996, Eukatech)

''Drumz'' (1997, Eukatech)

''Part 4 Return Of The Big Mack'' (1997, Eukatech)

As Buckfunk 3000

Albums

''First Class Ticket To Telos'' (1998, Language)

Singles and EPs

''Modulation'' (1996, Language)

''3000 / Economics'' (1997, Language)

''In is In / Planet Shock Future Rock'' (1997, Language)

''Systematic'' (1997, Language)

''Fried Funk & Microchips / Planet Shock Future Rock'' (1998, Language)

''There is Life on Mars'' (1998, Language)

''High Volume'' (2001, Fuel Records)

''Jump & Disrupt'' (2001, Fuel Records)

''2 Much Booty'' (2004, Bowwow)

As Cabbage Boy

Albums

''Genetically Modified'' (1999, Ntone)

Singles and EPs

''Sausage Doctor EP'' (1995, Ntone)

''Planet EP'' (1997, Ntone)

''Molecular Millionaires'' (1999, Ntone)

''The Lost Tapes Vol 1 1998-2000'' (2004, Noodles Recordings)

As Culture Cruncher

Singles and EPs

''Vol. 1'' (2000, Noodles Discothèque)

''Vol. 2'' (2001, Noodles Discothèque)

''Vol. 3'' (2001, Noodles Discothèque)

''Vol. 5'' (2002, Noodles Discothèque)

As Dr. Nowhere versus The Maverick DJ

Singles and EPs

''Automated Leisure EP'' (1998, Scandinavia Records)

As S. I. Futures

Albums

''The Mission Statement'' (2001, Novamute Records)

Singles and EPs

''Freestyle Disco'' (2001, Novamute Records)

''Freestyle Disco Remixes'' (2001, Novamute Records)

''We are Not a Rock Band'' (2001, Novamute Records)

''Eurostar'' (2002, Novamute Records)

As Inevitable Technology

Singles and EPs

''Etherion EP'' (1994, Trope Recordings)

''Reform EP'' (1994, Trope Recordings)

''The Wheel EP'' (1994, Berlin Records)

As State of the Art

Singles and EPs

''Feel This / Party Time'' (1994, Full House Records)

''Shifting Mercury EP'' (1995, State of the Art)

''Automatic'' (2004, Inform / Noodles Recordings)

External links

Si Begg website

Si Begg at Addictech

References

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:English electronic musicians Category:Ninja Tune artists