Professional Boxers with Surprising Second Careers

Mike Tyson is considered one of the greatest boxers ever to step into the ring. Out of his 50 wins, 44 were by KO, he had amazing punching power, and when in the ring, he seemed unstoppable. His years in the spotlight weren’t very easy on him, it seems - in a 2005 interview, he revealed that he was never happy. “My whole life has been a waste - I've been a failure,” he said at the time. He retired from competitive boxing and tried pretty much everything from a Broadway one-man show with Spike Lee to writing, singing, and even a brief stint in professional wrestling. He couldn’t stay away from the ring, though. Mike Tyson’s return to the ring was announced this May - he’ll reportedly face Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs on October 3 this year.

Tyson’s post-boxing life was a bit chaotic, overshadowed by his past of drug use and debt. Others, in turn, have found their way outside professional sports - sometimes, through surprising career choices.

Vitali Klitschko - Politics

The second-longest-reigning WBC heavyweight champion of all time, the man who has the fifth-longest combined world championship reign in history, the man who earned the nickname “Dr. Ironfist”, the man who won 45 of his 47 bouts (41 with KO), the man who, together with his brother Wladimir, holds the Guinness World Record for the pair of brothers with the most heavyweight title fight wins (40 as of 2020) has left the ring for good in 2013.

In 2005, in turn, Vitali found a brand new ring to continue his fight, one that’s filled with vicious opponents and more backstabbers than anywhere else, while also being as unpredictable as throwing a handful of cash on a roulette table while blindfolded and hoping for the best: politics.

While still active in the ring, he was also appointed as an adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, later promoted to a full-time adviser. Later, he fought for the mayoral title of Kyiv - while it didn’t come with a belt, he did win the title in 2014. In the same year, he earned a seat in the Ukrainian Parliament - the regulations, in turn, don’t allow MPs to combine their position with other public employment, so he kept his mayoral seat that he holds to this day.

George Foreman - Religion and business

Two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic medalist George Foreman who won 76 of his 81 fights, retired from boxing in 1977 after a devastating loss to Jimmy Young. Exhausted after the fight and suffering from heatstroke, Foreman had a “near-death” experience in the dressing room… and this changed him completely. While he was not religious before, he asked for divine intervention.

There is no telling if he received it or not but after this, he turned to religion. He became a born-again Christian, becoming an ordained minister - while he never officially retired, he stopped fighting for a decade. He returned to the ring later, only to formally retire - this time, for good - in 1998.

Upon his return to the ring, he claimed that healthy eating was an important part of his good form - so, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Salton, Inc., a home appliance manufacturer, approached him with an offer. The company was looking for a spokesperson for their fat-reducing grill that later went down in history as the “George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine” (or George Foreman Grill, for short). The collaboration between the two was very successful: over 100 million units were sold, spawning a series of celebrity-endorsed versions: the Carl Lewis Health Grill endorsed by the track and field legend, the Evander Holyfield Real Deal Grill, and the Jackie Chan Grill. During his career as the grill’s face, Foreman reportedly made around $200 million, about two and a half times the amount he earned as a professional boxing legend.

Manny Pacquiao - Politics

Boxing legends are, it seems, often attracted by politics - they are famous, after all, and their face looks very good on any political party’s election posters. They only get re-elected, though, if they know what they are doing.

Emmanuel Dapidran "Manny" Pacquiao is a Filipino boxing legend, the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40, and the only boxer to hold world championships across four decades. He is also a senator in his native land, the Philippines. His political career started with him running for a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives - he lost but he never gave up. He ran again in 2009 - this time, he scored a landslide victory and was re-elected in 2013. In 2015, he ran for senate - next May, he was formally elected as a senator.

While having a full-time political career, Pacquiao didn’t retire from boxing. While there’s no word on when his next bout will be, WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford is really looking forward to meeting him in the ring.