Mike Tyson(Iron Mike),Evander Holyfield,Mc Hammer,Lattrell Sprewell,Jose Conseco,Michael Vike.What do all of these people have in common?Just read on.In 1985 I had just arrived the US and at the time I was attending school in a tiny Community College in Pendleton,South Carolina.I was inside the library after finishing classes for the day.I usually go to the library to pass the time while waiting for my brother who attend school at Clemson University to pick me up after completing his daily research studies.I ventured in the sports magazine section of the Library and a picture of young Mike Tyson caught my attention.Sports Illustrated had ran an article on the young Mike Tyson(Kid Dynamic) featuring him as a potential future heavyweight champion.At the time Mike Tyson was around the age of 19 according to the article and had just about 6 heavyweight bouts under his belt.He was still fighting 6 round heavyweight bouts at the time.There is a quote that I remember from the article in which one of Tyson's opponents had confessed that when Tyson hit him he felt like"he had been hit by a truck".Mike Tyson will go on to win the heavyweight title of the world in 1986 and become the youngest heavyweight champion(20years,6months old) in the history of boxing.In the process, he crushed people like James "BoneCrusher"Smith,Tyrell Biggs,Pinklon Thomas,Tony Tucker,Larry Holmes,Michael Spinks to name just a few.He ran into some early trouble like divorcing actress Robin Givens and losing his undisputed heavyweight champion of the world title in February 1990 to a 42-1 underdog name Buster Douglas in Tokyo.He got into real trouble with the rape allegations from a beauty contestant and a latter conviction(February 1992) that led to his serving a three year jail sentence(which he completed in March 1995).Around the time that Mike Tyson was accused of raping the beauty pageant,Sports Illustrated had ran a story mentioning how Mike Tyson was running through money.There was mentioned of four homes in four different cities and some of the bills to keep up the various homes were just staggering.All of these pails though to the fact that around the year 2003, ESPN ran a story that Tyson was homeless and had lived briefly in a homeless shelter.The story mentioned the fact that throughout his boxing career Mike Tyson had earned a whopping 365 million US DOLLARS.He had justed been declared bankrupt through a filing at Manhantan,New York.
Evander(The Real Deal) Holyfield won an Olympic bronze medal in the light heavyweight division in the summer olympics of 1984.He would turn pro shortly after dominating the cruiserweight division up to the late 1980s before making the move to the heavyweight division.He defeated James Buster Douglas in 1990 to become heavyweight champion of the world.In his boxing career(he still has not yet retired)he gross up to $250million US.He never got the reputation that Tyson carried around because he was not a real heavyweight fighter to begin with.For a while he was referred to as an"inflated"heavyweight.When he had the infamous fight against Tyson in 1997 in which Mike chopped of part of his ear he grossed $32million US from the fight.Evander Holyfield did not have a storied career as Mike Tyson, but he has had a pro career that had lasted more than two decades. He was heavyweight champion of the world for quite some time.We did not hear about any late night life like in Mike's case.There was a lot of noise about his belief in God.The lone negative story coming out of the Holyfield camp was his love affair with getting new spouses,especially during periods running up to his heavyweight title defense fights.He is reported to have a total of 11 children.Just last month(June 2008)there was a picture of Evander Holyfield's mansion in the middle of an article saying the home is in furclosure following the default on a 10million dollar loan from Washington Mutual.There was also mentioned of the fact that he was late on one of his ex-spouses child payment.The child payment was 3000dollars monthly.A Lawn mowing company was also suing him for half a million dollars of unpaid bills for the landscaping work on his mansion. There also mention of the fact that in a single month,Holyfield had to dish out 17000 dollars for an electricity bill.
Mc Hammer was a rapper in the 1990's and known for his hit song "You can't touch this".The Hammer man grossed 33million dollars in his career but had to file for bankruptcy protection to keep of creditors.A lavish lifestyle is blamed for his squandered fortune .Hammer is said to have spend 12million dollars on a mansion that had gold plated gates.He also had a fleet of 17 cars,threw extravagant parties and owned two helicopters.Within a few years though, the Hammer man was broke and had to file for bankruptcy protection.Time Magazine had him on its cover page with the whopping figure on a squandered 33 million dollar fortune.
Latrell Sprewell came to the headline in December 1997 when he attempted to choke during team practice,then head coach at Golden State Warriors,P.J Carlesimo.He was suspended from the NBA for the 1997/98 season and did not play again until he was traded to the New York Knicks on January 1999 after serving a reduce suspension(initially set at 82games).Drafter out of Alabama in 1992,Latrell Sprewell had a brilliant career that he cut short after the 2004/5 NBA season after turning down a three year 21million dollar contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves.He went on to star for the Knicks, helping them to the NBA finals in 1999 upon his reinstatement into the league, losing to eventual champions LA Lakers.He played for the New York Knicks up to the 2003 season before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he teamed up with Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell to make another deep playoff run,but this time it fell short in the Western conference finals against the LA lakers losing to them in six games.He turned down a $7million three year contract extension in October 2004,playing out the rest of the season on his current contract,calling the contract extension an insult."I have a family to feed" he said.At the time he was earning $14.6million a season.So the 2004/5 season was his last in the league.He left the NBA after a career that had lasted for 13years.Last month,on the ESPN website there was a picture of a worried looking Lattrell in a story featuring his home being in foreclosure.A foreclosure suit was filed by Citizens Bank on Sprewell's $405,000 home in River Hills,Milwaukee claiming he owes an outstanding balance of $295,138 plus interest on the home and has missed the monthly mortgage payment of $2,593 since last September.This information is coming after Latrell Sprewell had his yacht"Milwaukee's best" repossessed last summer.The yacht which Latrell paid $1.5million for was auctioned off for $856,000 to help pay for the $1.3million that Sprewell owed on the boat.Sprewell has a company Sprewell Motosports which credit card bills have gone unpaid for months.
Jose Canseco was the other half of what was known as the "BASH brothers" in Oakland.He and Mark Arguire were part of a 1-2 home run punch that took the Oakland A' s to three straight world series,winning one of them in 1997.He had since retired from baseball and turned into a book writer, making accusations all over the place about former teammates and friends.In March of 2008,there was a picture of his Home in the Oakland area with the lawn all grown.The home had been abandoned by the former baseball star player opting out of the $2.3million home in Encino,Los Angeles area.He claimed that it does not make sense to keep on making payments on a house that does not belong to him.He claims that multiple divorce settlements have been part of the cause for his financial mess, but his situation is different from other celebrities that have lost their homes.Jose Conseco is currently pursuing a boxing career and had is pro debut in the 14 of July and he was knocked out just after 97 seconds.He got $35,000 for the fight but owes his lawyer close to $350,000.
Evander(The Real Deal) Holyfield won an Olympic bronze medal in the light heavyweight division in the summer olympics of 1984.He would turn pro shortly after dominating the cruiserweight division up to the late 1980s before making the move to the heavyweight division.He defeated James Buster Douglas in 1990 to become heavyweight champion of the world.In his boxing career(he still has not yet retired)he gross up to $250million US.He never got the reputation that Tyson carried around because he was not a real heavyweight fighter to begin with.For a while he was referred to as an"inflated"heavyweight.When he had the infamous fight against Tyson in 1997 in which Mike chopped of part of his ear he grossed $32million US from the fight.Evander Holyfield did not have a storied career as Mike Tyson, but he has had a pro career that had lasted more than two decades. He was heavyweight champion of the world for quite some time.We did not hear about any late night life like in Mike's case.There was a lot of noise about his belief in God.The lone negative story coming out of the Holyfield camp was his love affair with getting new spouses,especially during periods running up to his heavyweight title defense fights.He is reported to have a total of 11 children.Just last month(June 2008)there was a picture of Evander Holyfield's mansion in the middle of an article saying the home is in furclosure following the default on a 10million dollar loan from Washington Mutual.There was also mentioned of the fact that he was late on one of his ex-spouses child payment.The child payment was 3000dollars monthly.A Lawn mowing company was also suing him for half a million dollars of unpaid bills for the landscaping work on his mansion. There also mention of the fact that in a single month,Holyfield had to dish out 17000 dollars for an electricity bill.
Mc Hammer was a rapper in the 1990's and known for his hit song "You can't touch this".The Hammer man grossed 33million dollars in his career but had to file for bankruptcy protection to keep of creditors.A lavish lifestyle is blamed for his squandered fortune .Hammer is said to have spend 12million dollars on a mansion that had gold plated gates.He also had a fleet of 17 cars,threw extravagant parties and owned two helicopters.Within a few years though, the Hammer man was broke and had to file for bankruptcy protection.Time Magazine had him on its cover page with the whopping figure on a squandered 33 million dollar fortune.
Latrell Sprewell came to the headline in December 1997 when he attempted to choke during team practice,then head coach at Golden State Warriors,P.J Carlesimo.He was suspended from the NBA for the 1997/98 season and did not play again until he was traded to the New York Knicks on January 1999 after serving a reduce suspension(initially set at 82games).Drafter out of Alabama in 1992,Latrell Sprewell had a brilliant career that he cut short after the 2004/5 NBA season after turning down a three year 21million dollar contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves.He went on to star for the Knicks, helping them to the NBA finals in 1999 upon his reinstatement into the league, losing to eventual champions LA Lakers.He played for the New York Knicks up to the 2003 season before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he teamed up with Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell to make another deep playoff run,but this time it fell short in the Western conference finals against the LA lakers losing to them in six games.He turned down a $7million three year contract extension in October 2004,playing out the rest of the season on his current contract,calling the contract extension an insult."I have a family to feed" he said.At the time he was earning $14.6million a season.So the 2004/5 season was his last in the league.He left the NBA after a career that had lasted for 13years.Last month,on the ESPN website there was a picture of a worried looking Lattrell in a story featuring his home being in foreclosure.A foreclosure suit was filed by Citizens Bank on Sprewell's $405,000 home in River Hills,Milwaukee claiming he owes an outstanding balance of $295,138 plus interest on the home and has missed the monthly mortgage payment of $2,593 since last September.This information is coming after Latrell Sprewell had his yacht"Milwaukee's best" repossessed last summer.The yacht which Latrell paid $1.5million for was auctioned off for $856,000 to help pay for the $1.3million that Sprewell owed on the boat.Sprewell has a company Sprewell Motosports which credit card bills have gone unpaid for months.
Jose Canseco was the other half of what was known as the "BASH brothers" in Oakland.He and Mark Arguire were part of a 1-2 home run punch that took the Oakland A' s to three straight world series,winning one of them in 1997.He had since retired from baseball and turned into a book writer, making accusations all over the place about former teammates and friends.In March of 2008,there was a picture of his Home in the Oakland area with the lawn all grown.The home had been abandoned by the former baseball star player opting out of the $2.3million home in Encino,Los Angeles area.He claimed that it does not make sense to keep on making payments on a house that does not belong to him.He claims that multiple divorce settlements have been part of the cause for his financial mess, but his situation is different from other celebrities that have lost their homes.Jose Conseco is currently pursuing a boxing career and had is pro debut in the 14 of July and he was knocked out just after 97 seconds.He got $35,000 for the fight but owes his lawyer close to $350,000.
I watched Michael Vick ran through defensive linemen from the quarterback position while at Virgina Tech.He was part of a team that went undefeated(11-0)in the regular season and noted for its special teams play and they made it all the way to the college championship bowl game in 2000 before losing to eventual college champions Florida State.He was drafted out of college by the Atlanta falcons in 2001 and on December 23,2004 he signed a record $130million 10 year contract,making him the highest paid player at the time in the NFL.The contract included a $37million signing bonus.Then came the dog fighting allegations that will get him in a different kind of uniform in the Kansas area for a maximum 23 months.Before his sentencing for the federal dog fighting conviction, Michael Vick put up his mansion in Guluth,Georgia for sale on a 19 October 2007 real estate listing.The estate was valued at $4.5million.According to the Atlanta constitution journal,Vick had bought the home in 2005 for $3.7million.The yearly tax bill came to $26,720 while the monthly mortgage was $23,706.It is not only famous people that get into trouble with their money.There is guy called William Post who won a $16million lottery in the Pennsylvania jackpot in 1988.By 2002 the guy had gone broke.He had bought a three bedroom home in Pennsylvania when he won the lottery and that is all the he has to show for his winnings.The guy spends his days now watching classic movies on TV and collects $450 monthly from the social security department which he lives on together with some food stamps.He is better off though compared to John McGuiness who was a hospital porter in 1997 when he won £10million in the lottery.At the time he was making £150 a week and sleeping in his parents floor.By 11 of February 2008 he had blew the £10million jackpot and was £2million in debt.John gave close to £3million to family and close friends, including £750,000 to his ex-wife.He spent £500,000 on a seafront home.He spend £200,000 on his wedding in 2003 to his present wife.He bought a Ferrari Modena Spyder.Other cars followed and at one time he had up to six in his garage including a Bentley,Bmw's,Mercedes and Jaguars.None of these got him though.His trouble started when he got a call from a friend who advised him to join the board of a football club, Livington FC in Scotland.At the time the soccer club was in the lowly 2 division of the Scottish league.He did help the club to the Scottish Premier League thanks in large part to the £4million that he put in the club as his initial investment.The team won the league cup in 2004 but success on the soccer pitch did not translate into financial profit off the field.The team was bleeding money and John McGuinness personally guaranteed some loans from the Royal bank of Scotland,who were suing him for £2.1million.The 44 year old father of four's home was repossessed by the bank after the bank had won a judgement in court and John was declared bankrupt over a £35,000 debt owed for a porsche car.He had to apply for a council house(subsidized housing)and he and his wife where applying for jobs.His parents also stood to lose their home also.We have all the facts in let us try to get in some analysis.
Why do people that have worked so hard all their life or lived in poverty all the lives get into riches and with sometime blow all the money?A few of these people complain about bad company.In the case of Mike Tyson for example.He is suing boxing promoter Don King for $100million claiming that the promoter got tricked him into signing contracts while he was in jail that made it easy for Don King to siphoned millions of dollars of him.Mike Tyson had also said something striking before all his troubles began.He said as hard he is working for his money,that is how hard people are fighting to separate him from his money.There is also divorce settlement.Mike Tyson divorce from his second wife,Monica Turner is said to have resulted in a $9million settlement.She is said to have put a lien at two of his Las Vegas home to try and collect on the debt.Mike Tyson also had children to take care of.Two from his marriage to Monica Turner and 4 others from out of wedlock.The now retired man from Pennsylvania, claimed that a lot of his fortune went to pay taxes and some bad investment that he was forced into.He talked of death threat from people including family members whom he "knew were going to do anything to get the money".One of his brother threatened to get him killed and the others force him into investing in their various car and restaurant businesses from which he did not get a dime back.William Post also talked of taxes and legals fees.The taxes come because as you make more money you get into a higher tax bracket.You need some very creative accountants to help you,but some of these accountants end up getting you into deeper trouble with tax shelters that are not legal.Legal fees are also a primary drain on some of these fortunes.Mr William claimed that you get sued from every direction and you have to defend most of these lawsuits and guess what comes with defending lawsuits?Legal fees.Mr Post was sued by his former girlfriend for not sharing his winnings and the court at one point held his escrow payments until he could pay all his debts.The guy ending up auctioning his winning ticket for $2million,and he used part of that money to purchase the home that he now lives in.The rest went to paying debts.So he went from everybody thinking you have $16million to actually only getting $2million for his winnings.Evander Holyfield claimed to be a man of God and hand out with people such as Creflo Dollar of World Changers Ministry.During his divorce hearing to Janice,one of his two ex-wives, she wanted the famous Church man to be summoned to court in order for him to disclose exactly how much money Holyfield had donated to his ministry.You have seen this guy on TV,the guy is shady.It is alleged that Holyfield had donated up to $7million to his ministry.Man of God indeed.The "Real deal" has to share some blame also.A claimed man of God with two ex-wives and 11 children living in a first world society where people on the average get one to two children.Even in Africa,where I now live, people are careful about getting seconds wives.I guess he was not world heavyweight champ for nothing.Bad company will get you anytime.Take the case of John McGuinness.He did spent quite a bit of money, but the guy was did in by the friend who gave him the football club board membership.He did spent £3 on close friends and family.You can accuse the guy of being loose with his money but I personally do not see anything wrong with sharing part of your good fortune with close friends and family.You don't share with the ones close to you and you end up living an isolated lifestyle.But to sink £4million pounds into a low division two side, that was just a terribly investment and coupling that with personal guaranteed loans for a football club was trying play with the bigs boys.He should not have accepted the phone call from the friend.If you win £10million on a jackpot,I do not see anything wrong with paying half a million pounds on a house.Houses do appreciate in value over time, at least until recently.Latrell Sprewell has a long time companion who had in January 2007 sued him for $200million claiming the NBA star had renegated on a relationship agreement that they went into since their relationship began in college.Sprewell has 4 children with the lady.
