Who is Michael Steele and how is he related to Mike Tyson?
Michael Steele, the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, was once the brother-in-law of famous heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson.
Steele, 62, is also the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and endorsed Joe Biden in last year’s presidential race - despite identifying as a Republican throughout the entirety of his political career.
Mike Tyson- boxing’s greatest enigma
As it turns out, his world collided with one very unlike his own when he found himself related to the baddest man on the planet between the years of 1997 and 2003.
The reason for this is because Michael’s sister, Monica Turner, was married to Tyson throughout that period of time. The couple had two children together prior to their divorce, with Monica accusing Tyson of adultery throughout the course of their marriage. This was one of many controversies associated with “Iron Mike” during his career.
While there’s no confirmation one way or the other that Steele had anything to do with Tyson’s political alignment, Mike did note in 2015 that he was backing Donald Trump in his pursuit of the White House during the 2016 presidential election.
Ironically enough, one of the primary reasons Steele decided to back Biden in 2020 was because he was part of The Lincoln Project - an organization that intended to do everything they could to get Trump out of office.
Some like to say that politics rarely plays a significant role in the world of combat sports but all of the evidence, at least in the modern era, seems to point to the opposite.
From mixed martial arts to boxing and beyond, there are so very many examples of politicians becoming involved in the day-to-day operations of these promotions or, at the very least, using them as platforms.
There’s nothing explicitly wrong with doing so, but it’s another argument that’ll continue to rage on for many years to come.
Mike Tyson is one of the most exuberant and unpredictable characters in the history of boxing. We don’t imagine that’s going to stop being the case anytime soon - especially if he continues on down the path of taking celebrity exhibition bouts.