The Day I Tattooed Mike Tyson
Journal Entry No. 17
Over the course of more than thirty years in tattooing, I have had experiences that I never could have imagined when I first began this journey.
I've met incredible people.
I've traveled.
I've studied.
I've worked with collectors from different parts of the world.
And occasionally, life places you in a moment that you know you will never forget.
One of those moments happened in 1997.
I had the opportunity to tattoo Mike Tyson.
At the time, Mike Tyson was already one of the most famous and recognizable athletes on the planet. He was a world champion, a cultural phenomenon, and one of the most talked-about figures in the history of boxing.
But for me, that day, he was sitting in front of me getting tattooed.
It was an unbelievable experience.
When you work as a tattoo artist, you meet people in a very different environment than the rest of the world sees them. You are not watching them from across an arena or through a television screen. You are sitting with them, talking, working, and sharing time during a very personal experience.
That is one of the things I have always appreciated about tattooing.
For a period of time, the outside world disappears.
The fame, the attention, the noise—it all becomes secondary.
There is an artist.
There is a collector.
And there is the work.
Looking back now, what makes the experience even more unforgettable is the timing.
Approximately one month later, the world watched one of the most infamous moments in boxing history take place in Las Vegas during Mike Tyson's fight with Evander Holyfield.
The moment became part of sports history.
And there I was, just weeks before it happened, having the opportunity to tattoo one of the most legendary and talked-about figures boxing has ever known.
Life has a strange way of connecting moments.
At the time, I could never have imagined that the period surrounding that tattoo session would become connected to one of the most unforgettable events in boxing history.
But that is part of the journey.
Tattooing has taken me into rooms I never expected to enter and introduced me to people I never expected to meet.
Some memories fade with time.
Others become stories you carry with you forever.
Tattooing Mike Tyson in 1997 was one of those experiences.
More than two decades later, Mike Tyson remains a legend in the boxing world.
And for me, the memory of that day remains one of the most unbelievable and unforgettable experiences of my career.
It was a moment in time.
A moment in tattooing.
And a moment I will never forget.
— Horiyume
Authentic Japanese Irezumi, preserving tradition, honoring culture, creating legacy.