Mike Tyson
The youngest heavyweight champion in history, the boxer who bit Evander Holyfield's ear off, and the source of two of sports' most quoted lines.
Origin
Mike Tyson (b. 1966) was a Brooklyn kid trained out of a Catskills gym by Cus D'Amato. He became undisputed heavyweight champion at twenty in 1986. The fall — bankruptcy, a 1992 rape conviction and three years in prison, biting a chunk off Holyfield's ear in the 1997 rematch — was as public as the rise. In retirement he reinvented himself as a podcaster, weed entrepreneur, and one-man-show performer; he fought Jake Paul on Netflix in 2024 and lost on points.
Modern usage
'Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth' is now standard business-and-life wisdom, quoted by people who do not know it is his. The ear bite is the canonical reference for any competitor losing control under pressure. 'I'm the baddest man on the planet' was his shtick; it now reads as an early version of pro-wrestling-style heel branding that's standard everywhere.
In the wild
Every roadmap is fine until contact with users — everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.— common usage
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