Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson’ giving us a much deeper insight into not just Jake Paul but also boxing legend Mike Tyson ahead of their November 15, 2024, matchup, we get a documentary unlike any other. That’s because it incorporates not just their professional lives but also their personal ones, especially since it features their life partners, the former’s parents, as well as the latter’s two youngest kids. Therefore, of course, it has raised intrigue about the legend’s wife of over 15 years, Lakiha “Kiki” Spicer Tyson, a convicted felon as well as Mike Tyson’s biggest, most unwavering supporter.
Mike and Kiki’s Beginning Was Far From Conventional
Although born on June 11, 1977, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a boxing fanatic as well as a locally prominent Muslim clerk Shamsud-din Ali and his wife, Faridah Ali (aka Rita Spicer), Kiki grew up rather independent. It, thus, comes as no surprise that when she came across Mike Tyson at a local party thanks to her father in the 1990s, she, at 18, wasn’t particularly interested. In fact, this is something that intrigued the then 28-year-old professional boxer even more despite the fact he was married to his second wife, Monica Turner, at the time, with whom he welcomed two kids.
“At that particular time, I was an idiot, and I believed that it was normal protocol for everyone to want to be with me,” Mike once candidly stated. “That’s what I was taught in life. I didn’t know people could really care about you because you’re really not that bad of a schmuck.” However, his manager-mentor at the time, Don King, clearly told him to stay away from Kiki as well as her family, stating they are not the kind of people one can simply mess with, yet he didn’t listen. Hence began Mike and Kiki’s on-and-off relationship for decades, seeing his divorce, her father’s two children with another woman, and her conviction for fraud before they decided to promise one another forever for good.
Kiki Has Had Legal Troubles of Her Own
While there’s no denying Mike Tyson has quite a chequered past with a lengthy rap sheet and some serious charges against him, Kiki has faced her share of legal issues as well. In fact, the then-27-year-old was arrested by the federal authorities in 2008 on charges of fraud as well as conspiracy alongside her entire family, including three-year elder brother Azheem Spicer. According to records, this was actually a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case of a conspiracy involving other fraudulent schemes, the primary ringleaders of which were their parents.
As per Kiki’s arrest record as well as court documents, she was linked to receiving payments worth $78,000 from her father’s company for teaching classes at a local Pennsylvania School. However, neither she nor anyone she employed ever even stepped foot into these classes to give lectures, resulting in these being false payments, which is financial fraud as well as conspiracy. As a result, following a prosecutors’ appeal after she was handed down home confinement, she was ultimately sentenced to six months behind bars, along with an order to pay $30,000 in restitution.
Kiki is a Woman of Many Hats
The truth is Kiki was just freshly pregnant with her and Mike’s first child when she received news of her fate, yet he didn’t leave her side despite not knowing of the child until she was released. But alas, little did he know he would lose his then-youngest Xodus in a freak accident in May 2009, driving him to embrace the family he did have left and tie the knot with Kiki a mere 11 days later. On June 6, 2009, they got their marriage license from the court and then tied the knot in a private Muslim ceremony at the La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Las Vegas Hilton immediately after. From what we can tell, their daughter Milan Tyson was born roughly 6 months later, with their second-born and youngest, Morocco Elijah Tyson, being born in 2011.
Therefore, while aspiring tennis athlete Milan is 16 as of writing, Morocco is simply a young teen trying to find his place in this world with the unwavering support of his parents. In fact, it appears as if both Mike and Kiki are unwaveringly loving, kind, and supportive of their children, enabling them to pursue whatever their heart desires. As for Kiki’s personal standing, it seems like she has preferred to lead a quiet life ever since her legal troubles, yet records so suggest she is glad it happened as it put life into perspective for her. All we know is that she is a writer as well as an entrepreneur — not only does she own-operate her own clothing boutique, but in 2012, she also co-wrote a one-man Broadway show based on her husband’s life titled ‘The Undisputed Truth.’
