Should Mike Tyson be allowed to fight females? Boxer gets dragged into 'transgender athletes in women's sport' debate

Mike Tyson's name was recently dragged into a House Rules Committe debate about transgender athletes in women's sport. Republican representative of the 5th district of South California, Ralph Norman mentioned the legendary boxer while arguing against the inclusion of transgender women in cisgender women's sports.

According to Norman, while women are making steadfast progress in every sport, it would be unfair if they are pitted against men like Mike Tyson. The Republican asked democrat Mark Takano:

"There's opportunties for women now that have never existed. Women, biological women... MMA women are attracting a lot of followers and now you put the Mike Tyson types into MMA which he could easily go to, how fair would that be? If you had a family member who did just what you said you agreed with, identify and get thrown in with that. I think that's unfair."

Takano did not exactly answer the question while accepting that it is legitimate debate to be had. He said:

"I think the MMA folks would have a lot to say about that...Their stance is not an absolute conclusion. They have a concern about fairness in competition. So that's a legitimate debate to have."

Catch the comments below:

Takano argued that the debate about "protection of women and girls in sports act of 2023", should focus on the inclusion of transgender women in collegiate competitions while leaving the elite level stuff for individual promotions to decide.

The act was passed on April 20 with every Republican voting for it and every Democrat voting against it. The bill specifies that in sports “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

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Mike Tyson on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports

Mike Tyson weighed in on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during an episode of his Hotboxin with Mike podcast featuring comedian Bill Maher. Maher cited the example of Thomas, who is winning swimming competitions against cisgender women despite allegedly still having a p**nis. Tyson responded:

"You’ve got the p**is you can’t play baby"

Catch Mike Tyson's comments below:

While he might not support the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports, 'Iron' Mike certainly isn't transphobic. Tyson took a stance when rapper Boosie Badazz made offensive comments about NBA star Dwayne Wade's 13-year-old daughter, Zaya. While Tyson backed Badazz's point of view, he reminded the rapper that he is no one to judge another person's sexuality.