Has Mike Tyson, a former professional boxer, died as of August 2, 2023? No, that's not true: A Tyson representative told Lead Stories that this claim is "fake news." Tyson has also been active on his verified social media accounts since this claim was published.
The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on July 26, 2023. The caption opened:
10 Minutes Ago /Goodbye legendary Mike Tyson./ Mike Tyson he now has been confirm as.......Read More
Here is how the post looked at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Aug 02 16:18:12 2023 UTC)
When clicking on the highlighted portion of the caption in the Facebook post, a July 26, 2023, article titled, "10 Minutes Ago /Goodbye legendary Mike Tyson./ Mike Tyson he now has been confirm as" opens on a website called "sitelockbite.ink." The article's headline has grammatical errors and some of the photos in the article appear doctored.
One of Tyson's agents confirmed to Lead Stories in an August 2, 2023, email that this claim was false, calling it "fake news."
A July 27, 2023, tweet on Tyson's verified account, published a day after it was reported that he died, is a video that displays him using a smoke gun.
Lead Stories has previously uncovered a network of Cambodian-based websites that spread "death hoax" articles like this one on Facebook in order to spread malware.
