Mike Tyson Wants a Tyson Ranch Punch-Out!! Game

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! is easily one of the biggest sports video games of all-time. Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, the game was a port of the arcade original, with some slight modifications. Most notably, Nintendo signed Mike Tyson to a 3-year-deal to appear in the game as the final boss. After the deal expired, Nintendo re-released the game with a new character in place of Tyson, Mr. Dream. All subsequent versions of Punch-Out!! have featured that character, but Tyson has made it clear that he would be happy to return to the digital ring. However, he wants to see Tyson Ranch branding on the game, this time around.

For the uninitiated, Tyson Ranch is a cannabis licensing and branding company. Tyson revealed his desire to see a Tyson Ranch Punch-Out game in an interview with Shacknews.

“Hey listen, we’re going to start our own Punch-Out!! game and our own Tyson Ranch computer game and bring it back to life, man,” Tyson told Shacknews. “Bring back Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!.”

The Punch-Out franchise has not seen a new entry since 2009’s Punch-Out!! on Wii. The game was a critical and commercial success for Nintendo, but the series has never been a high priority for the company. Still, it seems highly unlikely that Nintendo and Tyson would be able to come to terms on a new agreement. While Nintendo has stepped outside of their comfort zone in the past, a tie-in with a cannabis licensing and branding company seems a bit hard to imagine. Nintendo also famously got Tyson’s likeness for a very small amount of money back in 1987; it seems likely that Tyson would cost quite a bit more now, even accounting for inflation. Instead, it’s far more likely that Tyson would have to come up with his own boxing video game, without the official Punch-Out branding.

While the Punch-Out franchise has languished a bit over the last 11 years, the legacy of the series lives on through Little Mac’s appearances in the Super Smash Bros. games. Still, it would be interesting to see a new Punch-Out!! game with Tyson back as the main antagonist. Old-school gamers still have a lot of passion for Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, and a new entry in the franchise could generate a lot of interest. Given the massive popularity of Nintendo Switch at the moment, there might not be a better time than right now.

Would you like to see Mike Tyson return for a new Punch-Out!! game? What’s your favorite entry in the Punch-Out franchise? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!