Worst ever statue attempts after boxing legend Mike Tyson’s horrific recreation

There have been several statues of sporting stars over the years that don’t quite grasp the likeness of the legends like they were perhaps supposed to.

Earlier this week, boxing icon Mike Tyson was honoured with a statue outside the Mulberry Street Pizzeria in Las Vegas.

While it was a nice gesture, many people took to social media to criticise the design as they could not tell it was the 55-year-old – especially if they did not see the tattoo.

The statue was erected by his friend Richie Palmer, the owner and founder of the restaurant, to pay tribute to Tyson due to his generosity that doesn’t come across in his sporting persona.

While Tyson was touched and honoured by the gesture, it is not the first time a statue has missed the mark when it comes to immortalising sporting greats.

Andy Murray

At the Rolex Masters in Shanghai back in 2011, British tennis legend Andy Murray was inexplicably presented with a statue of himself in the style of a terracotta warrior.

Terracotta is a type of earthenware, a clay-based ceramic – but Murray was clearly unimpressed given the statue didn’t exactly resemble the three-time Grand Slam champion.

His hair looks long and bushy, while his stout figure hardly flatters the Scot.

What do you think is the worst sporting statue ever? Let us know in the comments section.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and such a large following means plenty of statues have been erected over the years.

Cristiano Ronaldo has had several statues sculpted with the 36-year-old in mind, including the famous bust at the airport on his home island of Madeira.

Not only does it just not look like the Portuguese star, the smile is haunting, and while it perhaps tries to capture the cheeky side of his personality in the act of winking, the wrinkles under his eye are ridiculously defined.

Diego Maradona

The late Diego Maradona has also been immortalised on several occasions, with a statue in Kolkata, India being a particularly rough example. The work was unveiled in 2017, and it shows a goofy looking Maradona holding an enormous and incredibly bright World Cup trophy.

The statue is decent in terms of its resemblance to the Argentine legend, but the golden glaze – particularly on the trophy – is perplexing to say the least.

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Michael Essien

Let’s stick with the colourful statues. In Ghana, there is a statue of Michael Essien, the ex-Chelsea midfielder that dominated the Premier League for years, and he is repping the blue of the London club.

The statue is, well, awful. Essien’s head looks like something out of a Nintendo 64 game, but there is an interesting level of detail that almost has to be applauded. While there is no badge for obvious copyright issues, the sculptor thought it was important to include Samsung.

Extra points for adding shin pads, too.

Ted Bates

The original statue of Ted Bates, the former player, manager, director and president of Southampton, was erected outside St Mary’s and it was genuinely comical.

The Saints legend, nicknamed Mr. Southampton due to his life dedicated to the club, had a statue unveiled outside the entrance to the stadium in March 2007, costing £112,000 – half of which was raised by fans via the Ted Bates Trust and the other half met by the club.

It led to an uproar, as the statue was immediately criticised for having tiny arms and legs. It was replaced by an improved statue in 2008.

Michael Jackson

At least Southampton had a club legend immortalised in a statue – or anyone remotely related to the club unlike Fulham, who inexplicably erected a plaster and resin sculpture of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage in 2011.

Jackson was reportedly a friend of former Fulham owner Mohamed Al-Fayed and he attended a match against Wigan in 1999, and the statue was commissioned after the musician’s death in 2009.

It was originally supposed to sit inside Harrods in Knightsbridge, London – which was also owned by Al-Fayed – but the new Qatari owners didn’t want it and it was moved to the Cottagers’ home stadium. The reception was not good; fans thought it made the club a laughing stock, while an art correspondent believed the sculpture was ’so spectacularly bad’ that it didn’t even look like Jackson.

We’ve seen some horrendous sporting statues, and the latest instalment of Tyson in Las Vegas will certainly not be the last.

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