Former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson has become a smart businessman in the last few years, with numerous ventures that are banking him a lot of money.
In the latest venture, Tyson has revealed that he is opening a cannabis ranch in California to celebrate the state's legalisation of recreational marijuana.
The 51-year-old Hall of Famer has already broken ground on 40 acres in California City, a remote town of 15,000 people southwest of Death Valley.
"Tyson Ranch" as it will be called, will devote 20 acres to cultivation which “will allow master growers to have maximum control of their environment.
It will also have a Tyson Cultivation School to teach farmers how to develop and perfect their own strains, a luxury “glamping” campground with cabins, and an amphitheatre.
Tyson has teamed up with business partners Robert Hickman and Jay Strommen, and is supported by city mayor Jennifer Wood.
The boxer is a longtime believer in medical marijuana, which has been legal in California for more than 20 years, and the ranch will also carry out research to develop its clinical uses.
He is also supporting former members of the armed forces with the operating company, Tyson Holistic, employing mainly veterans.
California is expecting a marijuana boom with legalisation, and the mayor described the ranch as a “rebirth” for the city which will create needed jobs.
His move into marijuana growing comes as California becomes the world's largest regulated commercial market for recreational marijuana. The law change comes into effect today and it will see dozens of newly licensed stores open for business up and down the state catering to adults who enjoy the drug for its psychoactive effects.
It becomes the sixth US state, and by far the most populated, venturing beyond legalized medical marijuana to permit the sale of cannabis products of all types to customers at least 21 years old.
Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada were the first to introduce recreational pot sales on a state-regulated, licensed and taxed basis. Massachusetts and Maine are on track to follow suit later this year.
