Trevante Rhodes becomes Mike Tyson in first trailer for Hulu series about boxer

Trevante Rhodes transformed into Mike Tyson in the first trailer for the new show about the boxer.

The Moonlight actor is playing the former world heavyweight champion in new eight-episode Hulu series, Mike.

The trailer shows Rhodes as Tyson, looking beefy in the ring, holding what looks like a meeting in underwear and hurling a television across the room.

Read more: Mike Tyson admits he may have gotten his big cats from Tiger King Joe Exotic

Other sequences show him with one of his pet tigers and having a heart to heart with his trainer and mentor Cus D'Amato, who is played by Harvey Keitel.

It also appears to show the moment that Tyson bit the ear of fellow boxer Evander Holyfield while they were in the ring.

"You may know Tyson, but do you know Mike?" the tagline says.

Hulu says the unauthorised look at Tyson’s life “explores the tumultuous ups and downs of Tyson’s boxing career and personal life – from being a beloved global athlete to a pariah and back again”.

It is also set to examine “class in America, race in America, fame and the power of media, misogyny, the wealth divide, the promise of the American Dream and ultimately our own role in shaping Mike’s story”.

Last year, the boxer slammed the series, which was originally going to be called Iron Mike.

According to reports, he posted a long message on Instagram at the time.

The athlete said that the move was “inappropriate” and “tone deaf”.

Read more: Mike Tyson says boxing saved him from gang life

He also said that the “real Mike Tyson authorised story” was in development.

Mike is due to be unveiled by Hulu in August this year.

Watch: Mike Tyson to star in paramedic thriller Black Flies