Drederick Tatum (voiced by Hank Azaria) has appeared in several episodes. He is a professional boxer and the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He features prominently in the episode "The Homer They Fall", in which Homer takes up boxing and is lined up as an opponent for Tatum, soon to be released from prison. The fight proves one-sided, and Homer is rescued by Moe just as he is about to be knocked out by Tatum. Tatum grew up in Springfield, but in "Flaming Moe's" he calls the city "a dump" and says "if you ever see me back there, you know I really fu*#ed up bad!"
A former 1984 Olympic Gold medalist, he first became champion after defeating Watson in the heavily promoted "Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!", a fight Homer and his friends watched on his illegal cable hookup. He was so feared inside prison he could stop riots just by telling the rioters to shut up. Tatum also appears in "Bye Bye Nerdie". Lisa tests her nerd spray on him, which forces Nelson Muntz to involuntarily get up and start punching Tatum, to little effect. A sobbing Nelson tries to apologise but Tatum rolls up his sleeves and declares "you leave me little recourse!"
Tatum is a parody of Mike Tyson, with a high-pitched lisping voice, a menacing demeanor, a criminal record, financial problems and a tendency to make pseudo-intellectual comments like "I insist that you desist" and "your behavior is unconscionable". He also has an unscrupulous manager named Lucius Sweet, who closely resembles Tyson's promoter/manager Don King. Indeed, in "The Homer They Fall" Homer notes that Sweet "is as rich and famous as Don King, and looks just like him". King and Tyson were asked to appear in the episode but declined. Paul Winfield, who played King in a 1995 Tyson biopic, took the role instead.
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