In 1973, after years of abuse and neglect, the intervention of his high school counselor and the State of Missouri took custody of Tony from his aunt and placed him into a group home.

Pearson won his first contest, the 1976 Mr. Venice Beach, and Arnold featured him in the first edition of his book, The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding Co-Written by Bill Dobbins.

Of the young Pearson, Schwarzenegger wrote, "I remember a few years ago seeing a skinny black kid training at the weight pit on Venice Beach.

I watched him doing endless sets of squats, with very heavy weight, torturing himself with rep after rep. After a while, his thighs began to grow and soon they were huge, separated and beautifully defined, and only a year and half later he entered and won the 1978 Mr. America contest.

Pearson's stage name was "Michael Jackson of Bodybuilding"[2] due to his similar facial appearance to the entertainer.

Pearson also competed in the (IFBB) Mr. Olympia in 1984 (New York, NY) and a second time in 1985 (Brussels, Belgium) placing 12th in both competitions.

Pearson was first introduced to couples posing in 1979 when he made a guest appearance with the "First Lady of Bodybuilding", Lisa Lyon, at the Mr. Los Angeles Competition.

In 1980, Chris Dickerson and Stacy Bentley won the first International Federation of Body Building (IFBB) Professional World Mixed-Pair Competition.

In 1991 and 1992, Pearson competed in World Bodybuilding Federation WBF shows launched by professional wrestling mogul Vince McMahon.

In 1993 Pearson promoted a supplement line (ICOPRO), Integrated Conditioning Program, developed by Dr. Frederick Hatfield (also known as "Dr. Squat") for Vince McMahon.

Other professional bodybuilders to receive this honor include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, and Joe Weider.