Short answers, pulled from the story.
Capcom renamed the character from Mike Bison to Balrog in 1991 to avoid a lawsuit from Mike Tyson. The developers made this calculated move because the character was clearly modeled after the real-life heavyweight champion. This name swap was not a translation error but a strategy to protect the company from legal liability.
Mike Tyson remained unaware of the character's existence until 2019. He finally acknowledged the homage with a sense of honor rather than outrage in that year. The character was originally named Mike Bison in the Japanese version of the game.
Grand L. Bush portrayed Balrog in the 1994 live-action film version of Street Fighter. He played the character as a supporting protagonist and the videographer in Chun-Li's news crew. This role diverged significantly from his video game counterpart.
Balrog was introduced as one of the Four Devas of Shadaloo, a criminal organization led by M. Bison. Their dynamic was compared to that of Beast Man and Skeletor in the He-Man series. Balrog acted as a powerful but somewhat dumb henchman for the much stronger villain.
Balrog ranked 18th in Capcom's own popularity poll of 85 characters for the 15th anniversary of Street Fighter. He also ranked 15th in IGN's list of top Street Fighter characters in 2008. IGN noted his similarities to Tyson as well as his role as one of boxing's representatives in fighting games.