For Mike Tyson, the idea of having nine lives was never enough.
In nearly six decades on this earth, Tyson has already lived the lives of at least 10 different people. He transitioned so consistently from unknown to legend, pariah to boxing ambassador and youngest heavyweight champion in history to retiring in 2005 under a cloud of shame after nearly a decade of selling in-ring meltdowns on pay-per-views. layer
If you want to talk about highs and lows, the native of the crime-prone and unforgiving Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, has seen and done it all.
Tyson was on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history against James “Buster” Douglas in 1990, just a few years after the death of his mentor/trainer Cass D’Amato and his bitterly public divorce from actress Robin Givens. Attempted suicide in 1988. By 1992, he was convicted of rape and served nearly three years in prison at the age of 25, thus missing the peak of his athletic career after becoming not only the sport’s biggest star. Pop culture in the late 1980s.
That Tyson was released from prison in 1995 and won the heavyweight title should come as no surprise at this point in his tumultuous life journey. Still, what did Tyson do next? Just two years later he left the boxing world in complete shock when, after losing his title to Evander Holyfield, he cut off a piece of his long-time rival’s ear during their rematch and almost put himself out of the sport for good.
Tyson’s post-boxing career has also been nothing short of a soap opera.
There were more brushes with the law, including years of heavy drug use and jail time, and the tragedy of losing her four-year-old daughter in a 2009 treadmill accident. There was also a shocking and meteoric star rebirth, including a rehabilitation of his public image, which began with a comedic performance in the 2009 film “The Hangover” and introduced “Iron Mike” to a new generation. It led to a one-man show on Broadway (including a 2013 special on HBO) that saw Tyson come to terms with his inner demons and make peace with the biggest regret of his life.
So, should it come as a surprise to anyone that this Friday, at age 58, Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) will return to the sport that gave him his name and rescued him from a life of poverty and countless arrests. When he is before the age of 18 years Box is 27-year-old YouTube star and professional fighter Jake Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas?
As absurd as this idea is, the answer is no.
Tyson, who returned to Outbox Roy Jones Jr. in 2020 in an eight-round exhibition match that drew monster numbers on PPV, was originally scheduled to fight Paul — eight, two-minute rounds and modified rules of 14-ounce gloves. — until a cross-country flight to Los Angeles on July 20 led to Tyson throwing up blood and a medical emergency. Up to a bleeding ulcer.
This development does not necessarily lend credence to the idea that Tyson should be doing this at his advanced age or that the Texas State Athletic Commission would have nothing to do with sanctioning it. But the more one listens to Tyson before this fight and begins to understand that he has come to this point of relative peace in his life after decades of chaos and turmoil, the more one realizes that Tyson will not. Interested in such a challenge if not for the same level of terrifying risk.
Look no further than the few candid moments Tyson provided the Netflix cameras for a pre-fight documentary series titled “Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson,” which delved into the mind of the power-punching assailant with the iconic tattoo on his left arm. the eyes
“I want to achieve so much, I’d rather die a short life of glory than a long obscure life,” Tyson said. He later, while referring to the mid-health setbacks that caused him to delay the Paul fight, lamented how much he dreaded dying on a plane and how much he would have preferred to die inside a boxing ring.
Make no mistake, any time a warrior openly talks about the romantic notion of dying in battle and going out like a warrior is nothing short of alarming, especially considering how many Ring deaths actually occur in this game. Add in the fact that Tyson is now days away from taking a punch from a man 31 years his junior and his words make what he’s trying to convey even more depressing resonance.
But while Tyson is unlike almost every other 58-year-old you’ve met (complete with training camp videos that show how terrifyingly explosive he still looks), he’s also at a point of self-reflective glee in his life where an argument could be made that He accepts this fight — in a long line of ill-advised former champions returning for yet another payday — may have nothing to do with the money.
For the record, there will be a lot of money at stake for both, with most whispers before the fight being about $40 million for Paul (based on comments made at their August press conference) and $20 million for Tyson (which number was his friend, and former UFC champion, Henry Cejudo recently shared on his podcast)
Tyson, who currently has several successful business ventures, including a marijuana empire near his home in Las Vegas, is open about money. During an interview this week with SPORTbible.
“This fight is not going to change my life financially,” said Tyson, a father of seven who has been married to his third wife, the former Lakiha “Kiki” Spicer, since 2009. “If I did it for free, it’s not going to change my life. My wife keeps telling me, ‘You don’t need to fight this.’
“That’s what I want to do; that’s who I am. I’m looking for my glory.”
There would probably be more buzz surrounding Tyson boxing at his age if it weren’t for how good he looked against Jones four years ago and if it weren’t for how many viewers legitimately believe, or even expect to tune into, his words. age, that he could rely on his experience and strength to knock Paul out.
In fact, it’s almost crazy to understand Bet line Put Tyson as only a slight underdog in this fight at +170 to -210 Paul, as Tyson’s opponents have feasted on new and aging opponents (from retired MMA stars to NBA players and fellow YouTubers) while relying on size advantages. In fact, in the lone time Paul squared off with someone of his size and similar level of ability and experience, he suffered his lone loss by split decision to Tommy Fury, the reality TV star and half-brother of the former heavyweight champion, in 2023. Tyson Fury (named after “The Baddest Man on the Planet”).
When Tyson says it’s not about the money, it’s not hard to believe him considering how much guilt and regret he’s lived with all these years after a meteoric and historically spectacular start that sabotaged much of his professional career (which was still considerable). He was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011).
In 1988, when Tyson knocked out undefeated, lineal heavyweight king Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds to become the undisputed champion, it wasn’t so much opinion as an inescapable fact that Tyson might one day retire undefeated as the greatest heavyweight ever. In boxing history. Yes, Tyson fought with a handful of quality wins on his resume both before the Douglas upset and after returning from prison, but he never came close to living up to the expectations of who he was in the Spinks fight, which was 35-0 with Tyson still only 21 at the time of that breakthrough performance. Just remembering that he was a year old makes me sad.
Tyson may have regretted for years what might have been in his boxing career, but there’s something oddly romantic about the idea of him returning after so many years to right the wrongs he left earlier when, in his final sanctioned fight in 2005, Tyson refused to get off the canvas and was counted out while sitting on his bottom in a humiliating sixth-round TKO loss to journeyman Kevin McBride.
Yes, the comeback fight against Jones exorcised those demons well, although the fight was officially an exhibition, featuring far more body shots than head punches and ending in a split-draw that didn’t reflect the dominance Tyson had shown throughout. .
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For Tyson to truly be at peace in boxing and, despite decades of saying he would never return to the ring (or take on that dreaded “Iron Mike” persona once more), it would almost certainly have to come in a setting, with extreme peril, where Tyson the underdog, once For, and not overwhelming choice acts only without defeating oneself.
In fact, should Tyson do the unthinkable and knock out Paul, forget about breaking the Internet, it would be a result — similar to Michael Moore’s stunning knockout of George Foreman at the age of 45 in 1994 to claim the heavyweight title — that would elevate Tyson to a more beloved hero. Level up and light years away from the dark shadow of the demon that haunted him for most of his career and his Haunted for most of his post-boxing life.
Yes, there are so many ways this fight could have ended badly for Tyson and for all of us who can’t help but think about the ultimate “car wreck you can’t look away from” on Friday, in many ways, such an unhappy ending is ally. become
But if you’ve closely followed Tyson’s life and career in the public eye over the past four decades, it’s almost a wonder something like this didn’t happen sooner.
The only thing Tyson doesn’t really know is how to live the different lives he’s lived to the fullest. Win, lose, draw or potentially disastrous results notwithstanding, it’s what keeps Tyson alive, fulfilled and, perhaps for the first sustained period of his adult life, happy.
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