One of the most prolific heavyweight boxers in history, the legendary “Iron” Mike Tyson, is again climbing into the ring and I simply ask, “Why?”
What purpose does a fight against another unknown opponent offer to either the fans or Tyson himself? The simple answer is, money for a broken man.
Tyson, who will turn 39 later this year, has had one of the most bizarre and unfortunate lives in the history of sports.
He has been exploited by many former close associates and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2003. In a recent interview, Tyson claimed to still be in debt to the tune of $38 million.
To say that the former world heavyweight champ has been embroiled in controversy throughout his career would be the understatement of the century.
His rap sheet alone is as robust as one of his pulverizing haymakers. It includes his high-profile 1992 rape conviction that put him in prison for just over three years and more recently, in 1999, he served another year for a no contest plea on assault charges following a car accident.
Countless lawsuits and his knack for always saying the most outrageous and offensive thing possible have made Tyson a media spectacle and the butt of many jokes for decades. But perhaps he has finally turned a new leaf.
At last Wednesday’s press conference to announce his upcoming June bout against the 6-foot-6 Kevin McBride, things were a little out of the ordinary for Tyson.
He still received as much press coverage as usual as the media hoped for yet another one of his predictable meltdowns. But Tyson, still sporting his tribal facial tattoo, switched it up and played it cool.
This was very atypical of Tyson, considering such past episodes as the 2002 press conference with Lennox Lewis.
This event ended with an all-out onstage melee and Tyson actually biting Lewis’s leg in the scuffle. Rather than such a scene, Tyson appeared with his three young children and showed off a tamer, more rational side.
“I feel like Mr. Mom,” Tyson joked after nestling his infant son to sleep.
Instead of trying to punch out his opponent before even making it to fight night, Tyson was relatively composed as he answered questions and posed with his challenger for photos. Tyson even shook McBride’s hand and patted him on the back in sportsmanlike fashion.
For Tyson’s sake, I hope his new gentler bark before the bout doesn’t translate into a toned down bite in the ring. And I’m not referring to his 1997 chomp on Evander Holyfield’s ear.
Some of his past tirades include threats of eating one opponent’s children and bathing in the blood of another’s.
This time, Tyson more maturely told boxing fans to be prepared for the fight, saying, “It’s going to be a train wreck.”
If he somehow manages to lose this fight to Kevin “the unknown Irish pride” McBride, no doubt what has been a destructive life will become a softly spoken word. A decisive victory would show that Tyson still has the stuff that proves him as one of the greatest boxers of all time.
With two losses in his last three fights though, Tyson has greatly damaged his overall boxing mystique.
And his matches have been against people like Danny Williams, a no-name fighter that to this day is unfamiliar to even hardcore boxing fans. But again, the shocking thing was that Tyson lost to him.
Tyson hadn’t received such an unexpected shellacking like that since his mind-boggling loss to James “Buster” Douglas in 1990. That, or my days lighting him up with Little Mac on the original Nintendo.
I think Tyson has finally shown some traits of growing up and becoming an adult. Asked how much longer he would fight, Tyson thoughtfully remarked, “Long enough to take care of my children – a long time.”
I wish he would simply retire and safeguard the image of his greatness in the ring, but if he must force himself to continue, at least it is for the right reasons. And if not fated to go out on top, Tyson at least deserves not to disappear into oblivion at the hands of another novice, one who would have had no chance against him not so long ago.
