In the HBO special, ?Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth,? Tyson puts on a one-man show that is maddening, marvelous, painful, real, and ultimately redemptive?.
The Undisputed Heavyweight of bad-ass inside the ring and out has lightened up.
Mike Tyson is a happy man, today. Yes, I am talking about the man who had 38 convictions, a father who ran out on him, a mother who was not capable of raising him, a white man named Cus D?Amato who probably saved his life, three children, one daughter who died in a freak accident, filed for bankruptcy, went to jail in 1992 for rape of beauty queen Desiree Washington, was disqualified from a fight with Evander Holyfield for biting off part of Holy?s ear, was knocked out in Japan by a fighter no one had heard of (James ?Buster? Douglas), and relapsed on his rehab in August of 2013.
Mike Tyson has found peace and is genuinely happy.
In the HBO special, ?Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth,? Tyson puts on a one-man show, directed by Spike Lee, that is maddening, marvelous, painful, real, and ultimately redemptive.
Tyson talks about prepping for this show like a seasoned thespian. In reality, his childhood sounds like an Oliver Twist story, not the story of a young man who, at the age of 20 years, 4 months and 22 days, would become the youngest man to hold the lineal heavyweight title before he was old enough to legally drink in some states.
The HBO show opens with Tyson sitting alone on a chair, facing the audience. He starts riffing about his abusive and misspent childhood. Born June 30, 1966, his mother, Lorna Smith, got caught up in the action of the streets, while chasing after his father, who was a pimp. As his Brownsville neighborhood was mixed, Tyson says in a cheeky tone, ?Once those white people moved in, there went the neighborhood.?
He was age ten when he started fighting older kids, joking, ?I was biting back then!?
As all fight fans know, and Tyson is quick to acknowledge, an elderly Italian trainer by the name of Cus D?Amato entered Mike?s life and altered what would have otherwise been a likely early death. One can?t mention Mike?s success without mentioning Cus. In addition to being his mentor, Cus became Mike?s legal guardian, and made good on his promise to make him the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
When it comes to Desiree Washington, Tyson says, ?I did NOT rape her.? That?s all he says, but he even found the positive in serving time for a crime he did not commit. He spoke of how the quiet gave him peace of mind, and he started evaluating his life inside those walls.
And when talking about getting knocked out in the 9th round by Douglas in Tokyo, he went on to say, ?James got knocked out in the 8th round, to a 13-second count, but they overlooked that.? Footage was then shown of those 13 seconds, and sure enough, he was right, or in the proverbial vernacular, ?He was robbed!?
Perhaps the hardest and most emotional moment of the night was when he spoke of his young daughter who was killed, while her photo, larger than life, was projected on a screen behind him. This is not a man who is afraid to let you see him cry.
?Undisputed Truth? is a compelling argument that one should be given a second, third and even fourth chance in life. His gratitude is overwhelming, as his humility and humor.
I?ve always been a fan of the boxer. This show, for the first time since I first saw him decades ago, has made me a fan of the man.
