By Lyle Fitzsimmons - I didn’t know exactly what to expect from Mike Tyson.
I was in my teenage years during his wheelhouse time in the heavyweight division, and I’ve heard all the arguments from those in my generation who either rate him very high – or significantly less so – on the list of the division’s all-time greats.
Of course, bundled with his menacing in-ring hit parade on the ESPN, ABC and HBO broadcasts of my youth, I also had a televised front-row seat for the instances where the man-child’s off-hours behavior strayed quite a ways closer to one extreme than the other.
An allegation here, an arrest there, an ear bite here, an “I want to eat his children” interview there; it was all par for the course for “Iron Mike” back then, and I have to admit it left me questioning exactly what direction a solo interaction with him might take.
Would I get remnants of the angry young man from the ’90s, the goofy cameo guy from The Hangover of a few years back or the renaissance raconteur from the last several months whose name has been attached to stage shows, documentaries, and, in his latest incarnation, a promotional company?
Turns out I got a little of all of them. [Click Here To Read More]
I was in my teenage years during his wheelhouse time in the heavyweight division, and I’ve heard all the arguments from those in my generation who either rate him very high – or significantly less so – on the list of the division’s all-time greats.
Of course, bundled with his menacing in-ring hit parade on the ESPN, ABC and HBO broadcasts of my youth, I also had a televised front-row seat for the instances where the man-child’s off-hours behavior strayed quite a ways closer to one extreme than the other.
An allegation here, an arrest there, an ear bite here, an “I want to eat his children” interview there; it was all par for the course for “Iron Mike” back then, and I have to admit it left me questioning exactly what direction a solo interaction with him might take.
Would I get remnants of the angry young man from the ’90s, the goofy cameo guy from The Hangover of a few years back or the renaissance raconteur from the last several months whose name has been attached to stage shows, documentaries, and, in his latest incarnation, a promotional company?
Turns out I got a little of all of them. [Click Here To Read More]
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