End of the road for Mike Tyson?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Here. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/more/06/07/bc.box.timdahlberg.ap/index.html

Normally, I wouldn’t bother starting a discussion about this. We all know the drill: Great once, made a bunch of horrible decisions, lost his skills, too old, only still in it because of debt, etc. Been there, done that, bought the CD.

Let’s be clear about one thing: He is in serious trouble. His debt (which reportedly increased after his loss to Danny Williams) is around $40 million. At 38 years of age, he’s rapidly running out of time. If he doesn’t strike it rich, and fast, he’ll almost certainly be impoverished for life.

But here’s the kicker. He still thinks he can win the championship. He thinks he can reclaim the glory, pay his debts, and walk away with his head held high. And there are people who believe he can do it and are willing to pay to see him try.

So, how close is he going to get? Is his upcoming fight, whoever it’s against, his last stand?

Some tentative predictions:
He’s knocked out in the early rounds - Stick a fork in him. Two clobberings in as many fights (and this after a one-sided drubbing from Lennox Lewis) would utterly kill what little drawing power he has left, assuming that his morale could survive such humiliation.

He’s knocked out late or loses an easy decision - A few sparks left, maybe one more token fight against some palooka, but the dream is still effectively over.

He loses a controversial decision or draws - He might get a rematch or a fight against an equal opponent, with similar results. Will help his debt situation, but only marginally.

He wins - He moves on to a real contender (who’ll demolish him) or continues feeding on beatable opponents and small paychecks. Either way, it’s just delaying the inevitable.

Just can’t see a happy ending here. I’d say the second scenario is the most likely. (He actually got a little unlucky against Williams, but there was still no chance of him winning after the first round.)

#2

I don’t follow the fights at all, but I saw the first 10-15 minutes of Fox Sports Net’s Beyond the Glory about Tyson. I couldn’t watch beyond that because it was too damn depressing. My prediction is that he’ll kill himself or someone else (or both) within the next couple of years.

#3

Impoverished? Isn’t bankruptcy an option? He won’t be rich again, but he could make enough to live on as a bouncer or something. Sheesh.

#4

How much do those casino greeters make? I’d bet Tyson could have casinos fighting over him, he’s pretty much the most famous American boxer of the last decades.

#5

He should win the fight. He’s currently about a 6-1 favorite. (You can lay 7-1 or get about 5-1 on his opponent.)

Tyson is a great example of why boxing was once so popular, and probably can be again. Nothing and nobody can attract attention and money like a great, charismatic heavyweight.

If anyone had come along in the past 15 years with half the charisma (or talent) Tyson has (had), Tyson would be more forgotten. . .wouldn’t be attracting this kind of attention.

I still like following him. I’m completely entertained by his personality. Like that SI guy, writers just rip him down and rip him down. I wonder if they really think people are going to go, “yeah, why am I following this buffoon.” Personally, the more I see these egg heads try to bring him down, the more I’m in his corner.

#6

If you had a casino, would you want Tyson as a greeter!? What would the insurance be on that?

visitor: “Wow. Las Vegas! Isn’t that… Mike Tyson?”
Tyson: “It’s a good thing I’m on these drugs–it’s the only thing keeping me from killing you!” or “I want eat your children!” or “I want to smash your testicles!”

I am pretty sure Tyson is not going to get any fluff celebrity job that requires him to be nice to a bunch of people.

As for the OP. Tyson needs to be out of boxing. He has nothing left and can’t even beat the strawmen they are giving him to build his rep back. He lost his conditioning in prison and never got it back. Now he has also lost his punch.

#7

I completely agree. He’s easily the most charismatic athlete in the last 25 years. One of the things that bothers me most about the people trying to bring him down is that they don’t acknowledge how self-aware and intelligent the guy is.

#8

Surely there’s a reality show somewhere that could use him. That ought to be worth a few bucks.

#9

He is self-aware and intelligent. At times he is also violent and vulgar. That contrast is a why he is so interesting.

And he’s not just interesting when measured against jock-brained dullards like Cal Ripken, Joe Montana and Alex Rodriguez.

#10

Charles Barkley is the most charismatic athlete of the last 25 years.

And I’d say that Tyson is second behind Foreman in the boxing/charisma competition.

#11

Tyson may be “broke” but he’s not suffering. He’s out there living the good life and buying houses, so don’t cry for him. He’ll never end up like most other boxers who are legitimately broke, living in hovels barely able to afford food. Tyson will always have a ready supply of money, whether or not he is technically financially solvent or not.

For an example, look at how well the Tyson PPV this weekend will do. While I hope it tanks, I’ll bet it makes a pretty decent profit. That’s because there will always be a certain person who is a Tyson fan, as opposed to a boxing fan. Generally, it’s an ignorant ghetto male (or ghetto-wannabe) who likes Tyson because he’s “keeping it real” and will claim that Tyson has been the victim every time he’s gotten in trouble, from his fight with Mitch Green to his rape conviction to biting Holyfield’s ear. Tyson attracts this sort of ignorant soul and they’ll always part with their money to partake in the Tyson myth. Whatever. Real boxing fans aren’t paying any attention to Tyson’s antics anymore.

#12

You’re ignorant, but you do it with an air of authority.

#13

Good analysis of my comments. I’ll fade into bolivian now. . .

The truth is that few real boxing fans have any use for Tyson. He’s a top-30 fighter at best. His skills barely qualify him for a place on the undercard of ESPN2’s Tuesday Night Fights. And yet, he’s fighting on PPV. Why? It has nothing to do with his boxing skill. It has everything to do with his persona, which is essentially Thug Life.

You can say that he’s intelligent all you want, but that’s contradicted by pretty much every interview he’s ever given.

It’s hard to justify being a Tyson fan. His boxing skills are mediocre, his life has been one example after another of poor choices and evading responsibility, and his public persona appeals to the worst in people.

#14

No it’s not. It’s not at all. Most of the time Tyson is more astute in his interviews than the people interviewing him. Like I said, he’s often vulgar and violent, but that doesn’t make him stupid.

You think he’s ignorant because he said wanted to crush testicles and eat children? People are still repeating it to this day because it’s funny and because Tyson created a larger than life character who knew better than HBO, Don King or Bob Arum how to sell a fight. AND, he knows it. That’s the part that people don’t get.

And, the rape case was just like he said, “if I bought her breakfast, none of this would have happened.”

You go on about how real fans don’t care about this fight.

Well, why’s it the top boxing story at USA Today?

Why’s it the top upcoming fight analyzed at “BoxingInsider.com”

Why’s it at the top of “ringsports.com”?

Fight fans and fight writers care about the fight because they care about Tyson because he’s interesting and he used to be great. They were covering Ali when he was getting his clocked cleaned at the end of his career too, and it wasn’t because they were all “ghetto” and thought he was “keeping it real”.

Maybe you could also provide a link showing us these houses Tyson has been buying, too?

#15

That … that’s ludicrithp!

Count me in with the “dead or imprisoned in five years, tops” crew.

#16

Did I say I think he’s ignorant for that? I think he’s ignorant based on the numerous interviews I’ve read in Ring magazine, KO, and other boxing publications, as well as newspaper interviews. I also think he’s ignorant based on the numerous interviews I’ve seen with him on TV. It has nothing to do with a stray comment.

He may also have wanted to refrain from forcibly having sex against Desiree Washington’s consent.

I’m sorry, is USA Today a boxing newspaper? Didn’t they get rid of Dan Rafael last year? USA Today does not cater to the boxing fan anymore.

I went to those sites, as well as ESPN boxing, Maxboxing, Fightnews, and others, and most of the discussions on these sites have to do with the Kostya Tszyu-Ricky Hatton fight than with Tyson-McBride. And, sure, there is some discussion of Tyson, but the next big fight is Gatti-Mayweather on June 25. They don’t have a lot of upcoming bouts to analyze.

Did you watch ESPN2’s fights last night? How much time did they give to the Tyson freak show? About two minutes. No boxing fan really cares about this fight.

Mike Tyson is interesting like Paris Hilton is interesting. People watch them because they want to know what stupid thing they will do next. Neither have any marketable skills. Instead, they simply rely on their media-created image to attract fans. I’ll give them credit, though, they sure are able to fool a lot of people.

Tyson’s fans flock to his ghetto persona. That’s all he really has now to keep bringing them in. Ali, on the other hand, accomplished much more than Tyson did during his career and made a much larger social impact. Sure, people zealously clung to Ali when he was way past his prime. However, Ali did much more to merit that loyalty than Tyson has ever done.

“Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson may have filed for bankruptcy in 2003, but he managed to scrape up enough cash to buy a $2.1 million Paradise Valley home.”

http://www.azcentral.com/business/columns/articles/0524buzz-bizbuzz24.html

#17

I see Tyson getting pummeled in this fight, and eventually ending up as a bill collector, or an an enforcer for a drug ring, or some other thug job.

#18

“My pleasure.”

#19

Well, one of my friends actually knows Mike Tyson. He has hung out with him and had dinner with him, and says he’s actually an intelligent, and respectful guy. It’s clear that he is not always like that, but he is not an ignorant or stupid thug.

However, I’m sure you’ll need more than just my word (link). He’s what promoter Dan Goossen had to say about him:

Or how about the opinion of Bert Sugar, who stated the following:

Mike Tyson is not an idiot. These people have actually met him.

Have you looked at the evidence? Most of it leads me, and many others (including Alan Dershowitz) to believe he did not rape her. In fact, Dershowitz said it was one of the most unfair trials he’d even seen. In all likelihood, Mike Tyson didn’t rape that woman.

Hey genius, do you know what “marketable” means? While you may think Mike Tyson is not a real boxer anymore, the fact is that he is still ranked 14th in the world (13th by the WBC). He may be a shell of his former self, but if you are in the top 15 in the world at what you do, you are very skilled.

OK, so he’s not Ali. I don’t know where you get this whole ghetto persona thing from. Not only is it insulting and ignorant, but it’s not true. There is no connection between the “ghetto” and the behavior Tyson exhibits that you find objectionable.

#20

Wow, I don’t want to jump on the wrong wagon here but I’ll respectfully tell you that I think you’re wrong. His whole life has been about bringing the fans in to see him fight. He’s lasted ~20 years in the pros doing it. It’s a game that he’s learned from his trainers and promoters since he was a kid. You have to be at least a bit smart to stay in the game the way he has…especially with his screwups.

I won’t say he has/had tremendous boxing skill but he’s shown that he’s a HELL of a fighter in the past.

I’ll admit it though, I’ll watch the fight just in the hope that I’ll see a bit of that old school fight again. I know it won’t happen but you have to admit…Tyson in his youth was about as exciting a boxer as you’ve ever seen.

I realize that I’m one of the idiots are just trying to relive the glory that probably won’t happen again…but damn, we don’t have a Rocky Marciano or Cassius Clay around anymore! :wink:
dangit!