11/05/24
June 03, 2005
Tyson: 'My Whole Life Has Been a Waste': You think?
posted by graymatters to boxing at 12:04 PM - 15 comments
Great link. So sad. If Cus D' Amato and Jacobs had not died when they did, he would have had a much better chance to tread the straight and narrow, then our discussion might be whether he was the greatest boxer of all time or just the greatest heavyweight. I wonder if he's bipolar? Thanks graymattters.
posted by vito90 at 12:35 PM on June 03, 2005
"They would give (the late) Jeffrey Dahmer a second chance before they gave me another one. If you saw a (police) lineup and saw Tyson and Dahmer and they asked, 'Who killed and ate those people?' you would pick me and not Jeffrey." Well, I never actually saw Dahmer biting pieces off of anybody... It's hard to feel too bad for a guy who's building a multi-million dollar house, and who brought most of his problems on himself. Granted, he had some help along the way, but he's generally just not a good person.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:54 PM on June 03, 2005
I wonder if there's ever been a manic-depressive athlete who was more public on the downswing than Mike Tyson. Interviewing him in that state seems kind of exploitive, like putting Tom Cruise on Oprah when he was clearly a few thought units short of a MEST.
posted by rcade at 01:28 PM on June 03, 2005
Why do we hear stuff like this from Tyson just before a scheduled fight??.
posted by daddisamm at 01:53 PM on June 03, 2005
he might b retarded, but he ain't stoopid.
posted by garfield at 02:05 PM on June 03, 2005
mike tyson is an ass!! A ear biting ass! A wife beatibg ass! A I want to eat your kids ass!! and ya know what go away ass nobody cares anymore
posted by navy9112000 at 02:08 PM on June 03, 2005
I have argued with many people that Mike Tyson is not a stupid man. He is certainly uneducated and has a questionable command of the language at times, but if you listen carefully there is a clear intelligence there. He is such a complex and tragic character that his story will make a great movie one day (I know there was an HBO movie or something, but a real theatrical movie)
posted by drjimmy11 at 02:32 PM on June 03, 2005
Just make sure they get the tattoo on his face right.
posted by volfire at 03:24 PM on June 03, 2005
He could have been great, another rages to stardom story in boxing but his dark side controlled his life. I like to think he didn't have meaningful role model. Surely, those who control boxing could have done better with Tyson and in the long run did better for themselves. Tyson missed the boat..and that's sad.
posted by King-man at 05:41 PM on June 03, 2005
I'm holding out for the off Broadway musical starring a piecemeal Voltron-esque hybrid of Wayans brothers.
posted by Ufez Jones at 05:42 PM on June 03, 2005
stigmatized, pervasive, iniquity. These are surprising words to hear coming from Tyson.
posted by Ricardo at 10:33 PM on June 03, 2005
I thought the same thing... Either he's listening very closely during his therapy sessions, or he's more intelligent than we give him credit for being...
posted by karlo16 at 02:21 AM on June 04, 2005
I agree with just about everything that's been written above about Tyson. He's a joke, he's part animal, he's dangerous, etc. etc. But when he WAS a contending fighter (and still, to some extent, to this day) he was one of the biggests draws the sport ever had. This is the type of character that sells in boxing, and we, the public, made him into the celebrity he is. People who watch boxing aren't excited that much by the Holyfield's and the Lennox Lewis'. They don't really stir up any emotion in us (dull). I agree with drjimmy; Tyson is not stupid. He's uneducated and crude, but he manages to keep the focus and spotlight on himself. It's basically only in America a guy like Tyson would ever be able to become as big as he once was (is). He was born with nothing and grew up with nothing and, for the most part, nobody. He could box, and that, I'm sure, is the only thing that kept him from practically a complete life spent behind bars. He's made, and also pissed away, a lot of money, but he's been used to the point he's also made many other's rich.
posted by dyams at 06:52 AM on June 04, 2005
Just ask his posse....
posted by volfire at 09:15 AM on June 04, 2005
I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. If you saw a (police) lineup and saw Tyson and Dahmer and they asked, 'Who killed and ate those people?' you would pick me and not Jeffrey. He's still the greatest comedian of our time.