If you were there in the 80's when it was all happening, Mike Tyson wasn't just an amazing boxer, he was a cultural event. He was like a machine that ran through champions the way a professional fighter would go through "challengers" at your local bar at closing time on a Friday night.
Most of the time, they weren't even fights by what we had come to know from boxing's championship bouts. They were just brutal assaults that were considered "long" if they made it to the third round. The style and impact of the punches he landed, were only seen previously in "Rocky" movies, except no one was taking those kinds of blows for 12 rounds in real life, and then giving a dopey speech about unity in the end.
James Toback's documentary "Tyson" allows the story to told by the one person who can tell it better than anyone else, Mike Tyson himself.
I remember seeing a piece done on Leon Spinks who once made history by beating Muhammad Ali in a decision and becoming the fastest man to ever become World Champion, by winning the title by his eight professional fight.
At the point the piece was done, Spinks was getting up at 5am in the morning to be at "Labor Force" by 6am, so he could get some sort of paying job for the day.
Spinks explained how he felt it was all too much, too fast, and that the boxing world more or less ate him up and spit him out.
Tyson's story is similar in a lot of ways, but Tyson, in my opinion, brings a "rock & roll" aspect to boxing that no one before him ever did.
If you think about it really, Tyson's skill in the late 80's, is only part of his fame. The other part is the over the top insanity that we came to know from Tyson towards the downfall portion of his career.
A downfall that began with a loss to James "Buster" Douglas in 1990.
I will NEVER forget that night. It was just one of the moments that stay with you forever.
Think I'm lying?
Fine...
That night, me and my friend Rob M. went over to Mike G's house to pick him up to go to a party at the house of this guy Mike R.
Now, Mike R. always had parties, because his parents always seemed to be gone. He was awesome in a strange way...not because of his parties, but because he ALWAYS had an unbreakable comb in the back pocket of his jeans, IN WHICH, his button down shirt was ALWAYS tucked into. AND, he once entered a room in which a party was already going on, extended his arms outward like Christ to his Apostles, and said "THE PARTY IS HERE!", to deafening silence.
You see, he really felt he WAS the party.
I think he was the only one who saw things that way.
But I applaud his bravado, and I remember him until this day for that, whereas most others are forgettable.
ANYWAY, so we went to Mike G's to pick him up, but the Tyson vs. Douglas fight was just starting, SO, we decided to watch, assuming it couldn't possibly take long. I mean, none of us had ever heard of Buster Douglas, and we "just wanted to see how badly Tyson was going to beat him down". Needless to say, we got to "The Party's" house WAY later than we thought, and were the bearers of the news that Mike Tyson had just been knocked out by a guy we never heard of. We were looked at, as if we just told them we saw The Pope picking up a she-male prostitute in the Arby's parking lot.
That's how badass Tyson was...NO ONE believed he could lose.
Later in the night, as I'm sure Warrant or something was playing, Mike G. introduced us to his cassette of "Pretty Hate Machine" from Nine Inch Nails....SWEARING it would be "the next big thing".
Silly bastard...what did he know anyway?
I mean....
wait....
um, nevermind.
My point is, I just told you what me, and the people around me were thinking on that night, but in "Tyson", you get to hear what the man himself was thinking, and what happened afterward. Sure, it doesn't contain anything about unbreakable combs, "The Party" arriving, or the impending death of hair bands....but it's technically more important than all of that.
I mean, not to me...but to others, you know?
What I found most interesting about "Tyson", is the journey of a man's life. A man who was once on top of the World, that now seems to acknowledge where he is, and has come to terms with his own story. It's a story you've heard about other fallen stars, but for me, Tyson was more than that. If you were there during his rise, you certainly were there watching his trainwreck of a fall....and for the first time, you get to hear what it was like from his personal perspective....behind the scenes of all the madness.
And yes, there are plenty of "Tyson-isms" throughout...you know, those moments where Tyson mis-speaks and uses a word that kinda throws a monkey wrench into what he's trying to convey?
For instance...he tells a story of the first time he allowed himself to have sex after his rise to the Championship. He ends up at a party, and follows a model into a bathroom, where he says he "performed fellatio on her".
Now...you can tell him what that means, because I'm not going to.
During the same story, he explains how he loves talking to women...how he loves to have a "monologue" with them. I often prefer to just have a monologue with "certain" women too. But I DO love me the intelligent ones. There is NOTHING hotter than a good looking, smart woman, right?
But enough of all that. If you have any interest in Mike Tyson...you MUST see this film. It's the best recounting of his story that you'll ever hear, and it was great to look back on that great time in boxing, AND what will most likely be the LAST great hero in boxing.
The Art Of Skullduggery.
You'll understand after you watch the film.
The Trailer
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