Mike Tyson on his one-man Vegas act: Raw, revealing
LAS VEGAS – The ex-fighter with the famously tattooed face, battered reputation and tortured self-esteem approaches the proscenium of the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater. In the darkened showroom, Mike Tyson shifts uncomfortably on a stage, a lonely figure in blinding light.
Mike Tyson says he has 'come full circle,' after a prison term on a rape conviction, three stints in rehab, two failed marriages and the death of a child.
By Ronda Churchill, for USA TODAY
Mike Tyson says he has 'come full circle,' after a prison term on a rape conviction, three stints in rehab, two failed marriages and the death of a child.
Enlarge
By Ronda Churchill, for USA TODAY
Mike Tyson says he has 'come full circle,' after a prison term on a rape conviction, three stints in rehab, two failed marriages and the death of a child.
Ads by Google
Perfect Getaway Savings.A luxury getaway and great savings.
What could be more perfect?LongboatKeyClub.com
Buy Plastic Plant PotsQuality Organic Seed & Supplies
Get Organic Gardening Products Herewww.dirtworks.net
The Study of KnowledgeScientology is knowing yourself &
the world. It's understanding life.Scientology.org/What_Is_Scientology
Cus D'Amato, Tyson's quirky boxing sage, prepared his rage-filled enfant terrible in the 1980s for potentially wilting public moments like this. Now 45, the mercurial former heavyweight champion realizes that a newly domesticated life and debut of his one-man act next month —Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Live on Stage— might be his last chance to get it right.
Looking decidedly un-Tysonesque with left hand elegantly tucked in coat pocket, the vanquished "Baddest Man on the Planet'' has stashed his perceived aura of menace for an air of dashing sophistication. Tyson is undeniably dapper in an ivory jacket, white polka-dot shirt and polished loafers. His shaved skull is powdered. A gold wedding band glints in the spotlight.
PHOTOS: Mike Tyson's life in pictures
MORE: Sampler of Tyson's chat with USA TODAY
STORY: Kiki Tyson on her husband Mike
On cue, Tyson unnaturally projects his voice, instantly distinguishable by that soft, incongruous lisp.
"I know what you are probably thinking,'' he says during rehearsal for the April 13-18 show. "What the hell is he going to do? To be honest, I wonder, too.
"Life is great. I can't complain. I have come full circle. As you may remember, I am the guy who used to knock out (expletive) in 30 seconds. I want to tell my story so you can get a better understanding of me.''
Tyson is enjoying a renaissance period with the public's enduring fascination, one launched after his surprisingly successful cameo in The Hangover three years ago. He played himself (and, yes, he really did own white Bengal tigers). Tyson, however, seems possessed by a lurking dread that any rejuvenated popularity might trigger another precipitous downfall.
"The brighter my light,'' he tells USA TODAY, "the darker my shadow.''
After decades of decadence, three marriages and bouts with alcohol and illegal drugs that landed him in rehab three times, Tyson still has demons to slay. He looks better — down 130 pounds to 235 — and often is the engaging, lighthearted child-like figure of yesteryear. At other moments, he seems weary and wary, occasionally sounding like the saddest man on earth.
At times like those, he says he plays devil's advocate with himself as the small voice of big insecurities whispers: "These people don't know you. You need to be beaten in a dungeon. You need to be in a prison in a little (expletive) cell. You think you have me fooled but you don't. I know what you are waiting for. That's why you're not going out or partyin.' You're waitin' to get powerful so you can be an animal again.''
His latest challenge is about personal redemption — and enrichment after years of reckless living triggered a massive financial hangover. The latest attempt at re-branding Tyson's image is more pragmatic than artistic. In recent years, his income mostly has been limited to autograph shows and one-off appearances.
A surprising 'Hangover'
The father of six, Tyson — who grossed more than $300 million from 1985-2005 — had only $7,000 in his bank account in 2007, says wife, Kiki, 35. The daughter of a Muslim cleric from Philadelphia, they met Tyson when she was 18. They dated on and off until reuniting in '07. Because they were both on probation — Tyson for a cocaine-related incident and Kiki for a federal embezzlement conviction — they were not permitted to live together.
In 2008, Kiki served a six-month sentence while pregnant with the couple's first child.
Tyson in the ring
Born: June 30, 1966, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Career record: 50-6 (44 knockouts). He retired after failing to answer the sixth-round bell vs. Kevin McBride in Washington, D.C., in June 2005.
Nov. 22, 1986: Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion when he knocked out Trevor Berbick on Nov. 22, 1986 in the second round: 20 years, four months and 22 daysold. He won his first 19 fights by knockout.
Feb. 11, 1990: Five of Tyson’s six losses were by knockouts, including his first, a stunning 10th-round KO in February 1990 to at the fists of James “Buster” Douglas in Tokyo. Tyson was a 42-1 favorite going into the fight.
June 28, 1997: Earned his biggest purse — $30 million — Tyson earned more than $300 million during his boxing career, yet declared bankruptcy in 2003. His biggest purse: $30 million for his second fight with Evander Holyfield June 28, 1997. Tyson earned more than $300 million during his boxing career, yet declared bankruptcy in 2003.
Titles: He won the WBC belt in 1986, and added the WBA and IBF titles in 1987. He successfully defended all three titles six times before losing to Douglas in 1990. After he got out of prison, he regained the WBC title from Frank Bruno on March 16, 1996, won the WBA title from Bruce Seldon in September 1996 then lost it in his first fight with Holyfield on Nov. 9, 1996. It was his last title held.
USA TODAY research
The Tysons married in 2009 after he filmed The Hangover. A quick study in the ring during his halcyon days, Tyson told reporters after the film won a Golden Globe that "it feels as if I won the heavyweight championship of the world again.'' He says he was shocked by the favorable reaction.
"I was still withdrawing (from cocaine) a little bit,'' he says. "As soon as I finished the film and got paid, I told my agent, 'This movie is gonna stink!' Then I come out of a restaurant and a bunch of kids are (asking me) for an autograph. This was during a really down period of my life — fans were scared to shoot me (for a photograph) from three blocks away let alone get up close and personal.''
His peers are not so reticent.
"I have seen celebrities get stupid when they are around Mike,'' Kiki says.
A quarter of a century past his primordial prime, the Hall of Fame boxer sports a paunch as he hopes to deliver a new entertainment punch in the hotel-casino's intimate 740-seat theater. The ambitious goal: Take his new show-biz act worldwide.
Tyson vows the 80-minute show will be raw, revealing and poignant. He will appear in the same Vegas showroom that currently features magician David Copperfield. Tyson must conjure up his own illusion of sorts, convincing the public to pay $100 a ticket to gaze at what largely has been a disappearing act for years.
The collaborative effort between Kiki and Hollywood playwright-director Randy Johnson is an experiment to see if her husband can develop sustained performing chops. His recent video spoof of former Presidential candidate Herman Cain generated more than a million hits on FunnyOrDie.com.
Working a live audience will be a quantum leap for Tyson, who has appeared on stage throughout Europe and Asia for limited meet-and-greet appearances. On a recent afternoon, he stood inside the Hollywood Theater wearing a "My Style is Impetuous'' T-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes and glasses. Gray stubble flecked his scarred face.
Tyson worked on his stage presence, timing and inflection, at times struggling. Missing was his wingman, the piano player, plus other enhancements, including music and video.
USA TODAY Sports on Twitter!
To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports.
"This is a total reinvention of Mike Tyson — he is a born entertainer,'' says Johnson, who has created, produced or written shows involving subjects from Elvis and Janis Joplin to Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 appearance in New York. "You cannot have gone through what he has been through and not emerged with a sense of humor and humanity. I don't think the public 'gets' Mike Tyson. At the end of each evening, they will know the (real) Mike Tyson. He is pure theater.''
Johnson predicts Tyson's act eventually will tour the world: "I am hoping to have a run on Broadway and the West End of London. I think we can play every legitimate theater in the world.''
'Be cool at all times'
If any former athlete could withstand the rigors and pressures of a solitary act, it might be Tyson.
As a 13-year-old juvenile delinquent, Tyson was shipped to a home for incorrigible youth in upstate New York. D'Amato, the stern, paranoid-driven trainer-manager, programmed him into a robotic, irresistible force. Until, that is, Buster Douglas dispatched the ring tyrant with a shocking 10th-round knockout in 1990 in Tokyo. D'Amato died before Tyson became champion.
"Cus believed nothing could faze your emotions … you're to be cool at all times,'' Tyson says. "That is what his definition of a true professional was. He said discipline was doing something you hate to do, but doing it like you love it.''
Tyson appears to have an affinity for entertaining America, even if he sometimes leaves us cringing.
Sensing his seemingly indestructible shelf life after The Hangover— a role he says he did to supply an illegal drug habit — Tyson borrowed a concept after attending Chazz Palminteri's stage version of A Bronx Tale at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in 2010. The veteran actor regaled audiences with stories of a thorny childhood in New York and the unforgettable characters he encountered.
"It was inspiring,'' Tyson says. "I thought, 'I could do that.' ''
To ease opening-night jitters, Tyson plans to be himself: amusing, vulgar, in-your-face honest. He will salute, and skewer, people who have impacted his turbulent life the most. Among them:
•His mother, Southern-born Lorna Mae Tyson, and Curly Kirkpatrick, a small-time New York pimp-gambler who Lorna Mae told her son was his biological father. At 38, Tyson discovered, to his dismay, that his birth certificate listed Jamaican-born Purcell Tyson.
"I desperately wanted to be the son of a pimp because that was a big status (symbol) in my neighborhood,'' Tyson says. "Curly was a fast-talkin' and cool-dressin' (dude) who changed the path of my mother's life. Before long, she was caught up in the street life. She drank to kill the pain. My mother was an addict; that's why I have this addictive personality. When I drank, I drank like she did. I got caught in the gunfire . . . collateral damage.''
•Actress Robin Givens is another target. Their stormy, tabloid-sensation marriage ended in 1989 after one year but Tyson reveals the breakup did not end the relationship. He says the couple remained sexually intimate — until he bumped into Givens and a fledgling actor named Brad Pitt emerging from a car at her Los Angeles apartment.
In his script, Tyson jabs his ex-wife: "After she hears about this show, she is going to use it as a way to re-launch her career — the same way she has unsuccessfully done for the past 20 years.''
•In private, Tyson saves his best haymaker for Don King, his former promoter.
The two had a tempestuous business partnership that ended bitterly when Tyson sued the former Cleveland numbers racketeer for $100 million in 2003. Tyson claimed King swindled him after he emerged from prison in 1995 following a rape conviction for which he served three years. Tyson maintains his innocence.
They settled out of court for millions in 2004 when Tyson was $38 million in debt, including $18 million owed the IRS. He is fulfilling his tax obligation, Kiki says.
"Everyone was scared of Don — (including former champions) Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali,'' Tyson says. "I said to (King), 'What? They're scared of you?' I used to whack him — pow! When I look at him now, he looks like a pathetic old man . . . nothing but creepy. He reminds me of someone that the devil is finished with.''
'I am a sick guy'
With that summation, Tyson pauses and wags his head in exaggerated mock-shame.
"Man, my life is sick,'' he says with a laugh. "I am a sick guy.''
Indeed. A few years ago, Tyson left an awards ceremony in a drug-and-booze haze when police in Los Angeles stopped his vehicle, he says.
"I'm doing so much coke and alcohol and they saw I was drivin' crazy,'' he recalls. "They tell me to pull over on the sidewalk. I am so high that I drive on the sidewalk — boom. The cops see it is Mike Tyson; they think it's awesome. I have the audacity to say, 'I'm going to a dope house, do you know where this address is'?
"Next thing I know, they are (leading) me to the party. When we got there, the cops tell my friends, 'Make sure Mr. Tyson gets home OK.' ''
Tyson howls at the thought then quickly turns somber.
"I don't know if I'm afraid to (die alone) — or I am just afraid of not getting it right,'' he says. "I wanted to be that slick hustler in life. Then I wanted to be an entertaining guy. Now I want to be a respectable husband and try to be a decent father. I have a lot a lot of making up to do.''
He recently spoke to a mesmerized Nevada-Las Vegas men's basketball squad after practice. Tyson's message was inspirational, stressing dedication, discipline and "respect for each other.'' He choked up several times, saying, "I really had to learn in life.''
"I realized that if you are not humble in this world, this world will thrust humbleness upon you,'' he told the team.
Tyson's once-scandalous life seems tinged with regret but his self-awareness is palpable as he attempts to achieve a measure of equilibrium with a more frugal, sedate family lifestyle. The Tysons live with 3-year-old daughter, Milan, and 14-month-old son, Morocco, in an exclusive gated community 20 minutes outside the gambling mecca.
Tyson does not take such parental gifts for granted. Three years ago, 4-year-old daughter Exodus died from a treadmill accident.
"I'm really grateful for where I am in my life right now,'' he says. "I don't know if it's Cus D'Amato in me (but) I just always want more. I want more. Success and I have such a complex relationship.''
that he has vowed to “never box him now.”