The Demise of a Legend: Tyson

I am sitting here with my heart snuggled up somewhere in my throat. I had to pause what now may be one of my favorite boxing documentaries: Tyson.

First of all, I have to say that my love for boxing came from this man. I marveled for some strange reason at him when I was younger. He looked like he had the power of Superman. Like he was out of this world. I sometimes wondered what a punch coming from that man felt like. Yes, there have been better boxers. I really don't care, my interest in learning a little bit more about the sport came from watching this small man destroy men after men.

And then, destroying himself in the process.

Tyson is a great documentary because it takes you really deep inside the craziest and angriest man you will ever know. He's bitter. He's sad. He's furious. The reasons are many to list. By watching you go... yeah, I can relate, I understand.

Trust me, this man has got issues. But in a way, there are many misconceptions about him. This is like a "This is me, so deal with it - making my peace" documentary. The thing is, it's very sad. Mike knows he had a shot, he had a life, but the story was going to end bad from the beginning. Ever since Cus died, the end was set. Losing his father figure was all it took.

The one thing I loved is that for the first time, I felt like he was being brutally honest. He explains what happened in Japan with Douglas. He goes round by round on the now famous Ear Bite with Holyfield. My babe always says there are two sides of a coin in every story. Listening to Tyson describe what took him to want to bite the ear of another man is, almost, logical.

Remember that campaign slogan, I want to be like Mike? Well, you know what? I want to be like this Mike. I like my heroes real and fucked up at the same time.