"Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson" by Mark Kriegel (2025)

I actually reached out to Mark on social media to compliment him on his excellent Mancini book that I had sitting in my boxing library for about ten years and never read ... we chatted a bit and he asked me to offer my thoughts on this book ... I didn't tell him that I passed on it initially as the thought of another Tyson book made me catatonic .. that said I told him I would read it and circle back .. the book is terrific because in my opinion it gives the rare true story of what has been romanticized .. Tyson's Catskills origin ... I won't get into details any more than that but I feel the book was terrific and highly recommend it.

 

Mark’s a good writer and big fan of boxing. We spoke several times in the 1990s over several topics and I still have an autographed copy of his first book Bless Me Father. A good read.

 

Report back.

I just can't imagine it matches Tyson's own book, which is... uh.. just read it.

 

Is that “Iron Truth”? I don’t remember the name, just that he (and his ghost writer…) did it and it was basically from his POV and covered everything…

 

Undisputed Truth

 

I bought it a while back.
Enjoyed it, it was good to read about that part of Tyson's Life.
Let's face it, from his start pro to the Spinks fight, was the best of Tyson and most entertaining.
Talking about Givens and her horrible mother brought back memories that crazy period.
Their appearance on Walters, Tyson zombie like,his smashing cars, his hand injury, Mitch Green!!
God it was a mad time.

 

Why is Trump a devil here in your opinion??

 

I don’t like Kriegel as a commentator, but he’s a very good writer. I enjoyed the book very much.