Just finished the book and I might say that even though its a bit long winded and repetitive in parts its a really great insight. Mike tells it how it was and is , from his early years with Cus , his relationship Robin Givens and how he used to beat the **** out of Don King at every opportunity One of the points that I noticed which comes up on this web site many times is how much fighters earn then how much then spend on payroll , tax , ex wife's etc. In one year he earns approximately 64 million but paid out 68 million with little to show for it. Overall a good read , but not as much boxing as I would like and more about his demons. 8/10.
Nearing the end of the book and have pretty mixed feeling about Mike’s autobiography. I always been a big fan as I was a kid when he dominated the division but I didn’t like some of his bull**** in this book. For one, these days he plays the game of saying what an idiot he was back in the day with regards to his stupid decisions but at the same time he glories that stuff. He says how he skipped training to bang these broads like it was cool, bit I’m reading this stuff thinking what a shallow tool Tyson was. Its like he is trying to appeal to the hustler side of his fan base. In interviews he doesn’t glorify it and really gives himself **** about it, but in the book its like is was proud of this pimping attitude he once had, at the expense of being great. He also seems to diss Holyfield and Lewis, so wonder how they feel about the book. He says he would definitely have knocked out Holy in 91, which is something I not heard him say in interviews. He usually says he doesn’t know when those fantasy match ups are asked of him. The humble attitude is not evident in the book at all, which is unlike Tyson, he is usually humble with this stuff. He also seemed to be trying to justify the ear bite too much. History is definitely kinder about it but that don’t mean I’m going to sit here and say “yeah Mike that was a great move, you should have killed the guy”, I’d like Mike more if he just admitted he was totally wrong. Maybe he is writing how he felt at the time and playing the Tyson of old, but it didn’t sit right with me. He says things differently in interviews and come out with this stuff. I think he even got his facts wrong by saying Bruno got a KO over Lewis which is pretty disrespectful, like he didn’t bother to know about Lewis’s career. Saying that, I have found it generally interesting, I feel like I understand Tyson more now. The fact that material things and addiction pretty much ruined him because he was weak to that stuff, whatever the interventions. I always wondered what the hell he was doing leaving his old team, I could never understand it, but now I kind of do. The fact he wasn’t really being himself with that clean cut image, I think the old Cayton Jacobs team pushed that on him a bit too much maybe, I could see why he wanted to escape that. Also that Rooney played his role in splitting their partnership. I also don’t think Don King was as instrumental in Tyson’s downfall as much as people think, in fact it seemed like Mike was even too much for King in some cases. He was his own worse enemy. I still got to finish it but I’m a bit disappointed that Tyson hasn’t written this in a more mature way, it’s a bit sensationalised and bragging. I don’t know if I’d call it as truthful as the title pretends. He must know that Douglas and Holy would have given him a tough fights even if he had trained, he sounds like one of his own blinkered fans with the excuses at times. I know fighters do that but Mike seemed different in that way, its like he wants it on record without having to say it out loud. Another thing that strikes me overall is there is also a better story to Tyson’s life but he always went the **** creek route. Even the prison part of his life, he could have come out clean and ready to win back his titles after educating himself and planning his comeback. even his cell mates urged him on to be great again and keep training. But no, no, Tyson had to start his excessive life again buying tigers as soon as he got his freedom and pissed the opportunity for greatness up the wall. He might not have beaten those 90s guys but it would have been great to see him at least try and give it a good run. The man disappointed, no doubt about it, he just didn’t have the mental strength. But then again he did have that amazing peak, and he ended up in the very same boxing encyclopaedias he read as a kid. I still love Tyson, I guess I’m still frustrated at what could have been.
