Never in my life have I felt more like a failure than after watching this video. In my history of drunken dart-throwing (I can’t honestly recall if I’ve ever played darts sober), I have nailed a bullseye approximately three or four times. Yes, the viewing audience exploded with raucous applause in each instance, but to see Tyson so nonchalantly pull off such a feat — while completely blind, no less — just confirms that I was never meant to become a professional athlete. It’s a fate I finally accepted after throwing a dart through my roommate’s hand while trying to attempt this insanity.
Never in my life have I felt more like a failure than after watching this video. In my history of drunken dart-throwing (I can’t honestly recall if I’ve ever played darts sober), I have nailed a bullseye approximately three or four times. Yes, the viewing audience exploded with raucous applause in each instance, but to see Tyson so nonchalantly pull off such a feat — while completely blind, no less — just confirms that I was never meant to become a professional athlete. It’s a fate I finally accepted after throwing a dart through my roommate’s hand while trying to attempt this insanity.
Mike Tyson’s latest press conference may not have inspired a lot of faith in his abilities as a boxing promoter, but this two minute clip from it might be the most touching moment in the outspoken and oft controversial boxing great’s long career.
As was the case with Tyson’s first conference as a promoter, the above clip is equal parts sincerity, remorse and honest-to-God hope. Treating the media crew present at The Turning Stone Casino as if they were his personal therapists, Tyson nearly broke down describing his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol, an admission that seemed to shock even him:
I’m a bad guy sometimes. I did a lot of bad things, and I want to be forgiven. So in order for me to be forgiven, I hope they can forgive me. I wanna change my life, I wanna live a different life now. I wanna live my sober life. I don’t wanna die. I’m on the verge of dying, because I’m a vicious alcoholic.
I haven’t drank or took drugs in six days, and for me that’s a miracle. I’ve been lying to everybody else that think I was sober, but I’m not. This is my sixth day. I’m never gonna use again.
Tyson’s past troubles — both professionally and personally — have been documented ad nauseum, but the former champion has made somewhat of a turnaround in the public eye as of late. Once the most reviled figure in boxing, Iron Mike has slowly rebuilt his reputation as one of the most genuinely heartfelt individuals in the combat sports community. We honestly hope that his newfound sobriety will ensure that he hangs around for as long as humanely possible, because we’ll be damned if he isn’t an interesting person to listen to (you know what we mean, you shallow sonsabitches).
In case you were wondering what exactly Tyson was referring to when discussing his beef with Teddy Atlas, join us after the jump for the full scoop.
Mike Tyson’s latest press conference may not have inspired a lot of faith in his abilities as a boxing promoter, but this two minute clip from it might be the most touching moment in the outspoken and oft controversial boxing great’s long career.
As was the case with Tyson’s first conference as a promoter, the above clip is equal parts sincerity, remorse and honest-to-God hope. Treating the media crew present at The Turning Stone Casino as if they were his personal therapists, Tyson nearly broke down describing his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol, an admission that seemed to shock even him:
I’m a bad guy sometimes. I did a lot of bad things, and I want to be forgiven. So in order for me to be forgiven, I hope they can forgive me. I wanna change my life, I wanna live a different life now. I wanna live my sober life. I don’t wanna die. I’m on the verge of dying, because I’m a vicious alcoholic.
I haven’t drank or took drugs in six days, and for me that’s a miracle. I’ve been lying to everybody else that think I was sober, but I’m not. This is my sixth day. I’m never gonna use again.
Tyson’s past troubles — both professionally and personally — have been documented ad nauseum, but the former champion has made somewhat of a turnaround in the public eye as of late. Once the most reviled figure in boxing, Iron Mike has slowly rebuilt his reputation as one of the most genuinely heartfelt individuals in the combat sports community. We honestly hope that his newfound sobriety will ensure that he hangs around for as long as humanely possible, because we’ll be damned if he isn’t an interesting person to listen to (you know what we mean, you shallow sonsabitches).
In case you were wondering what exactly Tyson was referring to when discussing his beef with Teddy Atlas, join us after the jump for the full scoop.
Those of you unfamiliar with Tyson’s rough upbringing should know that, after being deserted by his father, losing his mother and being arrested some 38 times by the age of 13, Mike wound up at the Tryon School for Boys in Johnstown, NY (less than 10 minutes from my childhood home, BTW). It was there that Tyson caught the attention of counselor Bobby Stewart and later, International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer/manager Cus D’Amato. Under D’Amato, Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney helped train Tyson in the early 1980′s. ESPN.com recaps the infamous incident that lead to their falling out:
Atlas and Tyson had a falling out following an incident in which Atlas has said Tyson approached a young girl, who was a relative of Atlas’ wife, in a crude manner. In his biography, Atlas recalled borrowing a .38 from a friend, tracking down Tyson one night in 1982, telling him to smarten up and firing the gun, deliberately missing.
“Mike has always been looking for an escape, a trap door,” Atlas said of Tyson in 2003. “He always lacked one essential ingredient in [situations of] building character: the ability to confront himself.”
Tyson said Atlas was extremely important to him back then. “I was wrong,” Tyson admitted Friday.
When asked what made him think he would be a good promoter, Tyson added, “I want to be here and I want be in the best interests of the fighters. I don’t know where it’s going to lead me. It’s just my first event and I’m just very grateful. And that’s just what I’m trying to convey is gratitude.”
Given the amount of painfulmemories that are packed into his times as a boxer, Mike Tyson doesn’t always seem to have the same glee in discussing his days as a heavyweight terror as we do as fans. That’s why a recent interview he did with This is 50, stands out.
In the third part of the interview “Iron Mike” discusses mixed martial arts and who would have won if he and Muhammad Ali had fought one another in their primes. As he talks about both topics Tyson is full of emotion and obvious glee. The interview is a great glimpse at Tyson. Highlights below and video after the jump.
Would he have fought MMA if it was around when he was in his prime?
“If they had big pay days, yes. No doubt about it.”
“I want to slam, I want to hold ’em, I want to choke. That’s what you want to do anyway if you’re in a street fight, right? You want to hit him but you want to get him too. You want to get him real good, get him down, get on top of him. So, you’ve got more aspects, you know? If it’s not working this way you can kick him in the fucking head, you know? (laughs)”
(Tyson in MMA? Two words: Sprawl training.)
Given the amount of painfulmemories that are packed into his times as a boxer, Mike Tyson doesn’t always seem to have the same glee in discussing his days as a heavyweight terror as we do as fans. That’s why a recent interview he did with This is 50, stands out.
In the third part of the interview “Iron Mike” discusses mixed martial arts and who would have won if he and Muhammad Ali had fought one another in their primes. As he talks about both topics Tyson is full of emotion and obvious glee. The interview is a great glimpse at Tyson. Highlights below and video after the jump.
Would he have fought MMA if it was around when he was in his prime?
“If they had big pay days, yes. No doubt about it.”
“I want to slam, I want to hold ‘em, I want to choke. That’s what you want to do anyway if you’re in a street fight, right? You want to hit him but you want to get him too. You want to get him real good, get him down, get on top of him. So, you’ve got more aspects, you know? If it’s not working this way you can kick him in the fucking head, you know? (laughs)”
If he and Muhammad Ali could have fought one another at 20, who would have won?
“There’s no man like him. There just isn’t. Everything that we have, he supersedes us in it, even our arrogance and our ego. He’s fast but he really doesn’t have any great qualities that you could see besides his agility and not [being] afraid to let punches fly. But other than that, he never threw a body punch in his life, he doesn’t have a good defense — his speed was his defense, he moved.”
“Ali is a fucking animal. He looks more like a fucking model than a fighter but what he is is, he’s like a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a pretty face. He’s just mean and evil and he’ll take you in deep waters and drown you. He’s very special. The best in the world…nobody beats Ali.”
For more of this interview with Tyson, check out This is 50.
“I really do believe that madness and excellence are just next door neighbors.”
So says Joe Rogan in this fascinating highlight reel focusing on a trio of “extreme winners” — Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Michael Jordan — narrated by clips from Rogan’s podcast. Rogan proposes that “a lot of success in athletics comes down to almost like a psychosis. At a real high level of anything, there’s a certain amount of almost crazy behavior to get to this incredible position…there’s a madness.”
Over the clips covering each athlete’s monumental career, Rogan shares his thoughts about the behavior and performances of each athlete, and what made them such outliers in professional sports. Maybe this is only tangentially related to MMA, but if you’re interested in Ali and Tyson, and the mental edges (or disorders?) that make athletic legends so different from the rest of humanity, you’ll want to watch this.
“I really do believe that madness and excellence are just next door neighbors.”
So says Joe Rogan in this fascinating highlight reel focusing on a trio of “extreme winners” — Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Michael Jordan — narrated by clips from Rogan’s podcast. Rogan proposes that “a lot of success in athletics comes down to almost like a psychosis. At a real high level of anything, there’s a certain amount of almost crazy behavior to get to this incredible position…there’s a madness.”
Over the clips covering each athlete’s monumental career, Rogan shares his thoughts about the behavior and performances of each athlete, and what made them such outliers in professional sports. Maybe this is only tangentially related to MMA, but if you’re interested in Ali and Tyson, and the mental edges (or disorders?) that make athletic legends so different from the rest of humanity, you’ll want to watch this.
