I watched Tyson the documentary over the weekend. Mike narrates the story of his life in several interview formats with archival footage and photos interspersed. In my opinion, the sequence illustrating his unification of the Championship belts at the age of 20 leaves no doubt that he was the greatest boxer ever in his prime. His speed, power, and head movement were unparalleled. He was a heavyweight with the speed of a lightweight. On top of that, he was vicious in the ring. No one could weather the storm he brought.
And then he fell apart.
Mike is very eloquent and candid in these interviews, and he admits to feeling insane at times in his life. James Toback’s editing often gives a sense of disorientation and even schizophrenia. Mike admits his weaknesses and mistakes. His ringside interview after his last fight is especially telling- “I don’t have the fighting guts… I’m just trying to pay some bills… I don’t love this anymore.”
I read Unforgivable Blackness a year or two ago, and Tyson’s life is eerily similar to that of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion. He had the same hubris and need for the public to love him, but at the same time feared what everyone thought of him. Paranoia, certainly justified in Johnson’s case, over racial and social-class prejudice by the media, government, and public fed his insecurities and erratic behavior. And he ends up playing the monster he fears everyone sees him as.
