Mike Tyson Is a Living Greek Tragedy

Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press

Last week, I sat in a dark room in the New York Public Library to hear an author read from his new book. Although a screen on the side of the stage advertised an upcoming event with Pulitzer Prize winners Toni Morrison and Junot Diaz, I wasn’t there to see a literary novelist read about the postmodern condition. I had come to the library to see a a heavyweight champion best known for his facial tattoo and the night he bit off another boxer’s ear. Yes, I was at the library to hear Mike Tyson read from Undisputed Truth, his new celebrity memoir co-written with Larry Sloman.

While it was a bit odd that Mike was standing on the same stage Toni Morrison would speak from a few weeks later, he was full of profound (and also stupid) statements. He schooled the moderator on ancient history and said, “A room without a book is like a body without a soul.”

Yes, several minutes later he said to that same moderator, “What are italics?” when asked why he wrote a passage in italics, but it was clear that both at the library and on the page, Mike’s story is more moving than any novel written by some jagoff from the literati. He openly discussed the effect of having a prostitute for a mother, how the legendary boxing coach Cus D’Amato discovered him and gave him a real home, then died a few years after his career took off, and how he burned through millions of dollars thanks to cocaine.

The critics agree. “Parts [of the memoir] read like a Tom Wolfe-ian tour of wildly divergent worlds: from the slums of Brooklyn to the high life in Las Vegas to the isolation of prison,” Michiko Kakutani wrote in a rave review in the New York Times.

Regardless of what you think of Mike Tyson as a person, it’s impossible to deny that he has led a tremendously interesting life. I called him this week to talk about his obsession with ancient history, how his pet pigeons turned him into a fighter, and whether his is a story of redemption or the story of a troubled man struggling to turn his life around.

VICE: Why did you decide to write a memoir?
Mike Tyson: My wife, Kiki, told me people were going to write a book about me anyway. If they’re gonna write a book, why not have people hear if from your own mouth instead of somebody else’s mouth?

At your recent book reading, you talked about your obsession with the history of ancient wars. Why are you interested in ancient history?
A long time ago, I was at the table, sitting down, and either one of the boxers or Cus said something about Alexander the Great. He said Alexander was 6' 6''. He must have been a giant back then. This struck an interest in me, but then I found out Alexander the Great wasn’t a giant—he was really a runt. In real life he wasn’t tall, and since then I’ve read about men of war. I relate to the psychology of war. Tom Cruise said when he’s performing he’s like a soldier of war. Men of war are really deep guys, really hardcore people, as far as humans are concerned.

In many ways, your memoir reads like a Greek tragedy, and a moment with your pet pigeons is like your origin story. Is it true that you became a fighter because of your pet pigeons?
I had stolen money and bought a bunch of pigeons. I had around a hundred pigeons. At that time, they cost about $1.50—very few pigeons cost $5 back then. I had two giant boxes of pigeons. I couldn’t even carry them; I dragged them. I was showing off. I showed someone the pigeons, and he brought a bunch of kids back and tried to steal my pigeons. One of the kids put a pigeon in his shirt and ran out. I saw him. I asked him for my bird. He wouldn’t give it back. My friend said, “Mike, fight him,” and I started fighting him. I didn’t knock him out. I just hit him more than he hit me, so I guess I won. I dropped him one time with a really clumsy punch. I looked horrible. I used to watch my friend shadow box, so when I knocked him down I did a shuffle, and everyone started applauding.

Have you gone back to Brownsville recently?
It doesn’t look the same anymore. Brownsville still has crazy stuff, but it’s integrated. The neighborhood is biracial. I say to myself, Did this stuff really happen to me? When you look at the way the neighborhood looks, you ask yourself if these events really happened. There’s no graffiti or broken windows. There’s no excrement from animals on the sidewalk. There’s not people on the sidewalk shooting, drunk, and this and that. When I’m telling my story, it’s like it didn’t happen and I’m making it all up, because you look at the neighborhood and you think, Where’s that building Mike was talking about? Where’s the drugs and alcohol? Where’s the gangsters? They're not there anymore. Thirty years ago, it was a terrible place to raise children.

Cus rescued you from Brownsville and turned you into a great fighter. After his death, you had many public struggles. If Cus had lived longer would your story have gone a different way?
Definitely. I’d still be fighting if I were still with Cus. Cus didn’t believe that you could be too old or aging could stop you. You had to have the enthusiasm and the desire to fight.

At the same time, you’ve said you had to become a sociopath to become a fighter. Did thinking like a sociopath affect your personal life?
I took it to extremes. I always wanted to be the best. I always wanted to supersede everyone. I was always on stage, 24 hours a day.

Is that why you originally wanted hearts tattooed on your face instead of a tribal tattoo?
I just thought hearts were cool. I was ridiculous. The tattoo artist didn’t want to do the hearts. He didn’t want that to be on his resume. A lot of people ask why I got the tribal tattoo. If they knew what I really wanted to do, they’d say, “Mike, are you out of your mind?”

Is it true you caught Brad Pitt hooking up with your ex-wife, Robin Givens?
I was always going to my ex-wife’s house and we were still having sex. One particular day a car was coming out of Robin’s house, and Brad and Robin were in the car. I don’t know if he was scared. If he was scared, that was his first time showing his great acting skills. He said “Hi,” and I said, “Hi.”

Robin and the public have accused you of abusing women. How do you feel about this perception of you?
I’m just like anybody else. Every relationship you have with a woman isn’t a good one. It’s day by day. Not everyone has good relationships with a woman; if [we had good relationships with women], there wouldn’t be any divorces in the world. It’s very difficult for two people with different personalities to get along.

You’ve been very open about trying to improve your life. Has your struggle with addiction improved?
I have 97 days sober. Before I relapsed, I had four years. I have a good support team. I have great people. I did four years without going to meetings, but we really don’t consider that sober if you’re not going to meetings. I wasn’t living sober. I still had bad thoughts. I was still involved with things I shouldn’t have been involved in. Being sober is a lifestyle, it’s a way of thinking, a way of conducting yourself.

Image of Mike's mother courtesy of Mike and Kiki Tyson

Your memoir goes in depth on these difficult subjects. Did you struggle to write about how you and Kiki have had to return items to the shelves because you struggle to pay for groceries?
God, you brought that up. I remember a long time ago, when I was a little kid, my mother sometimes didn’t have enough money to buy groceries. [choking up] I never forgot those things.

Have your public struggles affected your children?
I’m sure they did. I’ve never been as present as I am now with my kids. I’m really present with my kids. I talk to them. I text them. I see them.

Do you want people to learn something from the experiences you describe in the book?
I don’t know what people could get from this book. Nobody’s going to read this book and think, Man, I’m envious of Mike Tyson. I’m jealous of that guy. That’s not going to happen.

Most celebrity memoirs are redemption stories. We see stars get famous, struggle with drugs, lose their money, and then find sobriety and make a comeback. In your book, you don’t fully recover. You relapse. Is your story a redemption story or the story of a man trying to make good, as the New York Times described it?
There’s nothing in this book about redemption. It tells it how it is. I hope I don’t get in any more trouble. I don’t want to go to prison; I’m too old. I want to pay my bills. I want to pay my debt to society and the IRS. I want to take care of my kids. That’s what I’m living for. To be a good person to the best of my abilities.

@mitchsunderland

More about Mike Tyson:

Pigeons and Pussy - A Night on Broadway with Mike Tyson

Look on Mike Tyson, Ye Mighty, and Despair

Things Spike Lee Hates: Racists, Guns, and Racists with Guns