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Tyson's
persona makes it hard to distinguish act from fact
06/02/2002 Trying to understand the psyche behind Mike
Tyson is like sparring with an undefeatable boxer. For every question,
there's a counterpunch of two or three more questions in combination. Any attempt to corner the mystery of Tyson is
met with a quick dance away from the ropes. And just when it seems everyone
has him figured out, the bell rings and a new, more shocking chapter begins.
The first and most basic question: Is Mike
Tyson crazy? Or is he crazy like a fox, using his thuggish behavior and
statements to drive up pay-per-view purchases of his next fight, Saturday in
Memphis against Lennox Lewis. Is it good for boxing that a man filled with
such rage and venom is also, still, its most recognizable star? The more humane question is whether boxing is
good for Mike Tyson. That's also probably the easiest question to answer. "I think Mike Tyson needs to be under
psychiatric care," said Dr. Richard Lustberg, a New York sports
psychologist. Without actually examining Tyson, Lustberg
said the boxer shows classic symptoms of conduct disorder, behaving without
a conscience. It can be treated with drugs, and in the past Tyson has been
on lithium carbonate and the anti-depressant Zoloft to control his mood
swings. Lustberg said Tyson could not take such
medications and still be able to fight. That could prove to be as damaging
as any punch from Lewis. A fighter who cannot control himself can also be a
danger to himself. "First of all, what people like Mike
Tyson have is one of the most difficult conditions to work with,"
Lustberg said. "People like him generally spend some time in a mental
hospital, to keep their medication correct, to keep them from being a danger
to himself and others. He's been suicidal. He's not wrapped tight. He's a
troubled guy." The Lewis fight seems to have brought those
troubles to the surface. In a January news conference to formally announce
the fight, Tyson got into a shoving match with a Lewis bodyguard that turned
into an all-out brawl. During the scuffling, Tyson bit Lewis on the thigh. When Tyson met with reporters during his
training sessions in Maui, he spewed a number of lewd, rambling comments. Among them: "I wish that you guys [reporters] had
children so I could kick them in the [expletive] head or stomp on their
testicles so you could feel my pain, because that's the pain I have waking
up every day." When a female reporter asked him a question,
Tyson said: "I normally don't do interviews with
women unless I fornicate with them. So you shouldn't talk anymore, unless
you want to, you know ..." Tyson set the stage two years ago when he said
he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis' children and "rip out his heart and feed
it to him." All this from a convicted rapist, who has
served two recent stints in prison. So are these the rantings of a madman? Or the
calculated spiel of an aging boxer who knows his appeal is in playing the
monster? Tyson turns 36 on June 30 and his more recent
bouts have made a case for diminished skills. Is he making up for his lack
of knockouts by trying to knock us over with words? "There has to be, let's admit it, a screw
loose here or there," said Cal-Berkeley sports sociologist Harry
Edwards. "Because if he wins the fight, what has he gained if the sign
around his neck says 'I eat children and fornicate with reporters?' " Edwards said Tyson's shocking statements have
a lineage to the rants of a young Muhammad Ali, but without the same
cultural context. When Ali was loud and proud, it had a certain legitimacy
because, in a sense, he was saying it for all black Americans. He spoke for
racial equality, not violence. When Tyson speaks in vile terms, it only seems
to serve himself. "I think he revels in the reaction of the
mob to it," Edwards said. "I think at some level, while he may no
longer be believable as the baddest man on earth, he can at least claim to
be the most repugnant, bestial person on earth, by his own admission." Tyson does not acknowledge putting on an act,
but rather says he is simply revealing the "real" Mike Tyson. He
accuses other athletes of putting on a false front to gain endorsements. "I know at times I come across like a
Neanderthal or a babbling idiot, but I like that person," Tyson told
reporters in Hawaii. "I like to show you that person because that's who
you all come to see. I'm Tyson, I'm a tyrannical titan." Yet this tyrant is also overly generous. His
serious money problems – in large part because of financial mismanagement,
an opulent lifestyle and massive legal expenses – are also partly the
result of his softer side. This is the Tyson paradox. For someone who espouses brutality, he is
soothed by the cooing of his collection of pigeons. Con man or savage? Tyson said he's merely doing his job, adding
he wouldn't be making any money if he were "smart and erudite." Boxing historian Bert Sugar says Tyson is
smart – smart enough to play the role of the crazed bully. "What he does is intentional; how he does
it sometimes gets out of control," Sugar said. "Mike Tyson knows
what he's doing. Don't let anybody tell you different. I've known him for
too long. He's not crazy." Sugar says there are clues to whether Tyson is
putting on an act, such as not wearing a mouthpiece in the round he bit
Evander Holyfield's ears. The Maui news conference was an invitation-only
affair for Tyson-friendly writers, said Sugar, who was not invited. "He buys eyeballs with this," Sugar
said. "People are tuning in to see a train wreck." After Tyson bit both of Holyfield's ears
during the 1997 fight, he was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation to
regain his Nevada boxing license. After five days of testing by psychologists,
psychiatrists and neurologists, Tyson was pronounced mentally fit to return
to boxing. The published report said testing did not reveal any "major
mental illness or personality disorder," but it was the unanimous
opinion of the team that he should be "engaged in a course of regular
psychotherapy." The report said that Tyson was suffering from
depression both before and after he said he "snapped" and bit
Holyfield. It also said Tyson has trouble with low self-esteem and trusting
others, as well as managing emotional responses and anger. Dr. Lustberg said Tyson's recent statements
and actions indicate he may be losing touch with reality. "Saying things like, 'I want to eat your
children,' it's a kind of breaking up of the thought process. He's not
capable of thinking through his behavior or showing good insight,"
Lustberg said. "Biting is an extremely primitive
behavior. Those are the kinds of things you see in very young children.
People don't bite other people when they get older. So you're talking about
someone who's really primitive in his responses, and his boundaries aren't
very good." That Tyson gets paid millions of dollars after
behaving in such a way only compounds the problem, said Denton sports
psychologist Dr. Don Beck. "The more he plays the act, the more it
adds legitimacy of his value system," Dr. Beck said. "He's been
exploited by so many people, and those who pay that 55 bucks aren't helping;
they're playing into his pathology, that thugishness and brutality should be
rewarded." In an era when the most marketable
heavyweights – Tyson, Lewis and Holyfield – are over 30, there doesn't
appear to be any end to feeding the monster in Tyson. "The only thing I can say as a promoter
is Mike Tyson is, and probably always will be, one of the biggest stars
boxing has ever seen," Dan Goossen said. "He's got both sides in
his favor. There are a lot of people that hate him, and a lot of people that
love him. When you have that type of situation, it usually leads to a lot of
eyeballs." Goossen promoted five of Tyson's fights,
starting with the Francois Botha bout in 1999. In all his meetings with
Tyson during that time, Goossen said he never felt threatened by Tyson. He
describes the boxer as being very intelligent, but also under
"tremendous amounts of pressure." "In a lot of ways, it's refreshing what
Mike says," Goossen said. "He always says what's on his mind. It's
very refreshing, but on the other hand it's also very scary to hear
it." Ultimately, which is scarier: Tyson's aberrant
behavior, or a public willing to pay to see such behavior? "He can say he's doing it to make
money," says sociologist Edwards. "What is the excuse of the
people who pay to go to see it?"
1978: A 12-year-old Mike Tyson is arrested for
purse snatching and sent to the Tyron School for Boys. June 21, 1987: After becoming the youngest
heavyweight champion at age 20, Tyson pays $105,000 to settle a misdemeanor
assault case in which a parking lot attendant said Tyson tired to kiss a
female employee and struck another attendant. Aug. 23, 1988: Tyson breaks his right hand in
a 4 a.m. street brawl with boxer Mitch Green. Sept. 30, 1988: Tyson's wife, actress Robin
Givens, says in a national television interview that she is afraid of him
and that Tyson is manic-depressive. Oct. 2, 1988: Police go to Tyson's home after
he hurls furniture out a window and forces Givens and her mother to flee. Feb. 10, 1992: Tyson is convicted of raping
beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington and later sentenced to 10 years
in prison, four suspended. March 25, 1995: Tyson is released from an
Indiana correctional facility. June 28, 1997: In a rematch of an earlier loss
to Evander Holyfield, Tyson is disqualified after the third round for biting
Holyfield's ears. Aug. 31, 1998: Tyson kicks and punches two men
after getting in a minor auto accident. Tyson later serves 3 1/2 months in
jail for the assault. Oct. 23, 1999: A fight with Orlin Norris is
ruled a no-contest. Norris injures his knee and cannot continue after taking
a punch from Tyson after the bell. Jan. 22, 2002: Tyson and a bodyguard for
Lennox Lewis start a brawl at a news conference to announce the Tyson-Lewis
fight. During the melee, Tyson bites Lewis on the thigh. As a result the
Tyson-Lewis fight, which was originally scheduled for April 6 in Las Vegas,
is forced to move to June 8 in Memphis. |
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