You might think you know everything about Mike Tyson.
There cannot be much Tyson-related content that we have not watched or heard during his many decades in the public eye, so when it was announced that there was a new four-part mini-series on Netflix, TYSON, there was a collective rolling of the eyes on social media.
What had he left out of his podcasts, his books, his One Man Show (the Undisputed Truth)? What hasn’t been covered by my colleagues over the years?
The truth is, not much. But the access, the subject matter and the cast assembled for TYSON on the streaming giant means that, like just about every other chapter of Tyson’s life, you can’t miss it.
Mike was must-see TV then. He’s still must-see TV now.
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“Addicted to chaos,” is what Mike Tyson, now 60, says of a large chunk of his life.
That much was obvious, but when director Floyd Russ films himself and Tyson doing “the toad” – DMT – in the final episode you know you have watched something unlike anything you have ever seen before.
Tyson is flat on his back, struggling to make sense of what is happening to him, while his back catalogue of highs and lows flashes away on the screen, the crushing knockouts, the damning controversies, the deaths, the titles, everything.
And when he comes around, laughing, you can’t help but think he could not have lived without the mania. Tyson might have been destined to be the heavyweight champion, but he was perhaps more destined for carnage. Even his counsellor is reduced to saying: “He’s got some powerful fucking demons.”
“He’s so broken from his past, that he’s probably beyond fixing,” says son Miguel, who added that inside the broken guy is someone trying to be a good father.
It’s powerful testimony, and there’s plenty of it.
There are issues, however, with TYSON.
While you might get the truth, you never quite get the whole truth.
(Photo: Getty Images)
