Heavy Hit

The rise and fall (and rise?) of Mike Tyson

17.05.08 / Remember when Mike Tyson was the “baddest man on the planet,” the most fearsome fighter ever to set foot in a boxing ring? Remember the night, 20 years ago next month, when Tyson destroyed Michael Spinks in 91 seconds and became “unbeatable”.That was long ago and far away from the Salle Debussy in Cannes last night, where a much more cuddly version of Tyson received a standing ovation without having to smash anyone’s brains out. Tyson, who announced his retirement from boxing in 2005, was here to promote Tyson, a documentary directed by James Toback (who stood next to Tyson on the Debussy stage fighting his own losing battle with his tear ducts). "This is way above my level,” Tyson admitted, staring out at the adoring crowd. "I've never experienced anything like this in my entire life."It wasn't hard to believe him, since everything he has experienced in his entire life is in Tyson. The film was made while he was undergoing rehab in California and allows Tyson to talk (and talk, and talk) about who and what brought him down. Robin Givens, drugs, Don King and Desiree Washington seem to have achieved what no boxer could have imagined doing back in 1988: they showed the world that "Iron Mike" was beatable.He was (and remains) the youngest man ever to become world heavyweight champion. He managed to earn and then lose something close to 400 million dollars, but most astonishingly, Mike Tyson seems to have developed a talent for understatement along the way: “I was intrigued with sex,” he says at one point in the film.Mike Tyson at 40, an age he thought he’d never see, appears to have discovered his humanity. Tyson encourages all of us — especially those who recall the incessant media descriptions of Tyson "the beast" and Tyson "the fighting machine" — to do the same. — R.K.