Sometimes athletes can be extremely annoying to the average fan. It gets to the point where their monstrous nature becomes more intriguing than watching them compete. Take the following pathetic account, for example.
Iron Mike Tyson. Let that name resonate for just a moment. In the mid-1980s and part of the 1990s, Iron Mike Tyson made boxing the most exciting sport in the world, even for non-boxing fans. This kid with the shy smile and Swarzeneggar body was an absolute fury inside the boxing ring. Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, burst onto the scene with punches that could knock down walls and interviews that could put a smile on Yogi Berra’s face.
After a prison term for a rape conviction, Tyson became less of a devastating fighter and more of a monster. One minute she was crashing his car and driving away from him, the next she was denying raping a girl but saying she wished she had, then she was scolding Evander Holyfield in the ear in a failed attempt to regain boxing prominence. Finally, after countless run-ins with the law, Tyson was beaten into submission in one last shot at the title by Lennox Lewis, a champion who had run out of quality opponents.
There was a time when we all grew to love Tyson. Soon, we learned to hate it. And, in the end, many would pity him.
After squandering a $400 million fortune and filing for bankruptcy, Tyson decided to escape his demons and try to recapture some of his glory and some of those lost millions. He would fight again, after several years recovering from the beating he suffered from Lewis.
Finally, an overweight and overly old Tyson, lacking the skills he once had, took another beating, this time at the hands of an unknown officer named Danny Williams. Knocked out in the fourth round, Tyson was left thinking of a dark future. His own trainer suggests that Tyson’s journey must come to an end.
For nearly two decades, Mike Tyson has saved boxing from completely drowning in its own pool of greed, malevolence and horrible boxers. Whether he was decimating an opponent with the most powerful punches in history or freaking out over his odd behavior, Tyson amazed virtually everyone who saw or read about him. He did what all athletes should do: he kept us entertained.
Now, with his latest loss, Tyson and boxing are defeated. And all we can do is hope that the next monster arrives soon.
