Tyson
Charmaine Austin, Sport Reporter
LOOK UP enigma in the dictionary and a picture of Mike Tyson may stare you in the face.
Possibly the most misunderstood athlete of our time, Michael Gerard Tyson is all at once childish, brooding, sensitive, aggressive. Savage and ruthless to some even.
People's opinions don't seem to bother him. "Do I believe I'm misunderstood? I don't believe anything. I'm just a normal person living my life in a certain fashion. I guess I have the same feelings like everyone else does so I can't be too misunderstood," Tyson said during an interview last week at the Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel with The Gleaner in conjuction with KLAS radio station.
"Maybe people choose to misunderstand me but that's not necessarily the problem," he said.
Tyson has lived his life in the spotlight so when he gets a rare chance to take a break, he guards that privacy the way a lionness would her cubs.
On his visit to Jamaica, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion spent time living it up, but balanced the visit with a healthy dose of reality by visiting a West Kingston inner-city community which was a reminder of his Brooklyn childhood.
Media interviews were discouraged, but to the determined few that managed to penetrate his steely guard, he gave a little of himself.
Evander Holyfield may not agree, but his bark is worse than his bite. Tyson talks a mean talk. In the ring at least. And based on events that have occurred throughout his life, it becomes obvious he was born to fight.
He is constantly fighting with the demons of his past, fighting so many accusations they hardly make front-page news now, fighting opponents in the ring, and the unyielding media. He even has to fight himself sometimes for getting sucked into the unbearable cycle that he calls his life. A life he loves despite its shortcomings.
"I have a pretty awesome life. People would give their life to live my life for a month. I'm just a simple guy that likes the finer things in life like everyone else. I love to see people happy and making them snicker (laugh)," he said.
Money doesn't mean everything to him.
His suite at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel per night - US$650
Hotel stay in Cuba per night- US$500
Travelling wherever in the world, whenever - US$ millions
Finally finding happiness - Priceless
For everything else, he has cash or a Mastercard.
"What I enjoy most is being who I am and enjoying the privacy of being with myself and my thoughts though it may sometimes appear that I have no privacy," he said.
Not being left alone brings him to boiling point, a situation that often lands him in trouble - or behind bars.
Tyson's temperamental nature has been blamed on an unpleasant childhood.
He was not raised by his parents and as a pre-teen was remanded in a detention centre for various offences. Legendary trainer Cus D'Amato parented the troubled lad in and out of the ring, but the legendary fighter was destined for problem as much as he was greatness.
Time has passed but only some things have changed.
Tyson's role has changed, and it is a mirage at best watching 'Iron' soften on the recollection of family life. His children, he says, will never have to go through his Oliver Twist-like experience. He loves them too much.
"I'm a pretty good dad. They truly love me. In fact, I'd like to hope they love me," he says and smiles openly thinking about them.
He talks fondly of his wife (Dr Monica Turner Tyson) too.
"She's a great woman. I'm always happy to have her in my corner. I'm proud to be associated with her and I'm also just enjoying that she is the mother of my children. Her contribution to our children's growth and upbringing in life is just beautiful. It's just a wonderful thing.
"I'm just so sorry that I'm not a heavy talker, I speak so low or I'd just shout it out all the time," he said.
His 49-3-0 (one no count, 43 knock outs) ring record is not much compared to the one the former undisputed world heavyweight champion has set as a decent husband and parent.
His boxing career will come to an end someday and Tyson hopes that after that he'll be left alone. Where he'll end up living then is a choice he'll make when that day comes, though he leans heavily toward the European culture.
"I have a couple of homes in the US and some properties abroad as well. It would be pretty interesting living abroad. I haven't had the feeling of what that feels like. I like Europe though. The social system and the culture are nice.
"That would be an awesome place for a fight with Lennox Lewis wouldn't it? I just hope they (Europe) pick up enough currency to rival the United States. It's just so hard to rival Las Vegas and all those big corporations."
It would be even more "awesome", Tyson says, to have an international fight in the Caribbean.
Tyson thoroughly enjoyed talking about real estate but boxing he tried to avoid. He refused to let questions about his impending fight with reigning champion Lewis cloud his sabbatical.
"I'm just here in Jamaica because it's a great place to be. I love it here (Kingston). I had gone to the Virgin Islands, got tired of there, came to Montego Bay, got bored of there so I came here to the Pegasus. I like the Pegasus Hotel.
"People are probably thinking that I should be preparing for the fight but shouldn't I be allowed to have fun and hang out? By the time April comes I'll be all right. I don't want to talk about boxing too much. I start training in a few days," he said.
He managed to leave Jamaica unscathed but controversy followed him to Cuba where he had a Christmas ornament throwing incident with local journalists.
"I didn't do anything," he said defensively. "I'm was just an innocent bystander that was assaulted by the press. I'm just appalled that they would say I assaulted them. I assaulted no one."
Did he throw decorative ornaments at them?
"I don't know if I did that. I don't know. It was in the heat of the moment, things happened. I don't remember quite clearly what happened. As far as I'm concerned it was all fabricated," he said.
Iron goes through a long process to be hard. Smelting is what it's called.
Making iron is the first step in producing steel and having been mined and melted by the compassion of people who believe in him, molded by experience and faced the fiery furnace of controversy, Tyson stands, not as a champion, but a man who has truly lived life.
