Photography by Jerry Metellus
Two hours might seem like a long run time for a one-man show. But then, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, which stops at Peabody Opera House (peabodyoperahouse.com) on April 5, has a lot of ground to cover. The controversial boxer was the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, before suffering a shocking knockout at the hands of Buster Douglas. Then came a rape conviction and drug addiction. He bit off Evander Holyfield's ear and threatened to eat Lennox Lewis' children. Now, clean and supposedly reformed, the soft-spoken Tyson, known for his amusingly bungled elocution, is reinventing himself as an actor.
Do people still call you Iron Mike? No, no, no. Iron Mike doesn’t live in this household.
Tell me about your show. Well, it’s just basically the undisputed truth. I’m the undisputed champ. It’s just me telling my life from a true perspective.
The true story of Mike Tyson… From my perspective. Everybody knows these stories that I’m telling. They knew about the Mitch Green fight. They knew about my divorce from Robin. But they don’t know the stories behind them.
What do you want to tell people about yourself? That’s up to them, what they take away from it. I can’t tell them this is how you should think about me now that I told you this story. I don’t know. You got to perceive the story the way it’s told to you, I guess.
Are you misunderstood? No. I’m just who I am.
Is there a moral to your story? Yes. It shows that everything I went through in life, that was pretty much disastrous. There was no way I could ever conceive of coming back from this. Then it happened. I’ve come back. And I’m very grateful.
What are you grateful for? I’m grateful for being alive.
Have you matured? I’ve become more committed. With commitment comes loyalty and truth. I became more truthful and committed to myself, and to everybody committed to my life. I’m committed to myself. I’ve only been committed before this to money, accomplishment, praises, just never for myself.
What’s the biggest lesson that you’ve learned? That everybody that you fight is not your enemy and everybody that helps you is not your friend.
What’s your greatest accomplishment? Becoming sober.
That’s bigger than being heavyweight champ? Oh, 100 percent.
What did it take to do that? To die and come back.
Ever miss the ring? No.
Not even a little? I understand that is over. Now, I entertain people. I go on stage. I do shows. I do movies. I’ve come to grips that this is what I do now. It may not be as glamorous as the boxing guy, the champ, but this is what I do now. This is what I’m happy with.
Do you ever look back at your boxing career, or did that part of you have to be shut off? That had to be shut off, because being that guy, I can’t have the family that I have. I can’t have the life that I have. I can’t have the friends that I have. That guy was just such a megalomaniac. No one could ever live with being in his presence for a long period of time.
Why was that? I was just a young kid, and that’s all I was told, that I was the greatest fighter that ever lived, since I was 12 years old. I kind of tried to believe that. Now I’m away from that, and I believe that my biggest accomplishment is helping people less fortunate than myself.
What stories from the show stand out? Just when I bit Evander Holyfield’s ear and they had me in a couple of psycho wards. I went to prison for that rape conviction. All these things are enough to just break a human being’s spirit, and make them stop believing in themselves and stop trusting their judgment. I don’t care what ever happens, if you have an infectious disease, I don’t care what’s wrong. If you still have your winning spirit and your character, you’re not going to just lie down in life and die. You’re going to continue to live life and enjoy whatever life you have left to live.
Anything that will surprise people? I don’t know. I am going to be baring my soul naked up there, so they are going to hear everything… It's a roller coaster of emotions.
Along with gun control, mental illness has been in the news. As someone with bipolar disorder, what is your perspective on that? I’m probably tripolar. I’m so many things, man. I don’t even know if they have names for them. I am a great advocate for mental illness. When I was in prison, a great deal of those people in the prison were people who needed to be in mental hospitals. We need to do something about that, because we have people out here that have mental illnesses who are functioning people in society, but they still need help. The episodes of their outbursts are so overwhelming, man, they are going to hurt somebody or hurt themselves.
How have you been able to deal with that in your life? Living well, eating well. I’m on a great spiritual diet. I have a great support system… I’ve got more life skills than I had before.
How does acting compare to boxing? It’s the same. Only thing, you have to go to a hospital after every fight. In the show, I don’t go to the hospital.
Thanks, Mike. This was just such a wonderful interview. You’re a wonderful person.
