03x01 - Tyson: The Rise & Fall of Kid Dynamite

[bunniefuu]

WEBVTT FILE

-In the 90s, boxing,
the sweet science,

devolves into bloodsport.

-Oh. He bit him!

-Tyson Savage.

-When Mike Tyson,
the bad boy of boxing...

-Have a nice fight, Mike.

-[Bleep] off.
-...bites above the belt.

-And I was horrified by it.

-It was chaotic.
It was just wild.

I was there.

It was unbelievable.

-Tyson is the 90s' Raging Bull.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]

-Is he a monster,
or is he just macho?

-One that refuses
to go down for the count.

-Mike Tyson was also
taken advantage of

by a lot of people that didn't
have his best interest.

-That's the reason
why I'm crying,

because I'm not
that person no more.

[ Hip-hop music plays ]

♪♪

-Here we go.
Fight 2! Round 1!

♪♪

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]
-It is showtime!

-June 28th, 1997 marks one of
the most anticipated rematches

in boxing history...

[ Bell dings ]
-Here we go.

-...as "Iron" Mike Tyson

attempts to regain
the heavyweight title

from Evander
"The Real Deal" Holyfield.

-Mike was gonna do
what he needed to do.

He was going to
wear out Evander,

and he was going to regain
the championship.

So, that's what they thought
was going to happen

at that particular time.

Well, it didn't.

-The fight, and its now
infamous bite...

is a watershed moment
for boxing

and Mike Tyson.

-Oh, he bit him!
-Let's be clear.

When we say bite,
I mean, it's a bite.

Part of his ear
is on the ground.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Like, this is a really,

really vicious, violent attack.

-How does boxing's
most devastating fighter

end up gnawing on his opponent?

[ Sirens wailing ]
Tyson's story begins in 1966.

-He was the third child
of Lorna Smith,

but his father was
really never around.

-When Tyson was 10, his mother,

who he describes
as an angry alcoholic,

moves the family to the
Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

-It's a very dangerous,
crime-riddled neighborhood

with a lot of poverty.
[ Sirens wailing ]

Well, you know,
Mike grew up into that.

-Cops always stopping.
You know what I mean?

An ambulance always coming
to pick up somebody.

g*ns always going off.

People are getting stabbed.
Windows are being broken.

It's very, very hostile.

-He's living this very
isolated life as this kid

that's bullied for his voice,

for his lisp.

-But he finds a way to escape.

-Mike's outlet was
to hang out with pigeons --

training them, naming them.

That was his life.
That was his passion.

They were his friends.
They were his confidants.

He could believe in them.
He could trust them.

-And so, you think about
this very tender Mike Tyson

that is kind of ruminating here.

-One day, an older boy steals
one of his feathered friends.

Mike begs for it back,
but the bully uses his hands

to break the pigeon's neck.

[ Neck cracks ]
-[ Laughs ]

-Then, laughs and throws
the dead bird in Mike's face.

So, young Mike Tyson
uses his hands.

-That enraged Mike to the point
where he beat up the kid,

and he found some sort
of value in beating up

and hurting people.

-Years later,
speaking to GQ Magazine,

Tyson describes how this
pivotal moment in his past

helped shape his future.

-I'm a kind of --
I'm a really sensitive guy,

and I'm, um,
how can I explain this?

Um...

...from being bullied,
I can be really, um,

really, um,
malevolent, you know?

-As Tyson tells
Piers Morgan on CNN,

he becomes the bad kid
in the neighborhood

disappointing his mother.

-I did a lot of bad things,
um, I've, um...

robbed a lot of, like, friend's
houses and stuff like that.

[ Sirens wailing ]

-And that tended
to be his life as a youngster.

He was arrested nearly 40 times

by the age of 12.

-On a path to life
in prison or worse,

in 1979, Tyson is sent away

to live in
a remote reform school

in upstate New York.

-When he was at
Tryon School for Boys

and institutionalized
as a youth,

there begins to be
a shift in Tyson

as he meets different people

who teach him about boxing.

I am Dr. Rudy Mondragon,

and I study the sport of boxing,

the political economy of sport,

and the ways in which
boxers express themselves.

And in the 90s,
I was playing Punch-Out!! --

Mike Tyson Edition.

[ Action music plays in game ]

-But Tyson hasn't become
a Nintendo star yet.

As a 13 year old,

Tyson meets a counselor

and former Golden Gloves champ

named Bobby Stewart,

who runs a boxing program
at the school.

-Tyson was intrigued by that.

He saw the kids boxing,

and he asked Stewart

if he could become a part of it.

My name is George Willis.

I'm a long-time sportswriter,
and I am also the author

of "The Bite Fight: the Night
That Changed Boxing Forever."

Stewart got in the ring
with Mike

and beat him up pretty good,

just to see if he wanted
to come back for more.

Mike came back for more,

and he showed that he was really
passionate about the sport.

-So, Stewart introduces
Tyson to Cus D'Amato,

a boxing legend who once
trained heavyweight champs

Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres.

-Because D'Amato was
an old school trainer,

and he took in fighters
at his home in the Catskills.

-Cus' live-in boxing school

is so unique
that it becomes the subject

of a documentary
in the early 1980s.

The film captures the young
boxers being cared for by Cus

and his partner Camille.
[ Indistinct conversations ]

-They're better off
being in this house

than -- than anybody else,
I don't know.

-It was like a big family,
a big training camp,

and all they talked
about was boxing.

All they did
was watch fight films.

-Your right --
Your right shoulder

should be more this way.

-You're going to do
real damage.

You might drop the guy
with one punch.

-When Cus D'Amato told him
that he could be

the heavyweight champion
of the world,

that's the first time
Mike heard someone

have some sort of belief in him.

And for Mike,

that was the first person
who showed him love.

-For years, Cus
and his training staff

teach Tyson
the physical skills needed

for the peek-a-boo
style of boxing

that will one day
make him near unbeatable.

-It was chaotic.
It was just wild.

You had to keep your eye
on him, because he did

some quick movements.

-There's also a mental training.

Decades later,
Tyson reveals to Joe Rogan

that Cus used hypnosis
to sharpen some aspects

of Mike's personality.

-What kind of sh*t
did they make you do?

-You know.
-How did they do it?

-Just you relax, you go under,

you totally focus

on blackness, nothingness.

-Right?
-And you go under and you're

just being the savage,
intelligent avenue -- animal.

Just working.
You're going to do this.

You're going to
be a ferocious animal.

-Wow, so, they're
putting you under

and just teaching you
that mindset.

-Yeah.
-Whoa.

Did he give you any advice
on how to shut it off?

-No.
-[ Blows raspberry ]

-Without an off switch,
Tyson remains dangerous

outside the ring,
reportedly racking up

a string of assaults
and stealing money

from his trainer,
Teddy Atlas, to buy drugs.

Then, when Tyson is 15,

Atlas threatens him with a g*n.
[ g*n c*ck ]

Believing Tyson is capable
of sexually assaulting

Atlas's 11-year-old niece,

Atlas describes the incident in
an interview with ESPN in 2012.

-Because of what he did to,

uh, an 11-year-old girl
in my family,

and, um, took him
on his word for the things

that he said he wanted to do
to the 11-year-old girl.

Uh, so, in a sexual way.

-When Atlas tells Cus about it,
Cus says what Mike does

inside the ring
is the only thing that matters.

So, Atlas quits.

-[ Shouts ]

-Cus doesn't care.

His focus is Tyson,

who Cus has fighting
up to four fights a month,

but it's quantity over quality.

-He wasn't fighting
against great competition,

so, he was getting easy wins,

but that just stirred
the interest.

-Tyson wins 24 of his


-Weighing 214 pounds --

Mike Tyson!

[ Cheers and applause ]

-At 18, Tyson turns pro
against Hector Mercedes.

It's a brutal hit and run.

Tyson scores a technical KO
in the first round.

[ Crowd muttering, booing ]
-Mike Tyson!

-8 months later,
it's Tyson who receives

a near knockout blow.

Cus D'Amato, the first person
to ever believe in him,

dies at age 77.

[ Solemn notes play ]

But Tyson's managers,

who have been working
under Cus step up

to keep Tyson's career
on track.

-To their credit,
Jimmy Jacobs and Bill Cayton,

uh, put together
this marketing plan

where he was featured
on Sports Illustrated.

And so, the nation started
to hear about him.

And once that hit
the newsstands,

he became a national attraction.

-Hey, Mike. How you doing?
[ Cheers and applause ]

-Including an appearance
on "Letterman,"

where the audience can't seem to
get enough of the gap-toothed,

soft-spoken teenager.

-Here's a, uh, picture of
you on Sports Illustrated.

That must have been
a big thrill for you, huh?

-Yeah. It was okay.

-But the other part
of Tyson's appeal

is his in-ring transformation
into the most aggressive

and antagonistic champion
the sport will ever see.

-Yo, yo, yo, yo.

Come on. Come on. Come on.
Come on, Mike.

-Fighting Mitch "Blood" Green,

a former g*ng leader
from the Bronx,

Tyson taunts
and teases his opponent.

-Look at them.
Look at him. Look at him.

-Just laughing at him.

-As if he's playing
with his food

before he eats it.

-I can think about
watching Mike Tyson

and not being able
to look anywhere else.

-But immediately
after the fight,

Tyson is back to being
a mild-mannered

young man folks
saw on "Letterman."

-Are you on track
to the heavyweight title?

What's your schedule for
the heavyweight championship?

-Well, in this predicament,
um, you'll have to talk to the

charming gentleman on my left.
-[ Laughs ]

-Okay.
-When you look at Mike Tyson's

early start in his career,
I mean,

he had a group
of white handlers.

And these white handlers,

his management team,
his trainers,

as a white leadership team,

he was, you can say,
carrying himself in a way

that's palatable to the masses.

He was trying to get attention

but not rock the boat too much.
[ Bell rings ]

-But he has no problem sinking
opponents and doing it fast.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Frazier is down!

-Marvis Frazier lasts
only 30 seconds.

As quickly as they fall,

Tyson's celebrity seems
to rise even faster.

-Mike Tyson was must-see TV.

-A very quick knockout.

-There's this buildup

that kind of
transcends culture,

that even
if you don't watch sports,

this is the thing
you have to watch.

-But as he drops his opponents,

Tyson's kinder, gentler persona

also starts to drop away.

-I wish one of your guys
had children

if I could kick them
in the [bleep] head,

or stomp on their testicles.

-But soon the powder keg
known as Kid Dynamite...

is ready to explode.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-Release the 1976

Sylvester Stallone saga --

"Rocky" embodies
the American belief

that we're all just one
break away from greatness.

A decade later,

it's a black kid
born to poverty

that personifies

that American dream.

-He has the story of tragedy,

of having to fight
to really maintain himself

in a really rough environment,

and then, having this
legendary coach come through

and teach him
how to fight properly.

And so,
the Hollywood narratives

are already built in.

My name is Courtney Cox.

I'm a former ESPN employee

and current scholar
looking at all things

sport and culture.

At the turn of the 1990s,
Mike Tyson

is one of the most captivating
humans on the planet.

Period.

Uh, maybe the most.

-In fact, I'm the best.
Do you know what I mean?

I, sometimes, I don't
want to believe in myself,

but it's the truth,
I'm the best.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

-And it ain't bragging
if it's true.

It's a 27-0 Tyson
who steps in the ring

to fight Trevor Berbick for one
of the three heavyweight titles.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Ringside is a who's who

of the sport.
-Speaking of the greats --

Muhammad Ali
and his new wife, Lonnie.

-The man behind
the star-studded event

is fight promoter Don King.

-Don King during that
time period had control

of the heavyweight division.

-King is an ex-con
who went from serving

a manslaughter sentence
to setting up

the famed Ali versus Foreman
"Rumble in the Jungle."

-He who runs the day
will live to fight another day.

-He's always creating
something mystical and magical.

My name's Aaron Snowell,

and I have trained
over 30 world champions.

Mike Tyson went on
to fight Trevor Berbick

in order to become the WBC,

uh, heavyweight champion
of the world

and the youngest heavyweight
champion of the world.

-Tyson. Tyson goes
to work right away.

And he gets Berbick in trouble!

And he's down!

-He wins that in two rounds.

And so, that's his


came by way of knockout.

That was Tyson.

[ Reporters clamoring ]
-There he is, the WBC

champion of the world.

-But Mike Tyson is
just getting started.


"Iron" Mike's fighting

ex-police officer
Bonecrusher Smith.

Bonecrusher is half a foot
taller than Tyson

and has an extra 11-inch reach.
[ Cheers and applause ]

Tyson still wins by decision,

capturing his second
heavyweight title.

But the stress of Tyson's
grueling fight schedule

is starting to show.
[ Bell rings ]

He develops alopecia,

and when he shows up to fight
for the last remaining belt

in the division, he has
the bald spot to prove it.

-That might have been
the best shot

that Mike Tyson
has ever taken right there!

-But in the end, he triumphs.

Mike Tyson, at 21 years old,

becomes the unified heavyweight
champion of the world,

the first ever
to hold all three belts.

-A mark that is second to none
in boxing history.

-The little kid
with the pigeons

is now a high-flying celebrity.

-There probably was not a more
popular athlete on the planet

at that particular time.

Everybody loves Mike Tyson.

-So much so that just
like two other famous Mikes,

Jackson and Fox,

Mike Tyson
starts doing Pepsi ads.

-Mike, how do you feel
about sharing your title, huh?

-No problem.
Just not sharing my Diet Pepsi.

-And he finally becomes
that Nintendo star.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
is an instant hit,

selling more than


-Mike Tyson is the epitome
of the American dream.

And then some.
-He used to walk up,

see guys on the street,

and he'd hand them
$1,000, 500,

and they look down
and see that kind of money.

They could --
They couldn't believe it.

-He's boxing's king and soon
goes looking for his queen.

In 1988,
a People Magazine cover

celebrates Tyson's marriage

to actress Robin Givens.

-I'm with Robin Givens,

who was attending her first

Mike Tyson fight
as Mrs. Champion.

-[ Laughs ]

-Immediately, people speculate
that Robin is with Tyson

for the wrong reasons.

-I think, people saw
Robin Givens as a bit

of a gold digger.

-Robin does have
her own career

co-starring in an ABC sitcom.

-My problem is not Dr. Samuels.

It's my parents.

-But on "Head of the Class,"

Robin is part of an ensemble.
-No, it's just that

they'll go with me.

-With Mike, she increasingly

seems to want to be the lead...

-Robin!
-Hey, Mike!

-...taking top billing
on a LIFE Magazine cover.

-Hey, champ.
-And turning Mike's Pepsi deal

into a duet.
-Yes, dear.

[Ding!]

-And when one of
his managers dies

the newly minted Mrs. Tyson
starts making

her husband's business

her business.

-Robin, upon the death

of Jim Jacobs,

wanted to know
a little bit more about

how much Bill Cayton
was making off of Mike's fight.

She wanted to see contracts.

She wanted to see
where Mike's money was

and how much money
Mike was owed.

-I want him to step into
the ring as often as he wants,

because he wants to.

Because he enjoys it.

Never for financial reasons.

-After successfully
defending his title

against Michael Spinks.

Tyson, with the blessings
of Robin Givens and Don King,

fires Bill Cayton
and Kevin Rooney,

the only men left
from the Cus D'Amato days.

It's a significant disruption,

and Mike's physical
conditioning suffers.

-I haven't been
training properly.

And I think,
I just haven't been doing,

um, discipline myself well.

-So, when I start training
Mike Tyson at Don King's camp,

he was over


He didn't want to be there.

He didn't want to do it.

-Tyson appears to be
spiraling out of control.

He gets into a street fight in
Harlem with a former opponent,

Mitch Green,
breaking Green's face

and his own hand
in the process.

Green claims Tyson
sucker punched him

and sues for 25 million
in damages.

-Mike Tyson is a sissy!

-Tyson's dissent continues.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-There was always
something about, you know,

Mike crashing his car,

Mike having an argument
with Robin,

Mike being admitted
to the hospital,

because he was injured
in an accident.

Uh, there was all these
wild stories about them.

-He has so many women.
He's a h*m*.

His family is crazy
in the wild life.

-Things get so bad,

Tyson reportedly
attempts suicide.

-Mike Tyson went through
a-a great stage of depression

during that time.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]

He loved Robin Givens.

-But Tyson's face
during the interview

with Barbara Walters on 20/20

suggests he doesn't love it
when Robin shares

his mental health diagnosis
with the world.

-Michael...

is a manic depressive.

He is. I mean,
that's just a fact.

-A lot of people, I believe,

had a lot of sympathy for Mike,

because they saw
this heavyweight champion,

this warrior of the ring,

being basically emasculated

on national television

by his wife.

-Tyson later says
Robin supplied him

with the drugs Thorazine and
lithium before the interview.

Robin, who by now is considered
the most hated woman in America,

files for divorce.

[ Cheers and applause ]
-The marriage turned out to be

"Iron" Mike's longest bout,

and maybe even his toughest.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-To boost Tyson's morale
and his own bank account,

Don King sets up a series
of fights meant to be

not much more
than televised sparring matches.

-Buster Douglas and Mike Tyson

was supposed to be
a tune-up fight.

-That was the plan.

And nobody was really

too interested in this fight.

-Except for maybe,
Buster Douglas.

-You know, I knew
what I had inside of me,

and I knew what I could do.

You know, I had the ability
to compete on --

on that level.

Hi, I'm James "Buster" Douglas,

and in 1990,

I shocked the world
by becoming the undisputed

heavyweight champion
of the world.

-The Tyson-Douglas fight
is set to take place

at Japan's Tokyo Dome.

Bookmakers have Buster
as a huge underdog.

His odds are
a discouraging 42 to 1.

-But it actually motivated
Buster to become dedicated.

He became a fighter who had
nothing to lose, so to speak.

-Nothing to lose,
but everything to win.

So, Buster trains hard up
to the very last moment.

-Right before the fire,
we get a shake out.

You know, break a little sweat.

Loosen up. Do a body check.

Then, lay down and go to sleep

and wake up the next day,

the day of the fight,
ready to go.

-Tyson's pre-fight ritual
is a bit different.

He and his wingman,
rapper Bobby Brown,

spend the night before
the fight out on the town

with a gaggle of groupies.

-He was a single man again,

and most of his time
was spent fooling around.

So, Mike was just doing
his thing in Tokyo,

and a lot of it didn't have
to do with training.

-Buster Douglas,
absolutely having the night

of his life to this point.

-I mean, you watch the fight,

and you hear the stories
that Mike was partying,

that Mike wasn't really
taking this fight seriously,

because he thought
he had it in the bag.

And it's a circus.

-I haven't seen Mike
in this kind of trouble before.

[ Indistinct conversations,
shouting ]

-Well, no Mr. Nice Guy
in this fight.

-Mike Tyson
terrorized opponents

and thrilled crowds
throughout the 80s.

But just weeks
into the new decade,

the undisputed heavyweight
champion of the world

is struggling to keep up
with Buster Douglas.

-Look at this! Look at this!

-It's in round 10
that Buster does

what no one has done to Tyson

in 37 professional fights.

-Oh! Nice uppercut!

Point goes to Douglas!
Look at this!

He's knocked down...

-2!
-...for the first time

in his career!
-3!

-It's the biggest upset
in boxing history.

[ Cheering, announcers
speaking indistinctly ]

-Boom.

You know, it happens.

-Buster Douglas is the new

heavyweight champion
of the world.

-Mike definitely confused.

-Mike asked me,
"What happened?"

I said, "You got knocked out."

And I grabbed him,

so, he wouldn't fall.

But without a doubt,
uh, that night

changed the course of history.

-The world that night witnessed

that on any given night,

Mike Tyson was beatable.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-But getting knocked out

makes Tyson more relatable

and even more popular.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]

-[Rapping]
Fresh Prince breaks camp.

Tyson wins first round.

-At the Apollo, DJ Jazzy Jeff

and the Fresh Prince
sing about their hero

in their song --

"I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson."

Then, Steve Dunleavy
from "A Current Affair"

gets Tyson on the ropes

when he asks him about
an upcoming paternity test.

-I don't know
anything about that.

-But it's not going to happen?
It's not true?

You haven't heard from lawyers?
-Well, I --

Well, I don't know
if it's not going to happen.

Anything's possible happening.
But you know what I mean?

That's a situation
I just have to handle.

-But Tyson won't be able
to shrug off what happens

a month later.

-Tonight, police confirmed
they're investigating

allegations of r*pe
against Mike Tyson.

-His accuser is
Desiree Washington,

an 18-year-old beauty queen

Tyson meets at the
Miss Black America Pageant.

-Mike Tyson called her
at 1:30 in the morning.

By 2:30 in the morning,

they were walking
through the hotel lobby

into his hotel suite.

Some 26 hours later,

Desiree Washington
went to a local hospital

and said she had been r*ped
by Mike Tyson.

[ Reporters clamoring ]
-And soon after that,

the media enters the ring.
-Good afternoon, everyone.

Is he a monster,
or is he just macho?

-While Tyson is getting booked,

Don King is blowing smoke.

-He will deal
with this in the --

in the process of --
of court,

when the day arrives
in the court.

-And even Barbara Walters

seems to come
to Tyson's defense,

victim blaming Desiree

by reporting statements
allegedly made

by some unnamed black
female college students.

-One said, "18 year olds are
not naive in this day and age.

What did you think a guy
wanted at 2:00 in the morning?"

Another said,
"She asked for it.

She got it.
It's not fair to cry, right?"

[ Camera shutters clicking ]
-For Tyson's many supporters,

Desiree Washington
replaces Robin Givens

as the most hated woman
in the country.

At the trial, scalpers
hawked courtroom tickets

like it's a title fight.

-One ticket. $100.

-I don't think anybody
really expected Mike

to be convicted of this crime.

-But he is,
the jury finds Mike Tyson

guilty of one count of r*pe

and two counts
of criminal deviant conduct.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-Free Mike Tyson!

Free Mike Tyson!
[ Indistinct conversations ]

-Tyson fans think
it's a travesty of justice.

-I'm -- I'm sorry, buddy.

I wish I could get
you back everything you had.

Okay?
-Yes. Thank you.

-He's about 26 years old
at this time,

and so, he spends
the next 3 years in prison

for his r*pe charge.

-Behind bars but not forgotten.

Tupac, Whitney Houston,

James Brown,
and Florence Henderson

from "The Brady Bunch" --

They all visit Tyson in prison.

-So, to me, it tells me
it's less about what you do,

but rather does the public --

Do the media want you
to have a comeback narrative?

-In Tyson's case, they do.

Montel Williams and Larry King
conduct jailhouse interviews

where Tyson bemoans
how he's the real victim.

-I believe, everyone that's
involved in my life one day

or the other will betray me.

I believe that.
Yes, I totally believe that.

-Mike Tyson is still
very much someone

that can operate
within the system,

that's seen as valuable.

-Especially to
boxing promoter Don King.

As a former convict,
King not only believes

Tyson can bounce back
from going to prison,

he's banking on it.

-Don King has remained
in Mike's corner.

He's remained his promoter.

That allows Don to go out

and negotiate contracts
on Mike's behalf,

even while Mike
is still in prison.

-Tyson certainly needs
the money.

-He's a heavyweight spender.

He loves his Dom Pérignon.
He loves his Bentleys.

He loves his jewelry.

-Mike Tyson is a black man

who grew up in poverty,

who was incarcerated as a youth.

And so, if you're a boxer that
doesn't have financial literacy

and an awareness of
how money works

and you come into money
all of a sudden,

how do you handle that?

-Apparently, you spend it.

Well, you spend what you keep

after giving Don King 30%.

That hefty cut helps explain
why King is there

on March 26th, 1995,

when "Iron" Mike exits
the iron bars after serving

only half of his


-So, Mike Tyson,
a r*pist, convicted felon,

he gets out of prison, and
the day he gets out of prison,

he's handed a check, an advance
from Showtime for $30 million.

-Tyson spends over 100 grand
of that on three pet tigers.

-Most of my friends
think I'm nuts.

They don't come around my house

when the lions
or tigers or cats are out,

they don't come around.
-Man, my heart was

just beating in my --
my -- my mouth.

-That Showtime money means

Tyson needs to put on a show.

King gets his
human ATM training

for what is being billed,
"Tyson 2.0."

The former world champion
of the world,

Mike Tyson.

-This new Tyson is all Mr. Hyde

with almost no Dr. Jekyll.

-We're looking
to see Tyson as a spectacle,

as an animal, as a gangster.

[ Bell rings,
cheers and applause ]

-And so, the image switches
from this good young man

who became heavyweight champion
of the world

to this almost menace
of society.

And that's Mike Tyson II.

-At the weigh-in
for Tyson's fight

against Evander Holyfield
labeled, "Finally."

The media revels
in pointing out

how different
the ill-tempered Tyson is

from his more
good-humored opponent.

-There is no expression at all

except intimidation
on the face of Mike Tyson.

Evander Holyfield
broke into a big smile.

-Mike and Evander
didn't really hang out

in the same circles.

Evander had
this religious reputation

as being
a God-fearing Christian.

-The good-versus-evil matchup

is set in this
marquee mega event

between Tyson and Holyfield,

and it does 1.5 million
pay-per-view units.

The world was ready.

-Holyfield, who was misdiagnosed
with a heart condition,

is coming back
from a forced retirement,

and is what they call,
"ring rusty."

-Nobody gave him much
of a chance to defeat Mike

in the first fight.

-But they forgot
to tell Evander.

-Tyson gets dropped
in the sixth round.

-Mike Tyson is down!

-He gets dropped again.

-Tyson is in trouble!

-And in the 11th round,
it's just too much,

and the referee intervenes,

stops the fight.

-Unbelievable!

It's over!

-Evander Holyfield

had just defeated Mike Tyson.

-And of course,
in the boxing world,

that means we need a rematch.

That's our way
of getting resolutions.

-7 months later,
they weigh in for the rematch,

promoted as
"The Sound and the Fury."

-Don't miss the event
Saturday night.

-This time, Tyson's Fury

will be met with the sounds
of gasps and screams.

[ Eerie music plays ]
-It's June 28th, 1997,

and ESPN is tracking
Mike Tyson's every move.

-I can tell you, we've just
come from inside the arena.

The electricity
is indeed palpable.

-"Holyfield-Tyson II"
is billed as the biggest

grudge match in boxing history.

-Here we go.
Fight 2! Round 1!

♪♪

-A fight is a fight,

but a marquee boxing
event is different,

because there's a story
behind the matchup.

Without the story,
you don't have an event.

And so, you see Holyfield
as a man of Christ,

and you see Mike Tyson
as a gangster.

-But in round 2,
Tyson calls out

Holier-than-thou Holyfield

to referee Mills Lane.

-He said, "Holyfield
was head-butting me.

-Tyson's eyes cut open, and
his face streaked with blood.

-Evander Holyfield, he know,

he was doing dirty stuff
to Mike.

-The alleged head-butting
inflames Tyson,

who now sees in Holyfield
that Brooklyn bully

who m*rder*d young Mike's
pigeon all those years ago.

-I'm pretty sure people have
heard Mike Tyson was bullied

when he was young,
and that inflamed him

to fight back.

-You have someone
who comes from the hood,

from the barrio,

from the ghetto...

...and he's fearless
to authority.

He doesn't care
that Mills Lane is right there.

He's going to do what he wants.

-And what Tyson wants

is a pound of flesh.

-Oh. He bit him!

-His frustrations
got to a point

where all of a sudden,
at the end of the third round,

you see Mike bite Evander
on the ear.

-It's so unprecedented.

The referee confers
with the chairman

of Nevada's Athletic Commission,
Marc Ratner,

who seems equally befuddled
as to what's happening.

-Marc Ratner thought
he got hit in the ba*ls.

People didn't know
what was going on.

-At that moment, it's chaotic.

Tyson wants to keep fighting.

He's clearly still frustrated.

-Mills Lane deducts


and gives him a warning.

-But if you do it again,
I'm gonna disqualify you.

It takes about 15 seconds,
and Mike bites him again.

-[Gasps] He bit him again.

-And we never see
the fourth round,

because in between
the third and the fourth,

they disqualify Mike Tyson,

and the fight's over.

-But the brawl has just begun.

-All of a sudden,
Mike goes berserk.

Everybody piled into the ring,

law enforcement, trainers.

And then, Mike went nuts
and started swinging at anybody.

-Mike Tyson,
who kicked off the 90s

as a hero and champion

in and out of the ring,

has been reduced to a madman.

-It was all downhill
after that.

Mike Tyson was never
the same fighter.

Never the same fighter.

[ Sirens wailing ]

-Holyfield, meanwhile,
is on his way to the hospital.

Later, Tyson offers
up some kind of explanation

in an interview with ABC Sports.

-I take my beating like a man.

And it's just the fact
I-I-I taste blood.

I tripped and I just kept --
I was just in the zone.

I was in that real serious
and frantic zone.

-Tyson has turned boxing
on its ear.

-It was boxing going into
the area of the bizarre.

Was this resorting
to WWE tactics?

Was it the sweet science?

Uh, there's nothing
sweet about that.

It took a long time for
people to trust boxing again,

to believe in their
fighters again.

-Don King starts panicking

about his lucrative
sponsorship deals.

-You have millions and
millions of dollars at stake.

So, first thing Don King did

was to hire a publicist

who crafted a long
apology speech.

-For an athlete in the heat
of battle to suddenly lose it.

It's not new,
but it's not right.

-"I take responsibility
for my own actions."

Yada yada yada yada.

-Unlike when he was
convicted of r*pe,

this time no one is looking
to cut him a break.

-He's supposed to be
a role model.

This is not a role model's
reaction to anything.

You don't bite off
a person's ear.

-Tyson's fined $3 million.

-All in favor, say aye.
-Aye.

-And his boxing license
is revoked.

His own lawyer suggests
he's mentally incompetent

to answer for his actions.

-He wouldn't be able to do it,

with all due respect to him.

-And so, thinking
about the fact

that a r*pe conviction
is the thing

that one can come back from,

but the bite is the downfall.

That's when we say enough.

-Unable to box,
and with endorsements gone,

Tyson's money issues
become dire.

-Mike Tyson did make
a lot of money,

but he was also taken
advantage of by a lot of people

that didn't have
his best interest.

-Like Don King.

In 1998, Mike Tyson
files a $100 million lawsuit

against King,
alleging he swindled him

out of money for years.

-Tyson's lawsuit against King,

filed here in New York
Federal Court,

is really an attempt
by the 31-year-old boxer

to seize control of his career.

That's something that Tyson,

once considered
the baddest man on the planet,

has seemed neither interested in
nor capable of in the past.

-Mike felt alone.
He felt a little bit abandoned.

And all of a sudden, the people
that he thought loved him

and cared for him and would
be there for him were gone.

-With no one in his corner
and desperate for cash,

Tyson turns the perception
he's out of control

into a WWF storyline,

playing the enforcer
at WrestleMania XIV.

-Whoa!
[ Shouting ]

Whoa! Here we go!
-Here we go!

-Luckily for Tyson,
boxing is quick to forget

when there's a quick buck
in doing so.

-The business is trying
to maximize

and fatten their pockets
at the expense

and through the utilization
of the labor

and the work of a boxer
like Mike Tyson.

-Just over a year
after "The Bite Fight,"

the state of Nevada reinstates
Tyson's boxing license.

ESPN airs his weigh-in
with opponent Francois Botha

and wonders
if Tyson's mentally stable

enough to make a comeback.

-You know, Cus D'Amato prepared
Tyson to deal with all kinds

of pressure
when he was a young fighter.

Tyson has fallen down
on some of those lessons.

-And Cus would likely
have disapproved

of the disrespectful way Tyson
speaks to reporter Russ Salzberg

about his upcoming fight.

-You take into the ring
a lot of rage.

Does that work for you, or does
it work against you at times?

-Well, [bleep] it.
It's a fight.

So, whatever happens happens.

-Mike, why do you have
to talk like that?

-Well, I'm talking to you
the way I want to talk to you.

You have a problem.
Turn off your station.

-You know what,
I think, we'll end

the discussion right now.

-Then, we could [bleep].

-You got it.
Have a nice fight, Mike.

-[Bleep] off.

-It's not a nice fight.

While Tyson doesn't
gnaw on his opponent,

he seems to try
and break his arm

after the bell,

Tyson's corner rushes in
to stop him.

-So, you start to see
this sort of chaos and calamity

surrounding Mike Tyson fights.

-But Tyson's next clash
will send him back to jail

when he's found guilty
of as*ault

during a road rage incident.

-For many, it confirmed that
Mike Tyson was out of control,

that Mike Tyson was a monster,

that Mike Tyson was a savage.

-This time, there's no
TV prison specials

or celebs lining up to visit.

-By that time, his reputation
had taken a really serious hit.

There was just a stain to him
at that particular time.

-When he came out the prison,

you know,
the tool of the dungeon

is to break somebody's spirit.
[ Jail cell closes ]

People are never the same
once they go to jail

and they come out.

-And Mike's no different.

His interviews are so unhinged.

They come with trigger warnings.

-You guys try to label me.
You label me a schizoid.

You label me a manic depressive.
You label me a crazy [bleep].

I'm probably more schizoid
than I am anything.

But you label me
so many things.

You drive a [bleep] insane.

-From my viewpoint,

Mike Tyson looked at it upon,
the media and stuff

were bullying him.

And Mike Tyson starts
lashing back at 'em.

-And then,
at the press conference

for his upcoming fight
with Lennox Lewis,

Mike doesn't use
his words at all.

-Mike physically
attacks Lennox.

There's this big brawl
at the press conference,

and Mike winds up biting him
on the leg.

-Ring Magazine rewards
Tyson's bad behavior

by naming "The Brawl"
event of the year in 2002.

And Tyson is not done yet.

-I wish one of your guys
had children

if I could kick them
in the [bleep] head,

or stomp on their testicles.

So, you can feel my pain,
because that's the pain

I have waking up every day.

-Boxing fans are holding on
tight when Mike Tyson

versus Lennox Lewis
kicks off on June 8th, 2002.

And thanks to Tyson's
crazed sh*t talking,

they even have extra
safety precautions in place.

-There's this line of security
between the two fighters.

-It's a first for boxing.

-He was the boogeyman.

He was the spectacle
that people were afraid of,

but also intrigued by.

[ Bell rings, cheering ]

-But it turns out
Tyson can't walk the walk.

-Lewis online
with another right uppercut!

-I think, he just talked
a good game

to build up the fight,

and then, he went in there
and tried to knockout Lewis

in the first couple of rounds,

and when that didn't happen,
he was done.

-He's gonna take that hook.

-Big right hand from Lewis!

Lennox Lewis!
-Lewis scores a knockout,

but Tyson thinks
he's the big winner.

He earns 17.5 million

and listening to
the post-fight interview --

That might be all
he cares about.

-I'm happy for him
to give me a fight.

The payday was wonderful.
I really appreciate it.

-You can tell that he
was just done with fighting.

He was only showing up
to get a payday.

-But it's not the last time

he'll need to get
beat up to get paid.

-Mike Tyson's
made a lot of news lately.

None of it good.

Now comes word, he's broke.

"Iron" Mike filed
for bankruptcy here,

claiming he's in mega debt.
-Hey, Mike!

-Tyson, now sporting
a face tattoo,

agrees to get back in the ring

to fight Kevin McBride.
[ Bell rings ]

Despite McBride
being 8 inches taller,

almost 40 pounds heavier
and 6 years younger,

Tyson's doing it
for the 5.5 million payout.

-He really didn't care
if he won or not.

He would go in there, throw some
hard punches in the first round,

and if he didn't knock
the guy out, he was done.

-At the end of the sixth round,

Tyson says, "No mas."

-He just gave up
and quit on his stool.

He didn't want to be
there anymore.

And so, he announced
his retirement.

-It's just not
in my heart anymore.

You know, it's hard
for me to fight.

You know, me starting out.
You have to understand.

I'm from Brownsville, Brooklyn.
I had nothing. You have to look.

I have wealthy children.
Now -- Now, I'm broke.

But my children are wealthy,
and they have a great life.

It's just --
It's very difficult to fight

when you're
in that kind of situation.

-And so, it's --
it's very hard to see a boxer

go out in that way.

The romance story is
that a boxer goes out

in their farewell show.

Win or lose,
the crowd is cheering you on.

Sort of like Rocky does
in "Rocky Balboa."

[ Cheers and applause ]

For Tyson, it was --

it was the opposite.

And it's brutal,
because it has everything

to do with a man's dignity.

-And Tyson's dignity
is at least for rent.

-Mike Tyson.

-He accepts $100,000

to appear in the hit movie,
"The Hangover."

-Oh, geez.

-According to Mike,

he's high for the entire sh**t.

-He obviously had a lot
of problems with drugs

and doing a lot of cocaine,

and I don't think he was
very happy at the time.

-Tyson's been dealing
with a crushing blow.

In 2009, his 4-year-old
daughter Exodus

is accidentally
strangled to death

by the cord on a treadmill.

Tyson tells HBO's "Real Sports"
how he dealt with it

in what will be called
his strangest

and most chilling interview.

-[Inhales sharply] You know,
I did some cocaine for a week.

I had to get high.

I had to back then.
I had to get high.

Um, I couldn't handle it at all.

[ Solemn music playing ]

You have to go now.
You understand? Right?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

-Calling it one of the scariest
moments of his life,

reporter Bernie Goldberg
and his crew

do what Tyson asks and leaves.

-Mike Tyson hit rock bottom.

-And he stays there until 2013,

when ESPN cameras catch Tyson
making amends with Teddy Atlas.

Teddy's the former trainer
who pulled a g*n on Tyson

and accused him
of being a sexual predator,

but as Tyson tells the press,
he's the one making amends.

-I'm a motherf--
I'm a bad guy, sometimes.

And I used -- And I-I did
a lot of bad things.

And I wanted to be forgiven.

-From vicious to vulnerable,

Mike Tyson starts his
healing journey surrounded

by his remaining children
and third wife, Kiki.

He even makes up with Holyfield,

who helps Tyson sell his
ear-shaped cannabis gummies.

-What is this?
-I got you your ear.

-No, it's not.
This ain't my ear.

-Yes, it is.
Cherry pie punch flavor.

-He's also podcasting
these days.

And just watching
him host his podcast,

"Hotboxin' With Mike Tyson"
and his new third act.

-It's on the podcast with
Sugar Ray Leonard as his guest

that Tyson reflects
on the toxic grooming

and the monster
boxing turned him into.

-I'm working on being
the art of humbleness.

Can you believe me? That's
the reason why I'm crying.

'Cause I'm not
that person no more.

-He breaks down in tears.

A grown black man wearing
his emotions publicly

like that is powerful.

-And I like to think of
people as Russian dolls.

There's the young Mike Tyson

that's experienced
all this childhood trauma.

There's "Iron" Mike, the baddest
man on the planet's in there.

The guy that had the fall
from grace,

the guy that was in prison
is in there.

All these people
are still there.

They're just parts
of this whole.

This bigger person
that he is today.

Reminds me that we have
to give people the capacity

and space to grow.

♪♪