Mike Tyson's toughest fight is with life itself

                           AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics

Earlier this week, Mike Tyson's 4 year old daughter, Exodus Tyson, passed away in a most unfortunate accident involving a treadmill. 

In boxing, Mike is universally regarded as one of the greatest fighters who ever put on a pair of gloves.  50 wins by way of 44 knockouts is a stellar accomplishment.  Not only did he annihilate opponents such as Frank Bruno and Michael Spinks, he struck fear into their hearts like no one else did.  He came into the ring, blocking out any other thought except what needed to be done in order to decimate his enemy.  In a video documentary, Tyson mentioned that he often envisioned his boxing gloves going through and opening a hole on the back of his opponents' heads.  In training, he was reputed to have thrown a short 4-punch combo clocked at one second - an amazing feat for a heavyweight, nonetheless. 

It is tough to imagine that Mike Tyson, as a kid, was once a chubby youngster wearing glasses.  But that's who he was.  He recalled a time when a neighborhood bully took those glasses and shoved it down the fuel hatch of a car.  Unfortunately, when man demeans a fellow man, we can all suffer.  Recurring pain - without the capacity for forgiveness - often converts the sensitive innocent into a raging bull.  You may want to read a bibliography on "Ivan the Terrible," and countless other examples, to observe the effects of a tragic childhood leading to a tragic adulthood. 

The ring can present symmetric challenges and opportunities.  The more situps and miles jogged, the greater the stamina - a predictable variable for success.  An aggressive opponent can be somewhat negated by a counterpunching approach or with body punches.  The sweet science has far less factors and drivers than the all-encompassing puzzle of life.  In fact, man has probably spent more hours on the subject of life than any other endeavor, by way of philosophies, religious writings and views, and proposed recipes for enhanced or elevated experience and success.  "The Good Life." 

Life, unfortunately, for the great athletes like a Mike Tyson, presents asymmetric challenges.  It cannot be broken down as simple geometry, with perfect angles for computation.  Its dynamic, often unexpected, nature can press heavily when the wrong choices are made.  Throughout most of his life, Mike Tyson has lived a regimented life, often waking up at 4:30 in the morning to run several miles.  Then there are the predictable schedules with nutritionists and the training regimen of trainers.  When a window of partying and drugs opens itself, such can be an irresistable lifestyle for an athlete who has been derived of much social outings from his previously disciplined way of living.  Dennis Rodman can attest to the challenges of this conversion.  Life can provide a nasty "baptismal by fire."  The proverbial "fall from grace" is a common theme in world literature and in religion.  A hardcore training schedule in sports and athletics also requires an obsessive and compulsive desire to execute repetitiously and with much physical rigor.  Those same compulsive traits are transferrable and applicable to drugs, booze, women, and wasteful spending.

Tyson's toughest fight is now with life itself.  Gone are the hundreds of millions of dollars he earned as an athletic icon.  The controversies and legal disputes made him an anti-hero in the eyes of society.  Yet, throughout the spectacle, Mike has remained one of the most authentic figures in modern times.  In all the quiet moments, in the times of rigorous preparation, in the wild outbursts, he conducted himself in a butally honest way - both the good and bad sides of his tortured soul expressed themselves, uncensored, and brought home to tens of millions of television sets and computer screens.  In the words of Mark Twain, "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."

His iconic abilities brought awe to the audience.  Tyson was unmatched in skill.  When a bigger Evander Holyfield exposed the flaws of Tyson always going for the knockout punch, Tyson's determination to win was unmatched.  War is savagery.  No brute instincts are left unexplored or untapped.  You utilize it - even at the risk of transforming yourself into the devil himself.  Out went a portion of Holyfield's ear.  Mike was not just a boxer; he was a gladiator; a soldier; an aimless mercenary hell bent on domination even if it meant going at it alone without a crux.  A real-life John Rambo.  Cus D'Amato would have been his colonel.  This real-life boxer / Rambo no longer has the benefits of attaining wisdom and enlightenment from a superior and commanding officer - a Virgil-like guide.  And thus Tyson wanders aimlessly.  No longer possessing a single-minded pursuit of enemy destruction, his identity is shattered.  He is lost.  Perhaps for good.  Rambo excelled in Vietnam, earning the Congressional Medal of Honor.  After the war, he toiled at a dead-end job.

Tyson's life is a big "would have been."  If he were born in a different time, he may have been regarded as a god.  In Ancient Rome, he would have been a god of war, with utmost zeal for blood that can inspire a brutal army to effect a complete and total continental conquest.  Or perhaps striking fear as elevated as that attributable to Hannibal or to Alexander.

Mike Tyson, the boxer, was an archetype for destruction, an area of our conscience that requires to be controlled lest we ourselves become destroyed by it.  Like fire.  He reaches into that part of our soul that we hide from others.  "The other side."  The passive aggressive.  That ugly side that is capable of grabbing a knife and thrusting for blood.  It goes against normalized morality and legality.  Realizing it destroys us, physically, mentally, and morally.  Mike Tyson, the former athelete and now a citizen of the world, is also an archetype for uncompromising honesty.  He lives, and lived, life on his own terms, on his own set of principles, based on his own circumstances. 

The man - with the multitudes of variables and circumstances unique to him - has undergone a journey that has allowed others - witnesses and observers - to avoid the same.  In an old saying, "your life is either an example or a warning to others."  People may admire his unquestionable authenticity; loathe his uncontrollable outbursts; envy his (former) physical prowess.  But universally, the reasonable man wishes him well in his battle with life.  The reasonable man recognizes life's challenges.  And in sharing his common humanity with Mike Tyson, the reasonable man shares his fate with the former undisputed gladiator of boxing - death.  It is a fact of life that all of humanity shares.  And when the pangs of mortality are forced upon man or gladiator, no aggressive impulse, no authentic code, no brute instinct, no sensitive soul escapes its damning effects. They elevate the wisdom and rightness of compassion - the very essence of what constitutes our common humanity.  In that word - compassion - resides three important notions:  1.)  compass, 2.)  passion, and 3.) compassion, itself. 

"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart
until, in our own despair, against our will,
comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

- Aeschylus

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Blog:  mdumon.blogspot.com

Marv Dumon is also the National Business and Finance Examiner.  He received his BA, BBA, and MPA degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.  Contact information at marvin.dumon@gmail.com.  You can subscribe to Marv's articles by clicking on the Subscribe button.