Mike Tyson: My belts are garbage

[mozfonky]

If he thinks his belts are garbage then I doubt he's trying to hold on to what he was. He also told Dana White that all his nicknames were bullshit, and the way he said it didn't sound like he was depressed or bitter, he was just kind of laughing or shrugging off all the hype and was a different person.

He always seems to surprise me, with his mix of neurotic behavior while also being the nicest guy in the world at times, being very knowledgeable and even-tempered with speaking about mma and boxing (not all professionals study what they do with real passion or really speak about it like that)...and this latest "my belts are garbage" thing is also interesting. I don't dislike Tyson nor do I find him uninteresting.

Most of the "intimidation" and "bullying" and "hype" came from the press and the public's projections, not Mike, at least in the early years. Once the hangers on pushed his unstable mentality into egomania he changed, but in the early years and even for many after that, I'd say 90% of the image was just pure projection. All he did to scare people in the early years was to be faster than any heavyweight ever, hit hard and be professional and savage in the ring.

 

[Soul Slasher**]

Most of the "intimidation" and "bullying" and "hype" came from the press and the public's projections, not Mike, at least in the early years. Once the hangers on pushed his unstable mentality into egomania he changed, but in the early years and even for many after that, I'd say 90% of the image was just pure projection. All he did to scare people in the early years was to be faster than any heavyweight ever, hit hard and be professional and savage in the ring.

What added to that intimation was when Mitch Green had the balls to provoke Tyson in a street fight which ended up getting his face broken while getting knock the f'ck out.

 

[mozfonky]

What added to that intimation was when Mitch Green had the balls to provoke Tyson in a street fight which ended up getting his face broken while getting knock the f'ck out.

Even then though, if green's account is to be believed, Mike, realizing his hand was broken, ran off shaking his fingers out by the time Green got up. He's never been the absolute monster he was portrayed as, never.

 

[Soul Slasher**]

Even then though, if green's account is to be believed, Mike, realizing his hand was broken, ran off shaking his fingers out by the time Green got up. He's never been the absolute monster he was portrayed as, never.

But you can agree that as a fighter he was definitely a monster.

 

[mozfonky]

not entirely, not for every fight or all his career. I honestly feel badly for mike in a lot of ways because he was pushed and pulled by so many people to be so many things he really wasn't. He quit in his last two fights, he tried to quit in the first holyfield fight when he butted him intentionally in the 8th round and foul out. His corner should have stopped the douglas and the holyfield fights and the lewis fights but no...he's mike tyson, the freak, the monster, he can do it. I think a guy like Jake Lamotta would be more a monster than Mike, someone hated, someone vicious, someone who could take tons of punishment. Mike was really (like hector camacho) a guy with all the talent and ability in the world who just got lost. His place in the public mind isn't all accurate or even all his creation. He's still one of the most charismatic, interesting freakish figures the sport has ever seen. He's done a lot of things to try to live up to that silly image which I don't really believe though.

 

[asdffdsa]

To add to what mozfonky said, I've always felt that Tyson was more insecure than anything else. To the general public he might have seemed like a monster because lashing out and acting like a dangerous monster was the only way he had learned to deal with his insecurities.

Most of his appearances on TV these days are littered with bits of self deprecation. Part of it is genuine disgust at what he once was. Part of it is his continuing desire to be accepted.

 

[Prefect]

not entirely, not for every fight or all his career. I honestly feel badly for mike in a lot of ways because he was pushed and pulled by so many people to be so many things he really wasn't. He quit in his last two fights, he tried to quit in the first holyfield fight when he butted him intentionally in the 8th round and foul out. His corner should have stopped the douglas and the holyfield fights and the lewis fights but no...he's mike tyson, the freak, the monster, he can do it. I think a guy like Jake Lamotta would be more a monster than Mike, someone hated, someone vicious, someone who could take tons of punishment. Mike was really (like hector camacho) a guy with all the talent and ability in the world who just got lost. His place in the public mind isn't all accurate or even all his creation. He's still one of the most charismatic, interesting freakish figures the sport has ever seen. He's done a lot of things to try to live up to that silly image which I don't really believe though.

The thing I disagree with people about is that they always say that he was a bully and just folded when it got tough. He took a hell of a beating against Lennox. He wanted it and took a lot of punishment in the hope of landing one good punch.

 

[mozfonky]

The thing I disagree with people about is that they always say that he was a bully and just folded when it got tough. He took a hell of a beating against Lennox. He wanted it and took a lot of punishment in the hope of landing one good punch.

Ya, that wasn't completely true either, but it had a grain of truth. The beatings he took against Douglas, Holyfield, and Lewis were horrific. If he was just a Liston or Duran type figure (which most people said) he'd have either took a dive, got kayoed or quit a lot sooner. He truly is in a category all his own, truly a prodigy and a freak, comparisons and history don't really hold to him. I still wouldn't be surprised if they could have the mythical heavyweight greats tournament that he could beat half the guys in the commonly given top ten heavyweights with ease. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

 

[Sumbog]

I dont get the hate? He is clearly just saying that now compared to his responsibilities as a parent, and in the grand scheme of life, those belts are garbage.

 

[mozfonky]

Mike is like ali, engenders many different feelings and often many conflicting feelings in one person. I often get tired of his self-loathing too, I mean didn't he make a lot more money than 99.999999 percent of us? So thinking he's still just "the dirt on the bottom of your shoe" or "I'll never have a chance" in a society where, lets be real, green power is more important than any other is just a sign of his mental problems and an attention ploy. Thing is, I both understand what he's saying and deride him for it, that's Tyson. The same Tyson who could go back and forth from American Darling, to convicted rapist to the huge comeback to the quitting and ear biting. The true haters I think would have to be a certain kind of white male who resents any black male, any, hate them when their broke, hate them when their rich just hate them for existing, those are the true haters and I don't think we have any of those here.

 

[StiffUpperLip]

This video is pretty old

 

[mozfonky]

that's right, someone made a thread for it then.

 

[pittelp]

I wonder how much of his stuff made it to the pawn shop.

 

[mozfonky]

I wonder how much of his stuff made it to the pawn shop.

Don't think he's ever been that "broke" but that question reminds me of the scene in raging bull where jake rips the jewels out of his belt only to be told by the pawn guy that the jewels arent' worth much but the belt would have been. Also, Bundini took Ali's belt, the belt that all the heavyweights in history had and sold it, no one has seen it since.