Issue 2: Mike Tyson's Continued Relevance; What Don King Once Told Me
No less enigmatic at 54 years old than he was at 20 when he became the youngest ever heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson reminded the world Saturday evening that he still moves the needle better than his predecessors and successors.
As Tyson and Roy Jones, 51, put on a successful pay-per-view exhibition fight over the weekend, I'm reminded of a moment that I shared with boxing promoter Don King. But it has nothing to do with the well-documented dysfunctional relationship that King and Tyson shared.
In 2018 I profiled King for a feature that I penned for Playboy Magazine. And I'll never forget one thing he said to me that day. And he said A LOT!
King and I were walking across Eighth avenue in midtown Manhattan to his hotel. He had just finished promoting a fight in Madison Square Garden. En route, we passed several homeless people who appeared visibly checked out. We both took notice but didn't acknowledge anything to one another. About three hours later as our interview was concluding, King revealed to me his greatest fear, and circled back to what we both observed hours earlier to illustrate his point.
"You see the bag ladies and the bums on the street — broken spirit. If you go broke you can always try and make some money, but if they break your spirit, you're done."
It was putting it starkly, but it's a comment that has always stayed with me.
And while I have no idea if Tyson lives by the same credence, I've always been impressed by his refusal to allow his spirit to be broken.
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Until next time...
-Benjamin Block