Iron Mike and Boxing KOed

Athletes can be extremely annoying to the average fan at times. It gets to the point where their abnormal nature becomes more intriguing than watching them compete. Take the following pathetic account, for example.

Iron Mike Tyson. Let that name resonate for a moment. In the mid-1980s and part of the 1990s, Iron Mike Tyson made boxing the most exciting sport in the world, even for non-fans. This boy with the shy smile and the Swarzeneggar body was an absolute rage inside the boxing ring. The youngest heavyweight champion in history, Tyson burst onto the scene with fists that could knock down walls and interviews that could put a smile on Yogi Berra’s face.

After a prison sentence for a rape conviction, Tyson became less of a devastating fighter and more of a phenomenon. One minute he crashed into his car and was driving away from him, the next he denied raping a young woman but said he wished he had, then he was biting Evander Holyfield’s ear in a failed attempt to regain boxing prominence. Finally, after countless run-ins with the law, Tyson was beaten into submission one last shot for the title by Lennox Lewis, a champion who had run out of quality opponents.

There was a time when we all learned to love Tyson. Soon, we learned to hate him. And, in the end, many would pity him.

After squandering a 400 million fortune and filing for bankruptcy, Tyson decided to escape his demons and try to regain some of his glory and some of those lost millions. He would fight again, after several years of recovering from the beating he suffered by Lewis.

Finally, an overweight and too old Tyson, lacking the skills he once had, took another beating, this time at the hands of an unknown officer named Danny Williams. Knocked out in the fourth round, Tyson was left thinking about a dark future. His own coach suggests that Tyson’s journey must come to an end.

For nearly two decades, Mike Tyson has saved boxing from completely drowning in his own group of greed, malevolence, and hideous boxers. Whether he was decimating an opponent with the most powerful blows ever or stunning our minds with his bizarre behavior, Tyson astonished virtually everyone who saw or read about him. He did what all athletes should do: he kept us entertained.

Now, with his latest loss, Tyson and boxing are defeated. And all we can do is hope that the next phenomenon arrives soon.