Mike Tyson has been more or less everywhere in sports over the last year. From features on Real Sports and ESPN about his one-man Broadway show to regularly attending sporting events as a celebrated guest — Tyson is a regular at UFC events, being given the superstar treatment by the promotion — his has been sold as one of the ultimate stories of redemption.
A key to Tyson’s redemption story has been his sobriety.
But yesterday, at a Friday Night Fights event that served as Tyson’s promotional debut, he admitted to lying about his sobriety. Bad Left Hook has the full quotes from the video, which includes Mike’s take on his surprising reunion at the show with Teddy Atlas who had pulled a gun on Tyson as his trainer after Mike allegedly sexually assaulted a young relative of Teddy:
“I’m a m———–. I’m a bad guy sometimes. I did a lot of bad things, and I want to be forgiven. So in order for me to be forgiven, I hope they can forgive me. I wanna change my life, I wanna live a different life now. I wanna live my sober life. I don’t wanna die. I’m on the verge of dying, because I’m a vicious alcoholic. Wow. God, this is some interesting stuff.
“I haven’t drank or took drugs in six days, and for me that’s a miracle. I’ve been lying to everybody else that think I was sober, but I’m not. This is my sixth day. I’m never gonna use again.”
The more time Tyson has in the spotlight the clearer it is how deep his troubles truly run and one gets the sense that he’s never going to beat them. That he was lying about his sobriety is less of a concern for me than what happens to Mike over the next few years.