Tyson’s honesty overpowers reunion with Holyfield

Heavyweight boxing legends Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield met today on Oprah, their first conversation since Tyson made sports history twelve years ago, biting Holyfield’s ear during their infamous WBA championship bout. Tyson of course always makes for watchable television, but his incredibly uncomfortable candor, so fascinating in his solo appearance on Monday’s Oprah, here cancels out his former rival’s sportsmanship and turns the reunion into wooden television.

I’m not saying anything new by noting Tyson is an off-script phenomenon, but this becomes extra clear in his Oprah appearances where he skirts all easy narratives and, despite the show’s formula, almost rejects any sort of redemption or tidy explanation for his demons. When Holyfield enters later in the segment, his professionalism and camera ease next to the contrite Iron Mike does the opposite of what it’s supposed to do — it makes him appear cold and calculating and it sucks the life out of the interview.

Tyson always went lengths to prove he wasn’t a dumb brute. His comically random, often inaccurate, large vocabulary has been one of his defining characteristics; but his scholarly appetite for boxing and boxing history has always been evident. He may forever be lumped in with the brawlers of boxing’s villains gallery, but he has an informed appreciation for the sport that deserves respect. That said, one of the best parts of the interview is where Tyson explains why he bit the ear; he respected Holyfield so much as a boxer, knew his history and loved his style so much that he just wanted so badly to beat him. And man, we’re fed so many soundbites nowadays that hearing something that real sounds like sirens.

But then there’s palatable Holyfield, who downplays any animosity between the two and says he never harboured bad feelings over the incident. There’s really no reason for him to be playing this game, not with Tyson so willing to take the rap and so against having niceties come to his rescue, but Holyfield does it anyway because, well, that’s what people do on television. By the end, Oprah asks them what’s next and why this and Holyfield responds that he, of course, wanted kids to know they can overcome any conflict if he and Tyson are able to once again peacefully touch gloves — though Oprah has to prod this moral from him and he barely looks at or addresses Tyson throughout the entire segment. Tyson? Again being too real to be easily packaged, randomly but passionately says he wants to fight for the immigration rights of Mexicans.

The most affecting moment is before Holyfield even enters, when a viewer reaches out to Tyson saying the boxer’s Monday appearance gave him the strength he needed to face his own daughter’s death (Tyson’s four-year-old daughter died earlier this year). Instead of accepting the compliment or offering further emotional guidance — or even talking to the man — Tyson clarifies that he hasn’t really dealt with his loss at all, and that he still struggles with the violent urges he feels when he reflects on it. Tyson obviously has no desire to dish out inspiration, and while part of this is perhaps him avoiding responsibility or fearing another backlash against his character, I can’t help but think what he’s showing us of himself is far more valuable than any rote role modeling. Idols are for kids and obviously Tyson isn’t — but for those of us who grew up in awe of him, his honesty regarding anger and anguish, especially in an arena of this kind of artifice, hits just as hard as his punches did.