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People who look back on the 1980’s in New York City remember the high-octane characters that made the decade hum, especially in the world of sports. From Lawrence Taylor to Dwight Gooden, the back pages of the tabloids fueled our fascination with these larger-than-life figures. Perhaps no athlete dominated the scene, however, like Fort Greene’s own Mike Tyson. His destructive fury in the boxing ring was matched only by his self-destructive behavior outside it. Now, a new book tries to explain the rise, fall and resurrection of Iron Mike, “Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson”, written by sportswriter Mark Kriegel.
Kriegel is an ESPN essayist and a former columnist for the New York Post and New York Daily News. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to tout the book. Kriegel told host Larry Mendte he was initially reluctant to revisit Tyson as a book topic but eventually came around when he examined Tyson as a stubborn survivor: “I looked at it a little closer and I think of what he actually did survive- the death of a child, the kind of fame that can really kill you, boxing itself, prison as a kid, prison as an adult- again, there’s got to be some kind of virtue in having survived, and also I think he’s a better guy. The question is, what went into that fame?”
Kriegel says hitting rock bottom before his comedic appearance in the movie “The Hangover” ultimately turned the perception of Tyson around: “He lost a daughter through a crazy accident, and he got married, and I think… that had to do with his transformation.”
Kriegel will be appearing at a book launch hosted by actress Rosie Perez at St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn tonight at 7:30. Greenlight Bookstore will be selling copies that he will sign. Go to Eventbrite.com for tickets and more event details.
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