Aside from Covid-19 news, one of the most interesting bits
of news comes from the world of boxing. The former “Baddest Man on the Planet,”
Mike Tyson has shown videos of himself training for a “comeback.”
Mike Tyson was the most ferocious boxer of his generation. I’m
old enough to remember watching him in his prime. The man was not the biggest
guy in the ring but he was the most ferocious. He was raw violence personified.
If Mohammad Ali was the boxing hero of my father’s generation, Mike Tyson was
the villain of mine. Tyson’s reputation was such that he simply terrified people
and most of the guys he killed in the ring had already lost before they entered
the ring. I was living in England during his first fight with Frank Bruno, who
was physically bigger. The fact that Frank Bruno lasted five rounds was
considered a major achievement and in fairness to Frank Bruno he did land one
good shot on Tyson, who promptly replied with many good shots.
The end for Mike Tyson’s era of invincibility came when he
met James Buster Douglas who refused to be intimidated. As Tyson would later
admit, the loss came because he was too busy partying the night before and
Douglas was training for the fight of his life. Although he had a few more wins
after that, he was never the same. There were his fights with Evander Holyfield
(including the infamous disqualification for biting the ear), then he got a
proverbial spanking from Lenox Lewis and the finale to his career was losing to
Kevin McBride, a white boy (back in the days when top heavy weight boxers were
inevitably black) whom was described as a can of tomatoes.
Tyson had what the others of his generation didn’t have –
charisma. You can’t help but talk about him. After boxing, Tyson has had some
success as an actor, most noticeably in the movie Ip Man 3, where he stared
opposite Donny Yuen. His personality seems to have softened too. When I watch
him on Youtube, I find myself struggling to understand how the gentle and soft-spoken
man was once the
most famous and intimidating man on the planet.
So, what does one make of his comeback? There have been
reports that the 53-year old Mike Tyson is in incredible shape and seems to be
as physically impressive as he was when he was in his 20s.
One of the people
who has endorsed him for his physicality is another old man, who made waves
when he made a comeback to the sport in his later years – George Forman. Big George
has he was known has stated that Mike Tyson could be a top-heavy weight:
George Foreman was physically impressive and his brute strength
was evident in his 40s as it had been in his 20s. What he lacked in speed, he
more than made up for in raw power. It’s probably the same case with Tyson.
On one hand its very encouraging to see Mike Tyson at 53 and
Evander Holyfield at 57 making comebacks and looking as fit as ever. This is
what you call active aging and it would be nice to see both be among the top
contenders for the Heavyweight Crown. Success for Tyson or Holyfield in the ring
would be a knockout punch for ageism in the workforce – ie if Tyson can hold
his own in a boxing ring against younger and fitter men, why can’t I still be a
contender for top PR jobs at 45?
Boxing also needs a breath of fresh air and both Tyson and
Holyfield could provide it. Since Mike Tyson left the scene, there hasn’t been
a heavy weight to have captured the public imagination the way he did (OK, Mayweather
and Pacquiao have done it in lower weight divisions but still…)
However, there are certain realities about aging. The human
body deteriorates with time – hence when I’m described as “strong” by people 20-years
younger, I worry for the people giving me the compliment and I’m not doing
anything near the intensity of what boxers’ do. While I wouldn’t want the now
gentle version of Mike Tyson to breath in my direction when he’s annoyed, it
could be a different story if he has to face a professional boxer who has
trained day and day out and grew up in an era where his history is just that –
history:
There has to come a time when you have to acknowledge that
your body and mind are not geared up for the current game. Mohammad Ali was the
prime example. We loved him for being able to take on younger and stronger men.
However, success blinded him to the fact that his body was giving up. His fight
against the younger and fitter Larry Holms was a tragedy. Even Larry Holms was embarrassed
and was sobbing throughout the fight because he couldn’t bear to hurt his hero
(Ironically, an older Holms would face a young Tyson, who showed no respect for
age – Holms got the message and promptly retired with his millions).
Successful people are often blinded by the fact that the tenacity
that made them great can be their undoing as it blinds them to certain
realities. This doesn’t mean they shouldn’t leave the game that made them
successful. They merely need to know that their role has changed.
There are examples in other sports. In tennis, there was
Ivan Lendl who was a very successful world number one for a long time. However,
despite trying, he never won Wimbledon. Eventually his body gave in. While his
body was no longer able to play top level tennis, he had his wits and knowledge,
which he used as coach. As Andy Murry’s coach, he managed to win the won grand
slam that eluded him – Wimbledon. Then there’s the example of Franz Beckenbauer
who lead Germany to World Cup success as a player in 1974 and as a coach in
1990.
Success can be sustained. You just need to know when your
abilities to fulfil certain roles run out and use what you have to in a different
role. A body will wear out but the knowledge won’t. How do you capitalize on it?
Boxers making a comeback should look at the example of the
most famous fictional boxer, Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone. Rocky
I to IV were believable. We could understand a relatively youthful Rocky taking
punishment. Rocky V and Rocky Balboa were sad – here was an old man struggling to
be young. Then the franchise evolved into Creed when Rocky became the trainer
for a younger fighter and we could believe that. It gave the character a
dignified continuation that was believable.
There should be a lesson there. Your time doing certain
things is limited. It doesn’t mean that your out of the game – you just need to
play it differently.
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