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There was a lot of talk this week about former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson’s appearances on The Oprah Winfrey show, both on Monday and again on Friday, for a live show. Most people were surprised by the openness Tyson showed when discussing his career, his pattern of poor decisions in regards to drugs, alcohol, women and Evander Holyfield’s right and left ears.
After seeing clips of the Monday show online and catching the live Friday show, I have to say that Mike Tyson, for all the things he’s done and been vilified for in his very public life, deserves a shot at redemption in the eyes of the masses.
Yes, it’s hard to look past the fact that he was accused of and convicted for raping a young woman in the early ’90s. It’s hard to look past the fact that in the heat of battle he lacked the self-control to maintain professionalism and refrain from cheating. It’s hard to look past a lot of things, but if there’s anything Tyson’s appearance on the show ought to indicate, it’s the fact that you have to learn to look past the negatives — no matter how flagrant and egregious — in order to find absolution, both in the public eye and internally.
Part of me says my reaction to Tyson’s appearances is driven largely by sympathy, and I suppose that’s accurate. It’s hard to ignore the grief, frustration and emotional pain Tyson was clearly dealing with when discussing the tragic loss of his young daughter, Exodus. But it goes well beyond that. Obviously I feel for the guy, as I’d feel for anyone lamenting the loss of a child, but that alone is not all that entitles Tyson to redemption.
The manner in which he handled the situation with Evander Holyfield was admirable. It could have been a publicity stunt, for all I know, but a small part of me wants to believe after more than 10 years he is legitimately remorseful for his actions and ready to let everything in his sordid past go in favor of a quiet life with his children.
I can’t profess to know what was going on in Tyson’s head during the interview. He had a tendency to ramble and go off on tangents; and the voice — my god, the voice — it makes it hard to take him seriously sometimes. For all intents and purposes, however, I want to believe he went on that show for the right reasons: to clear up all his negatives and to find a way to deal with the pressures and stresses of a lifestyle such as he has lived. For that, I feel like the one time “Baddest Man on the Planet” has earned a second chance to set things right and do some good.
Bangor Daily News