Wanted To Be Like Mike

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

When I was born, my father commented that I was quite an ugly baby. He stated that my face resembled a dark pitbull or Mike Tyson. The latter comparison would end up influencing my life in ways that I did not know at the time.

My first working knowledge of who Mike Tyson was stemmed from the Nintendo game title where he was the final boss. As a mere child, I became familiar with the boxing titan who was assembled in pixels. Upon discovery that he was an actual human being and not merely a videogame character, I then saw his handiwork in the real world.

I had found him impressive as a final boss character, but even more so as a boxer. Even with my very rudimentary knowledge of boxing, I realized that I was watching something spectacular. The movements, the action, the flow of everything about fighting captured my young imagination. By the time I was born, it had already been a year since Buster Douglas had vanquished Mike Tyson and caused a chink in his mystique.Iron Mike to this day has given me plenty of takeaways on how to approach life.

• Life hits you hard, especially when you do not expect it. This takeaway stemmed from Mike Tyson's bouts when he is winning or losing. For example, as aggressive as Tyson was, look again at the highlight reel of his victories on the road to the heavyweight belt. Most of the damaging blows came on the counter shot. When one is focused on hitting something is when one is most vulnerable. This also can be seen in Tyson's first loss. The out of nowhere shot is more metaphorical but still no one expected underdog Buster Douglas to upset Tyson in a Tokyo arena. 

• No matter how high you climb, one is still human. This became all too apparent in the latter stages of Tyson's career, when he became more known for his arrests, outrageous antics,  and massive debt rather than his boxing prowess. It is the cold reality that the fall to rock bottom can happen to anyone even heavyweight boxing kings.

• Humor can help one's image no matter what one has done. In modern times, Tyson is now seen in the public as a face tattooed, pudgy, former fighter that appeared in the Hangover movies.The man can also dance. Does it atone for past maliciousness? Certainly not, but it is entertaining so see the former "Baddest Man on the Planet" jiving to Bobby Brown.

 

• Tigers are majestic animals and should not be kept as pets. One could view the Hangover movie as a representation of American excess and broken values. Or one could see the message that one should not violate nature by taking it out of its habitat. Also don't steal from people. A lesson that can hit one hard:  

• Lastly, do not get a face tattoo.