This book came highly recommended by the legendary Hank, plus growing up Mike Tyson was a pretty big deal. We’d watch his fights on HBO as family with my brothers and my dad, and were obsessed with playing Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! for the NES. It was a pretty big deal at the time.
The book was very interesting and insightful at his most interesting life. While I am very thankful that I cannot at all relate to his difficult upbringing, it was very, very interesting to read about. I couldn’t imagine having to go through all that craziness at such a young age, or really any age. A truly different world than mine, yet only a few hours away.
I really liked learning about his childhood and early rise in boxing. Not only did I begin to recall much of his early fights, but it also brought back many memories from my youth as I recalled the various fights on HBO. When a Mike Tyson fight was on, we were all glued to the TV and anxious to see another wild knockout. We’d usually invite some friends over to watch along as well. It really was a major event for us growing up.
Reading about his life toward the end of his career and after was a bit sad at times. I know he’s just a human like the rest of us, but watching him on TV when I was a little kid you kinda think he’s something more. Almost like a comic book character or something like that. Even though I know better, it’s still the memory I still have in some ways.
By no means a role model or someone I’d admire for the overwhelming majority of his life, I did enjoy reading about him a lot. This was a pretty solid book and it really brought back memories of fun times that were had watching him.