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Athletes, who transcend their sports, often do so because they confront or symbolize larger issues that emerge from our ever-changing society. The standout athlete is celebrated not just because he/she excels at physical performance, but because they reaffirm attributes society deems important enough to be held up as examples for the fans and spectators who make up the majority of civilization. Quarterback Joe Namath achieved iconic status; arguably because he bucked the traditional role of “clean cut” sportsman, and helped usher in the age of extreme hedonism, and the establishment of the male sports figure as strutting peacock. Boxer Muhammad Ali brought in a component even more foreign to the traditional role reserved for the athlete in society: the political spokesperson.

Using these two as examples, it can be said that aside from their physical prowess, sports stars who transcend their genre may standout as symbols of the period of time during which they perform. In doing so, they redefine the expectations of those who follow them, and sometimes redefine the criteria that we use to determine who our heroes are. This, in turn, makes for a ticklish debate about their appropriateness as role models for the more impressionable elements of society.

For all of his technical brilliance, Floyd Mayweather Jr. fails to stimulate the public psyche, as he cleverly piles up victory after victory by out-pointing his opponents, while eliminating the dramatic element of the knockout. Aside from his pugilistic prowess, it might be said that Mayweather has made no societal impact on our collective consciousness, except because of his reported excessive materialism.

Before his dramatic downfall, O.J. Simpson embodied the qualities that made for a presentable specimen to polite society. Humility, physical attractiveness, and well spoken presentation made for a perfect media idol until the fateful event   s of a June night years ago that toppled this cash cow.

Mike Tyson differs from other sports figures of the era; he represents physical prowess in its most basic form.

Throughout his career, Tyson took no official position on the issues of the day. No crowd of reporters flocked around him to capture sound bites to chronicle his opinions about breaking events. Any media interest that did arise—aside from his exploits in the ring—sprang from the circumstances of his unfortunate childhood and his legal problems. In this, it might be said that he shares a commonality with many Black athletes of his and following generations, many of them noted as much for the dysfunction of their lives as for their physical prowess.

Nonetheless, Tyson has remained an intriguing personality, so much so that he attracted the attention (and the pens and keyboards) of such literary titans as Pete Hamill, George Plimpton, and Joyce Carol Oats. Possibly they jumped on the easy label of Tyson as the uncomplicated “id” in Sigmund Freud’s theory of the psyche, a primitive man motivated by his primal urges of aggression and sexual gratification, unencumbered by the pesky notions of consequence or overarching morality.

For whatever reasons, the Tyson persona, for better or worse, has resulted in a publisher’s goldmine of literature documenting and analyzing his transgressions. A quick glance at Amazon.com reveals more than a dozen books dedicated to the Tyson saga. “Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson” written by Rory Holloway with Eric Wilson, is among them.

Holloway was a personal friend to Tyson, a relationship which segued into a job as the problematic heavyweight’s manager. To some onlookers, this explains the evaporation of the champ’s considerable wealth (a misfortune that has befallen a good many other successful African American athletes), as much of this loss of funds occurred on the watch of Holloway and co-manager John Horne.

Wilson, the author Holloway chose to pen his side of the story, is an accomplished writer with several titles under his belt, mostly in the realm of popular fiction. That said, “Taming the Beast” will not be confused with the more urbane offerings in sports literature, and therein lays its appeal. As a Tyson confidant, homeboy, and road dog, Holloway had a ringside seat to all the social missteps that befell the self proclaimed “baddest man on the planet.” From his vantage point, we get the “inside dope” on various and sundry events that have appeared in other sources and gone on to be included in the lexicon of urban legend.

Years before his scandalous dalliance with an Indiana beauty queen, Tyson was accused of sexually assaulting Bill Cosby’s daughter Erinn (an intriguing bit of gossip, considering the accusations currently being leveled at the comedian). She had her own, well-documented narcotic-related issues. In the book, she is anonymously referred to as Cosby’s “relative,” with boxing promoter Don King acting as an unlikely peacemaker to avoid legal prosecution.

Another memorable episode had Tyson physically threatening basketball icon Michael Jordan over an alleged affair with Tyson’s ex-wife, Robin Givens. Using this “fly on the wall” approach, “Taming the Beast” justifies its purchase price as a piece of light reading material. Beyond that, it fails when it tries to take itself too seriously, because many of its 300 pages chronicle the personal life of Holloway.

For all his very public embarrassments however, Tyson has continued to exercise his own, different, form of charisma as he works to bounce back to reinvent himself. With Holloway’s book yet to make an appearance, Iron Mike continues to be a media presence, with his own authorized autobiography winding up on the New York Times best seller list. He remains active, via the odd cameo appearance in motion pictures like the “Hangover” series, and occasionally appearing on talk shows. As a testament to his continued drawing power, he is a regular fixture at professional wrestling extravaganzas and in video games, and was the featured guest at The Grand National Pigeon Show held in nearby Ontario (Tyson is known for his genuine affection for animals, from the mundane to the exotic).

Tyson made a bigger splash via his cinematic collaboration with filmmaker Spike Lee in the performance documentary “Undisputed Truth,” a one-man concert from his limited run on Broadway in which he stalks the stage before a captive audience, much like he did in the pursuit of rivals in the ring. Here the quarry is the pain that spawned his addictions, deviant behavior, and unresolved issues with women. In perhaps the ultimate testimonial, Tyson now performs as the subject of his own bizarre cartoon show, “The Mike Tyson Mysteries” (on Cartoon Network), in which he appears as a roving detective with the assistance of the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry (who established the rules governing modern boxing), and an alcoholic pigeon. Tyson’s public persona of barbarianism was balanced by the compassion he demonstrated for the animals he kept as pets, but his true personality maybe more closely aligned to a creature from Greek mythology, the Phoenix, a bird revered for its ability for rebirth.

“Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson,” is priced at $14.95, and is slated for a May 1 release by Rough House Books.

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