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CANNES, France: A “vulnerable” Mike Tyson appeared at the Cannes
film festival Saturday for the premiere of a flattering documentary
on the former world heavyweight boxing champion’s tumultuous life.
The picture takes Tyson from his humble
beginnings on the mean streets of Brooklyn through his phenomenal
rise as a boxing champion and his epic fall marked by addiction,
humiliation in the ring and a rape conviction.
Tyson, who has put on weight in recent years and
now has a Maori tattoo around his left eye, flew to the French
Riviera from his suburban Las Vegas home with a sizeable entourage
for the premiere of “Tyson”.
The retired fighter, who will be 42 next month,
fielded reporters’ questions after a packed screening at the
world’s biggest cinema showcase.
“I’m totally overwhelmed,” he admitted.
“Really, it was shocking when I came into the grand opening and
saw all those cameras. I didn’t even want to see it [the film]
because I get a little embarrassed because I’m so vulnerable up
there.”
The picture combines more than 30 hours of
interviews with highlights of his boxing career.
Director James Toback, best known for his 1978
drama “Fingers” which was remade into a hit French movie in
2005, said he believed he had succeeded in presenting Tyson as a
“complex and iconic and noble human being.”
Told entirely from Tyson’s point of view, the
portrayal allows the gentle giant with the high-pitched voice and a
lisp to take the long view of his rocky past and extraordinary
career.
In the film, Tyson describes his start in boxing
as a reaction to vicious bullying when he was a chubby child.
Locked up in juvenile detention at the age of
12, he began sparring and was eventually taken on by legendary
trainer Cus D’Amato, whom Tyson describes as a father figure who
built up his battered self-esteem.
Even before his body was steeled by countless
hours of training, D’Amato taught him the tactical tricks
necessary to bring an opponent to his knees.
Tyson, who went 50-6 with 44 knockouts, became
the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986 at age 20 and
was the undisputed champion from 1987 until 1990, winning his first
37 fights with ferocious force.
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