Boxing legend Mike Tyson will debut a one-man show in Las Vegas next month, and could take it to Broadway and London’s West End, the show’s co-writer said.
The former heavyweight world champion, infamous for ear-biting and a rape conviction before mounting a showbiz-tinged comeback in recent years, will play six nights in Las Vegas from April 13 to April 18.
The 45-year-old is already in rehearsal for Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Live on Stage, to be staged at the Hollywood Theater of the Nevada gambling city’s MGM Grand casino complex.
Photo: AFP
He admits to not being entirely sure yet what he will say about his life, which has included a prison term on a rape conviction, three stints in rehab, two failed marriages and the death of a child.
“I know what you are probably thinking: ‘What the hell is he going to do?’ To be honest, I wonder, too,” he told the USA Today newspaper. “Life is great. I can’t complain. I have come full circle. As you may remember, I am the guy who used to knock out [expletive] in 30 seconds. I want to tell my story so you can get a better understanding of me.”
The show is co-written by Tyson’s wife, Kiki, and Hollywood playwright and director Randy Johnson — who says he could take it worldwide.
“I am hoping to have a run on Broadway and the West End of London. I think we can play every legitimate theater in the world,” Johnson said, calling Tyson a natural entertainer.
In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping a beauty queen at a pageant in Indianapolis, Indiana. He served three years of a six-year sentence before his release in 1995, steadfastly denying he raped the woman.
Tyson reclaimed the heavyweight throne, but lost to Evander Holyfield in 1996 and in a 1997 rematch infamously bit Holyfield’s ears twice, serving a year’s banishment in exile for the move.
The boxer filed for bankruptcy in 2003, but he has revived his career in recent years, appearing in The Hangover films and in reality TV shows exploring his love of training birds.
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