By: Mark Kriegel
Penguin Press, 2025
When I heard that one of the most prominent boxing writers going today wrote a biography on the well-trodden topic of Mike Tyson, I rolled my eyes and figured it was simply an attempt at a cash grab.
I was wrong.
Kriegel's Baddest Man travels down the same lane as David Halberstam's Breaks of the Game. Tyson is so well-known, there's no way to produce completely new information, but Kriegel manages to find unique angles that truly illuminate Mike Tyson's personality, providing context to his warts, his successes, and everything in between.
In the process of retracing Tyson's early life until his demolition of Michael Spinks in 91 seconds, Kriegel challenges such lazy narratives as Cus and the kid and Robin Givens as gold digger. D'Amato and the great Jewish handball player and fight film collector, Jimmy Jacobs, were less saviors than self-interested enablers. That's not to say they didn't care for the young Tyson, just that they helped mold him into the heavyweight champion of the world at the expense of personal growth. Tyson was merely another in a series of high-profile relationships in Givens's life. If her mother made a mistake, it was bringing Don King into the family's orbit as she tried to put distance between Tyson and his managers, particularly the unlikeable Bill Cayton.
Interviews with a myriad of people who knew Tyson, particularly lesser known folks from his early years, present a fuller picture of the often-caricatured champ. We all know he grew up in a very difficult situation, but it's important to discover just how amoral his upbringing was. That isn't to excuse his often harmful behavior but to show there was nothing innate in Tyson's path. He was a product of his environments: from the drug-pushers and pimps of Brownsville to the bloodsuckers of boxing.
If there's a criticism of this book it's that the author needlessly inserts himself into the narrative on occasion. Certain figures such as D'Amato, Jose Torres, and some writers come across, perhaps unfairly, as villains. Even Tyson's eventual ear-biting incident against Evander Holifield can be traced back to D'Amato, who loved recounting the story of protégé Artie Diamond, a Jewish boxer who bit the ear off the toughest inmate upon his arrival in prison. Former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres, the chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission at the time, acted more like Tyson's protector than a regulator. Other New York scribes are usually deemed as bootlickers or enablers.
As with Matt Bai's retelling of the Gary Hart scandal in All the Truth is Out, Mark Kriegel's Baddest Man deals with a salacious subject in a responsible manner. It corrects false perceptions and adds new information about a globally famous figure. Baddest Man is a must read for the countless legions of Mike Tyson fans.
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