When the former "baddest man on the planet" exits a limo and heads in your direction, it's only natural for a guy to think, "Thank goodness we're here to talk, not fight."
Although he's not a fighter anymore, he's an entertainer. The former heavyweight champion has turned the story of his life into a one-man show.
"I hate the fact that I have this image of a tough guy, in actuality I'm really a peacock," Tyson said.
So says the man who once bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear while losing a championship fight.
But the Mike Tyson who appears on stage appears to be a changed man. Still a little scary when you look him in the eye; but he's also quite gentle, a man who just wants to bare his soul.
When asked why he thinks he's still interesting at this point, Tyson answered, "I don't know, maybe because I'm slightly a bit of a weirdo."
And who wouldn't be interested in this former personification of fury making so many confessions. All the time he acted tough, Tyson says he was really just scared insecure little boy.
"Just a 'fraid little boy saying you will never pick on me again because I will tear your soul apart," Tyson said.
Just a kid who would go to prison for rape. A kid who earned and burned $400 million.
Wayne: "If you could pull the kid you were then aside and speak to him as the man you are now, what would you tell him?" Mike: "I couldn't tell him anything now. He went through his trials and tribulations. And that's why he is this person. Now he knows how to protect that young kid, which he didn't have the skills to do before."
And now he's on stage. A study in the contrast between what he was, and who he professes to be. If nothing else, Mike Tyson fascinating.
"I just want them to know that if a guy like me with no education, living in the poorest neighborhood in the country with drug-addicted, sex working parents, if I can make it, you can too," Tyson said.
Mike Tyson's Undisputed Truth Tour will be at San Francisco's Orpheum Theater for three nights February 28 through March 2 at 8 p.m.
For information about the tour, click here.
