107 | The Art of the Comeback: Lessons from Mike Tyson’s Rollercoaster Journey

Episode Summary

Join Dr. Toby Brooks in this introspective episode of "Becoming UnDone" as he dives into the complex and riveting life story of Mike Tyson. Known for embracing failure, setbacks, and adversity, the podcast delves into how Tyson's early life of chaos and subsequent rise to become the youngest heavyweight boxing champion encapsulates resilience and redemption. Through Tyson's turbulent career, Brooks reflects on the lessons one can extract from his journey, creating a narrative filled with redemption, vulnerability, and growth.

In the episode, Brooks emphasizes the duality of Tyson's life as both a story of unprecedented success and formidable downfall. With a history marred by personal struggles, Tyson's raw tenacity the episode highlights, serves as a powerful example of how pain, if channeled effectively, can be turned into a pressing force for good. Tyson's evolution, from facing incarceration to rediscovering his identity beyond the ring, represents an extraordinary tale of the human spirit's ability to reintegrate and reinvent itself. Through Tyson's journey, listeners can identify key life lessons applicable to their own experiences, solidifying this episode as both a profound analysis and motivational discourse.

Key Takeaways

• Pain as Power: Discover how personal pain, when harnessed effectively, can transform into a source of power and drive.
• Support Systems Matter: Examine the critical role that support systems play in sustaining success and dealing with pressure.
• Redemption Journey: Embrace the belief that it's never too late to change and redefine your narrative, as exemplified by Tyson's transformation.
• Grounding Necessity: Understand the importance of staying grounded, especially when faced with rapid success, to prevent eventual collapse.
• Self-Reflection and Growth: Gain insight into the necessity for self-reflection and confronting personal demons as a pathway to personal growth and reinvention.

Notable Quotes

• "I'm not the guy I used to be. I've learned that pain is just part of the process and that you don't grow without it." – Mike Tyson
• "Your pain can be your power." – Toby Brooks
• "Success without grounding is fragile." – Toby Brooks
• "Redemption is always possible." – Toby Brooks
• "Who's your Cuss? Who's keeping you grounded?" – Toby Brooks

Resources

• Referenced People: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Lewis Howes, Joe Rogan
• Events Mentioned: Fight with Buster Douglas, Bite fight with Evander Holyfield

Encouraging listeners to explore these themes further, this episode of "Becoming Undone" is a testament to the resilience found through the human spirit. Tune in to gain more profound insights into using life's raw materials for personal transformation and growth. Subscribe and listen to past episodes to continue your journey of self-discovery and empowerment with Toby Brooks.

Transcript

0:00:04 - (Toby Brooks): This is Becoming Undone. What is up? Welcome back to Becoming Undone, the podcast where we embrace failure, setbacks and adversity as the new raw materials for growth and transformation. I'm Dr. Toby Brooks, a professor, learning scientist, former college and professional athletic trainer, and this is Word to the Third, my reflections on purpose, life and growth. Most weeks on Becoming Undone, I bring you guests who've dared, bravely, risk mightily, and grown relentlessly high achievers who've transformed from falling apart to falling into place. 

0:00:43 - (Toby Brooks): But every so often, it's my turn to reflect, refine and reprocess. Onward to the Third. And today, I'm inviting you into the ring not to throw punches, but to learn from one of the most complex and fascinating figures in sports history. Certainly from my perspective, Mike Tyson. This past weekend, like much of the world, I tuned in with, I guess, equal parts curiosity and hope to watch one of the icons of my youth. 

0:01:11 - (Toby Brooks): At one point, the most famous athlete in the world and arguably one of the most recognizable humans on the planet. The baddest man on the planet, Iron Mike Tyson. At the age of 20, he was and remains the youngest heavyweight champion the world's ever seen. A man who seemed unstoppable at his peak. He met his opponents, world class opponents in their own right, look silly with brutal knockouts just moments into some bouts. 

0:01:39 - (Toby Brooks): He was in music videos seen everywhere he went. With beautiful women, massive crowds of admirers, luxurious homes, millions of dollars per fight, the unforgettable Nintendo game. Mike had it all. Yet he notoriously unraveled in ways that were as public as they were painful. Tyson's story isn't just about boxing. It's about being human. It's about how we rise, how we fall, how we find the strength to rise again. 

0:02:09 - (Toby Brooks): Today we're diving deep into his journey, his triumphs, his tragedies, and most importantly, the lessons we can take from his life to apply to our own. Let's start where every great story begins. The rise, the ascent. Mike Tyson's childhood was defined by chaos. He was born in Brooklyn. He was exposed to poverty, violence and instability from an early age. By the time he was 13, he'd already been arrested nearly 40 times. Think about that for just a sec. 40 arrests before most of us even had our first job. 

0:02:50 - (Toby Brooks): But then, like something out of a movie, his path crossed with a trainer by the name of Cus D'Amato. Cus wasn't just a boxing trainer. He was a mentor, a father figure, a visionary who saw something in Mike that no one else did. Cus famously said, quote, a boy comes to me with a spark of interest. I feed that spark and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze. 

0:03:21 - (Toby Brooks): End quote. And that's exactly what happened with Tyson. Under Cus's guidance, Tyson didn't just learn to box, he learned to channel his pain and apply it, his anger, his fear, into something powerful. By the time he was 20, he was the youngest heavyweight champion in history. But he wasn't just kind of winning fights, he was demolishing his opponents. One commentator said, when Tyson steps into the ring, it's not a fight, it's an execution. 

0:03:55 - (Toby Brooks): End quote. For a while, it seemed like Tyson was untouchable. I remember that time in my world, well, February 11, 1990. I just turned 15. And I eagerly tuned in on our pirated HBO via satellite to watch Mike destroy Buster Douglas from Japan. It was a foregone conclusion that he would win. He came in at 37, 0, 33 knockouts. Although I didn't have a Nintendo, my friend Brian did. And we'd played Mike Tyson's punch out on his system for over two years. 

0:04:49 - (Toby Brooks): I'd listen to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince before Will Smith had become Will Smith on one of the last cassettes I'd ever purchased before moving to cd. 

0:05:01 - (B): I'm rough like a freight train Smooth like ice and yo, Jeff, straight up, I think I can beat Mike Tyson. 

0:05:07 - (Toby Brooks): Man, you could be here, man. 

0:05:08 - (B): No man, word, you know, I put on a couple pounds, man, we can do this. 

0:05:15 - (Toby Brooks): Mike was everywhere. Women wanted him, dudes like me wanted to be him. But as we all know from our perspective of 2024, no one's invincible. Not even Iron Mike. He was headed for a collapse. 

0:05:34 - (C): He's been a whole different person than the one every boxing expert expected to see here. 

0:05:43 - (B): It appears that Tyson is virtually a. 

0:05:46 - (Toby Brooks): One eyed fighter at this point. 

0:05:49 - (C): A desperate one eyed fighter rolling willingly just to try to get in the shot that will finish things in. 

0:05:55 - (B): Oh, the uppercut. 

0:05:56 - (C): What an uppercut by Douglas. Comes down goes Tyson. 

0:06:01 - (Toby Brooks): 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 

0:06:08 - (B): Come on. It's over. 

0:06:12 - (Toby Brooks): It's over. 

0:06:12 - (C): Mike Tyson has been knocked out. 

0:06:15 - (B): Unbelievable. 

0:06:19 - (C): Let's go ahead and call it the biggest upset in the history of heavyweight championship fights. Say it now, gentlemen. James Buster Douglas, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. 

0:06:32 - (Toby Brooks): To the world, me included. The loss to Buster Douglas was a shocking, nearly unbelievable turn of events. Las Vegas wouldn't even put odds on the fight at first. It finally came in at a 421 favorite to win. How could our hero in the all black trunks with the no show socks fly to Japan and lose to some dude we'd never heard of? This indestructible, undefeated, chiseled specimen of an athlete had flown around the world for what we all thought was a glorified tune up sparring session before facing off with Evander Holyfield later that year. 

0:07:09 - (Toby Brooks): Except Douglas had other plans. You know, Buster Douglas may be a topic for another episode, but while the turn of events was shocking in a pre social media world, Tyson's unraveling wasn't a single event. It was a series of cracks that widened over time. We hadn't seen his growing drug and alcohol problems. We'd only heard whispers of his marital issues. His father figure, Cus D'Amato, passed away in 1985. 

0:07:37 - (Toby Brooks): And with him, Tyson lost a lot more than just a coach. He lost his foundation, the man who had kept him grounded and focused and training and hungry. Without Cus, Tyson was left to navigate fame, fortune and the pressures of being a global superstar all on his own. Tyson later reflected on the period saying, quote, I was a kid with a lot of money and no direction. I didn't know who I was outside the ring, end quote. 

0:08:10 - (Toby Brooks): Those early cracks turned into fractures as Tyson's personal life spiraled out of control. His tumultuous marriage to Robin Givens was all over the tabloids with accusations of abuse and violence. My grandma used to buy the National Enquirer and I would see Mike on the shabby covers at her house. His entourage grew filled with people who took advantage of him. And then came the ultimate blow. In 1992, his conviction for rape. 

0:08:39 - (Toby Brooks): Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison, ultimately serving three. The world watched as Iron Mike Tyson went from being a champion, arguably the greatest of all time, or at least headed that way, into a cautionary tale of wild excess. Life lived fast, wild and reckless, and a sad abandonment of the discipline and the work that had triggered his success in the first place. Sports journalist Jerry Eisenberg once wrote, quote, mike Tyson was the American dream gone wrong. 

0:09:12 - (Toby Brooks): A man who had everything and lost it all because he couldn't escape himself, end quote. For Tyson, prison was rock bottom. He later said, quote, prison was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. It stripped me of everything, but it also forced me to face myself, end quote. Hearing Tyson's words reminds me of my own moments of reckoning. Maybe you've had those moments, too. Times when life forces you to confront the reality of your own choices, your own identity, your own future. 

0:09:48 - (Toby Brooks): For me, there was a time early in my career where I thought I was heading for my dream of working in the NFL. I'd moved my wife and daughter over a thousand miles to Virginia to get aligned with a coach who'd played in the league and was well connected. The model at the time for athletic trainers was to get a job working with an up and coming staff and ride with them to a major college or pro job. I thought I was on the right track, but after a 2 and 5 start, I felt the wheels coming off from my dreams. 

0:10:16 - (Toby Brooks): I hadn't seen my family in weeks. I was making next to nothing and the financial problems were just getting worse. To top it off, our team was not doing well. And not only would my coach not be taking some big job and taking me with him, he might not even keep the one he had. I remember sitting alone in my office one night after the team had just cleared out. It was already so late that I knew I'd missed Brennan. Not even two years old, yet again in bed asleep. By the time I got there, I was hungry and I knew we didn't have enough money in our account for me to even buy a cheeseburger on the way home. 

0:10:54 - (Toby Brooks): I will never forget staring at the wall of my office and thinking, is this it? Is this what I'm supposed to do? These moments are brutal, but they're also where the real work begins. Now let's talk about redemption. Tyson's comeback wasn't just about boxing. It was about finding peace with himself. After serving his time, Tyson returned to the ring, but the old fire wasn't there. He had some wins, but they weren't the same. 

0:11:27 - (Toby Brooks): Then came the infamous bite fight in 97 when Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear. That moment became a symbol of his frustration, his pain and his unraveling. I'll be honest, that Douglas fight had changed me. I realized Mike was human. I'd put him on a pedestal in my mind, as did much of the world. And eventually he came crashing down. Here's the thing about the crowd. Everyone loves a hero and a rags to richest story, but no one likes someone who always wins. 

0:12:02 - (Toby Brooks): Think Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. The only thing people seem to enjoy as much as the story of a hungry young challenger on the rise is a champion who gets humble. Honestly, I haven't really followed boxing since I followed Mike. From a distance, I watched and rewatched the 30 for 30s chasing Tyson and 42 1. And I watched another documentary about his life after retiring from boxing. Thing is, he's far more complex than that. Purpose built, indestructible weapon of mass destruction we were all fed in the 80s and 90s. 

0:12:35 - (Toby Brooks): He's come undone spectacularly and publicly on more than one occasion. And by most accounts, he's found peace. And he's done some hard work in private over the years to put himself and his life back together. Over the years, Tyson began to confront his demons, his addiction, his anger, his past. He got sober, he sought therapy, he embraced fatherhood. And he started sharing his story. Not the polished, curated, glamorous version, but the raw, unfiltered truth. 

0:13:11 - (Toby Brooks): As a podcaster, I'm insanely jealous that guys like Lewis Howes and Joe Rogan have the platforms to interview him. I feel like for my generation, there simply is no equal in terms of an unlikely ascent, an almost unbelievable rise, and such a spectacular crash. Mike is undoubtedly at fault for a lot of his failures, no question, but his circle failed him too. He's been built up only to be used and discarded more than once in his life. 

0:13:42 - (Toby Brooks): That's why when word of the Jake Paul fight started spreading on the Internet, let's say I was skeptical. The man is almost 60 years old. Jake Paul isn't even a real boxer. It seemed strange at the least and disingenuous at the worst. Was this just a cash grab? Probably so. But then I saw some videos and pictures of Mike. He said he'd changed. He was seeking some kind of closure with this bout. He looked incredible. 

0:14:13 - (Toby Brooks): Visible abs and that trademark massive upper body. He was moving well. Honestly, I couldn't believe my eyes. Maybe, just maybe, me and my fellow Gen X or Xennial brothers and sisters will get to see even a glimmer of Mike Tyson. Not the crazy ear biting version, or the convicted criminal version, or the Attic version, but the one that could have been that one. That Mike Tyson, ending his career at long last on his terms, conquering, or at the very least, confronting his demons. 

0:14:49 - (Toby Brooks): Maybe just maybe Even a talentless YouTube influencer in the process. That was all in. One of the most powerful things Tyson ever said is, quote, I'm not the guy I used to be. I've learned that pain is just part of the process and that you don't grow without it. End quote. Instead, when I tuned in, what I saw was, let's say, uninspiring. First, there was Netflix. Took forever to get on the buffering issues everybody's talked about. 

0:15:21 - (Toby Brooks): So eventually I started watching it on my phone before it finally came on and I was confronted with the fact that I had expectations. But maybe that was the problem. What we saw should have been inspiring all by itself. After all Mike's been through, just to walk to that ring and get in it one more time should send chills down our spines. No doubt to see his conditioning at the age of 58, it made me want to get my butt back in the gym. 

0:15:51 - (Toby Brooks): To see him even willing to square off against a man 30 years younger in his prime fighting years should encourage us all to get to work. And maybe it was just me. Maybe I've seen too many Rocky movies or 80s sitcom where no matter what happens, everything ends well by the time the credits roll. What I expected, I'll even say demanded, was that this 58 year old man could come out and dominate like he did when he was 20. 

0:16:20 - (Toby Brooks): Problem is, that version of Mike Tyson is long gone. Volumes where the pain, struggle, loss, heartbreak, death, abandonment, incarceration, public humiliation and distance lay between the Mike Tyson of 1986 and the Mike Tyson of 2024. But man, wouldn't it have been cool for all of us to see the story end with him going out on top. But he didn't. The Mike of old we thought we saw in the videos before the fight quickly evaporated in front of our eyes into images of Mike being old in the ring. 

0:16:58 - (Toby Brooks): He landed 18 total punches in eight rounds, going more than one round without landing a single blow. He chewed on his oversized glove like he was either bored or scared. He was stiff. He was slow. As I watched silently, I couldn't shake a single thought. God, we got old. Seeing a 58 year old Mike Tyson be stiff and old and barely able to land a punch made me realize the humanity in myself. It wasn't the ending I would have scripted, but on this show we know that things don't always go according to plan and we can still learn and grow from that. 

0:17:43 - (Toby Brooks): That said, if nothing else, the fight encouraged me to pull back out my emotions and thoughts about the incredibly complex life of Mike Tyson and given this most recent addition to his story, try and make sense of it all over again. Here's what I came up with. What can we learn from Tyson's journey? Here's three lessons I think we can all takeaway. First, number one, your pain can be your power. Tyson's life shows us that the very things that threaten to break us can also be the things that drive us. 

0:18:17 - (Toby Brooks): His anger and pain could have consumed him, but under Customato's guidance, they became his greatest assets in the ring. For us, it might not be boxing, but the principle is the same. If we can find a way to channel our pain into something productive, it can become a source of strength and a source for good. Number two, success without grounding is fragile. Tyson's rise was nothing short of meteoric, but it wasn't sustainable because he didn't have the tools to handle the pressure. 

0:18:52 - (Toby Brooks): When Cuss died, Tyson lost the grounding, the structure he needed to stay grounded. It's a reminder that success isn't just about talent or hard work. It's about having the right support systems in place. Who's your Cuss? Who's keeping you grounded? Maybe it's a friend or a loved one. Maybe it's your faith. The thing is that adversity can shake our relationships with our friends, our family, with our God. 

0:19:22 - (Toby Brooks): But regardless, the more isolated we are, the more vulnerable we become. And the truth is, as Mike's entourage proved, it's possible to be completely alone, even in the middle of a crowd. And in Mike's case, even in the middle of a crowd assembled just for you. Number three. Redemption is always possible. Tyson's story could have ended in tragedy. Some would say it has, more than once. But instead, he's chosen to rewrite the narrative. 

0:19:54 - (Toby Brooks): He's proven time and time again that even though he's come undone, he's undone. Through his podcast, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his willingness to be vulnerable, Tyson has become a symbol of resilience. His life shows us that it's never too late to change, to start over, to find peace and to make an impact. So where are you in your journey? Are you at the top, riding high on success? Are you in the middle of the fall, wondering if you're ever going to be able to get back up? 

0:20:33 - (Toby Brooks): Or maybe you're somewhere in between trying to figure out what's next. Wherever you are, remember this. Your pain can become your power. But you need to be honest with yourself. Lean on your supports, but above all else, keep fighting. Here's your action step for the week. Take stock of your life. Where are you relying on natural talent without the structure to sustain it? Where are you letting pain hold you back instead of pushing you forward? 

0:21:11 - (Toby Brooks): And where can you start rewriting your own redemption story? Pick one small step and take it this week. If this episode resonated with you, do me a favor. Share it with someone who needs a reminder that it's never too late to change. Hit that like and subscribe button and if you've got a story to share, I'd love to hear it. Mike Tyson's life is a testament to the human spirit. Not just its strength, but its ability to heal, to grow, and to reinvent. 

0:21:41 - (Toby Brooks): Till next time, this is Toby Rooks signing off. Be purposeful, be relentless, and keep on becoming undone.