Baddest Man

The Making of Mike Tyson

By: Mark Kriegel

Narrated by: Mark Kriegel

"Remarkable . . . Do not think of this as a boxing book, but boxing does make a colorful and primal backdrop for a uniquely American book, filled with enough mentors and monsters to do any Dickens novel justice.” —Chicago Tribune

From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author whose coverage of Mike Tyson and his inner circle dates back to the 1980s, a magnificent noir epic about fame, race, greed, criminality, trauma, and the creation of the most feared and mesmerizing fighter in boxing history.

On an evening that defined the "greed is good" 1980s, Donald Trump hosted a raft of celebrities and high rollers in a carnival town on the Jersey Shore to bask in the glow created by a twenty-one-year-old heavyweight champion. Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks that night and in ninety-one frenzied seconds earned more than the annual payrolls of the Los Angeles Lakers' and Boston Celtics' players combined.

It had been just eight years since Tyson, a feral child from a dystopian Brooklyn neighborhood, was delivered to boxing’s forgotten wizard, Cus D’Amato, who was living a self-imposed exile in upstate New York. Together, Cus and the Kid were an irresistible story of mutual redemption—darlings to the novelists, screenwriters, and newspapermen long charmed by D’Amato, and perfect for the nascent industry of cable television. Way before anyone heard of Tony Soprano, Mike Tyson was HBO’s leading man.

It was the greatest sales job in the sport’s history, and the most lucrative. But the business of Tyson concealed truths that were darker and more nuanced than the script would allow.

The intervening decades have seen Tyson villainized, lionized, and fetishized—but never, until now, fully humanized. Mark Kriegel, an acclaimed biographer regarded as “the finest boxing writer in America,” was a young cityside reporter at the New York Daily News when he was first swept up in the Tyson media hurricane, but here he measures his subject not by whom he knocked out but by what he survived. Though Tyson was billed as a modern-day Jack Dempsey, in truth he was closer to Sonny Liston: Tyson was Black, feared, and born to die young. What made Liston a pariah, though, would make Tyson—in a way his own handlers could never understand—a touchstone for a generation raised on a soundtrack of hip hop and gunfire.

What Peter Guralnick did for Elvis in Last Train to Memphis and James Kaplan for Sinatra in Frank, Kriegel does for Tyson. It’s not just the dizzying ascent that he captures but also Tyson’s place in the American psyche.

Great look inside the psychological piece of the a tortured soul

author doing his own narration was actually very effective. enjoyed the history behind each character and learned a lot about the sport

Good read but only half done

I understand this is the making on MT but wish this was a more wholistic biography of the man. Seems like so many interesting parts are missing.

That said what is here was a good read and lot of good background other characters.

She was who I thought she was

I’ve pretty much heard it all before as most of us have. Everyone was there for the come up off the Champ. Robin duked him into a marriage smh won’t say to much as not to spoil it but I’m glad he’s where he is in his life now.

Great story telling

I liked how the author weaves in the world or that surrounds Mike Tyson. No character escapes. Written in a voice only a true hardscrabble New York sports writer can pull off.

Incredible writing

Loved the book! Great insights and writing! Best book ever about Tyson!If you enjoy a great biography or sports book then you will love Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson.