SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The left side of Mike Tyson's face is covered by a large tribal tattoo. The right side is remarkably unblemished after a lifetime in the ring. As Tyson nears his 39th birthday and the end of his once-promising boxing career, he seems to be living two lives as well, one in which he is forced to fight for financial solvency after turning a $400 million fortune into $34 million of debt, and another where he seems to be finding happiness in the most unlikely of places -- suburban America.
It is a place where Tyson reflects on a 20-year career in which he evolved from the biggest box office draw in sports to a social pariah whose transgressions in and out of the boxing ring came to overshadow his considerable achievements.
"I didn't know who the hell I was," Tyson said. "I was 'Iron Mike.' I was who those people told me I was. I was egotistical and thought I was an elitist. I was trying to help people, but I was helping the wrong people."
Tyson still owes more than $20 million to creditors, including more than $12 million in overdue taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, according to records filed last month in U.S. bankruptcy court and obtained by The Washington Post. An ambitious reorganization plan submitted by Tyson's attorneys and accountants and approved by the bankruptcy court calls for him to fight seven times -- including Saturday night at MCI Center against Kevin McBride.
Saturday's bout will earn Tyson $5.5 million and his challenger $150,000. Under the proposed plan, Tyson could pay off $15.2 million in taxes and 80 percent of his total debt and still pocket more than $20 million for retirement.
Tyson probably won't fight six more times, however, and may never completely free himself from his debt. Bankruptcy has forced the fighter once known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet" to trade in his formerly lavish lifestyle -- filled with extravagant cars, jewelry and clothes -- for a more self-effacing existence in the northern suburbs of Phoenix.
The fighter who once shared a 48,000-square-foot estate with his ex-wife, Monica Turner, and owned a pair of multimillion dollar mansions in Las Vegas resides in a dated brick ranch house on a quiet street, surrounded by middle-class neighbors and retirees, with his girlfriend, their two children and his niece. His girlfriend bought the house two years ago for $140,000, according to property records.
"This place is like utopia for me," Tyson said during a recent interview. "When I was younger, life was about acquiring things. But as I get older, I've realized life is about losing. Life is about dealing with loss and accepting loss and becoming a better person. What is it they say? 'You get old too soon and smart too late.' Living recklessly was exciting, but coming down is hard."
During a recent late afternoon, Tyson sat on lawn furniture in his backyard. Tyson worried about getting his youngest son Miguel, 3, into a youth soccer league. When Tyson left his backyard and went into the house, he returned with Miguel, whom he rustled out of bed. The boy was wearing a soccer jersey. "He wants to play soccer so bad," Tyson said. "But they said he's too young."
It's hard to imagine that this is the same Mike Tyson who once ranted, "I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him. I want to eat his children," referring to Lennox Lewis before their 2002 fight.
Some of Tyson's closest friends in boxing, including promoter Rock Newman, say they've never seen the fighter more content. "Whether he realizes the end is coming or he's just enjoying the moment, he seems to be really happy right now," Newman said.
Turner, who divorced Tyson in January 2003, left her job as a pediatric resident at Georgetown University Medical Center to help her ex-husband rebuild his life. They have two children, Rayna, 9, and Amir, 7, and she also cares for Gena, 16, Tyson's daughter from a previous relationship.
