Last Saturday, the notoriously large Wisconsin traveling fan base got a look at Las Vegas during the Badgers' 41-21 win over UNLV. Tuesday evening, those who tuned into ""One Night in Vegas,"" the latest in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series, saw a different side of the desert city.
Reggie Rock Bythewood uses ""One Night in Vegas"" to tell the story of perhaps the two most tragic figures of the 1990s, rapper Tupac Shakur and boxer Mike Tyson,.The documentary explores the duo's friendship and how their lives intersected Sept. 7, 1996. Tyson regained his world champion crown from Bruce Seldon with a first-round knockout that night, while Shakur was gunned down in post-fight traffic and died six days later.
It goes without saying that, like the rest of the 30 for 30 series, ""One Night in Vegas"" is fantastic. But while it does a fantastic job showing the common themes in Shakur and Tyson's lives, when viewing it one can't help but also see the story of Tyson as the last boxing hero and a preview of the sport's fast decline over the past decade and a half.
Think about the biggest names in professional boxing and who comes to mind? Manny Pacquiao? Wladimir Klitschko? Floyd Mayweather? Granted, I would hardly consider myself an expert in the sweet science (I have seen one fight in its entirety, the 1964 bout between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay), but as a casual sports fan it is clear that boxing has fallen off America's collective sports radar.
There will never again be a boxer who captivates the American imagination and dominates headlines like Tyson or Muhammad Ali did, and that could be due to the sports' last hero.
Tyson's career began full of promise that went only partially fulfilled, and by the end he was merely a sideshow to be vilified, ridiculed, feared and, in his darkest moments, pitied.
He became the sport's youngest heavyweight champion at 20 and inspired comparisons to the immortals like Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and Ali. But today we do not know Mike Tyson as a great boxing talent—at least that is not the mainstream view of him. Tyson is known as much for his 1992 rape conviction or the time he bit Evander Holyfield's ear as he is for his titles. He is a walking controversy that happened to box, not a boxer who sometimes got into trouble.
Johnson, Louis and Ali fought racism and oppression. They may have been controversial in their day, but now we celebrate their heroism and bravery as much as we do their skill. When boxing was the nation's sport, those three men dominated it and stood for something bigger than the sport alone.
Tyson does not seem to stand for anything, other than what can happen when an extremely troubled man is placed under harsh public scrutiny. His actions cost him success and costboxing its last hero, as it exposed the sport for being exploitative and even dehumanizing.
My generation of fans knows almost nothing about Tyson's success, instead we only know him for his failures.
The same can be said about boxing—we did not huddle around TVs for the Rumble in the Jungle or stand in shock when Buster Douglas took down Iron Mike in 1990. Instead, we have grown up in an age where petty, sleazy promoters are the face of the sport, and where the biggest fights are not in the squared circle, but the octagon.
Aside from its image, mixed martial arts is boxing's biggest problem today. Perhaps this generation's Thrilla in Manila will be one of the UFC's events. Perhaps Brock Lesnar will be the biggest fighter of this generation. All of that seems more likely than boxing as we know it making a comeback.
On a personal level, I find this regrettable. As someone who thinks Affliction graphic T-shirts and Ed Hardy hats are a detriment to the good of mankind, I have to add that I hope Chuck Lidell will not become the next Ali.
No matter your view of mixed martial arts, however, it is clear heavyweight boxing is all but finished in this country. And while new mutations of the sport have found popularity in the U.S. and around the world, it is a shame that we will never again see a fight as good as those from decades ago.
But as long as boxing's public image is one of Mike Tyson's tragic downfall, or more recently Mayweather's racist and homophobic rant against Pacquiao, it is not coming back any time soon. Without a fighter to captivate the nation as Ali or Tyson (early in his career) did, boxing will further recede from the American sports limelight.
Is boxing dead? Do you think Chuck Lidell is the man? E-mail Nico your thoughts at savidgewilki@dailycardinal.com.
