Las Vegas Weekly

January 27, 2009 · 8:30 AM

Morning Call Photo Gallery: Sony Pictures Classics to release Mike Tyson film

By Robin Leach

Screen legend Robert De Niro and boxing legend Mike Tyson.

Photo: TVT

The first time we reported on Mike Tyson’s warts and all documentary was when he unveiled it at last spring’s Cannes Film Festival, but nothing became of it. Now Tyson has finally been sold to Sony Pictures Classics, and the story of his remarkable rise and fall will go into wide release.

The deal was inked this past weekend at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and the former heavyweight champion, who now lives here in Las Vegas, was there for the screening.

Afterwards, Mike was feted at a party and for the first time commented about the film: “I never used to understand why people perceived me as such a monster. Then I saw the movie, and it all made sense.”

The fighter told fans there that here in Vegas, he “tries to stay clean, tries to stay sober and tries to stay out of trouble.” Mike is a regular on our Strip nightclub scene but sticks to bottled water when he’s out on the town.

Mike admits that the sudden success of the movie is winning him recognition all over again. “I’m getting offered a lot of money again -- and a lot of women! It’s not funny because it’s detrimental, and I had a hard time controlling it in the past.

"But it’s surreal to see the whole experience of my life on the screen. It captured all the ups and downs, and when I hit rock bottom, things were really awful. I never want to go through that again.’

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