It’s been a long time since “Iron” Mike Tysonhas scored a knockout in the Big Apple.
The boxing Hall of Famer’s next shot at one will be on Broadway.
Tyson announced Monday that he will team up with acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee to bring his one-man show, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, to the Great White Way this summer in a show produced by James Nederlander.
The show will open on July 31 at the Longacre Theater for an exclusive six-night engagement.
“I’m very vulnerable and I’m just telling you who I am and where I’m from and how this happened,” Tyson said during a news conference at the Longacre Theater.Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth is a raw look inside the life and mind of one of the greatest heavyweight fighters whose life has been one long rollercoaster ride of the highest of highs — the undisputed heavyweight championship — to the lowest lows, including a stunning knockout at the hands of Buster Douglas in Tokyo in 1990, followed by three years in prison after he was convicted of rape.
He later bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in the ring and threatened opponent Lennox Lewis that he would “eat his children.”
“It takes courage to get in the ring,” said Lee. “But it takes courage to get on the stage.”
Lee urged theatergoers to have an open mind to the show, whichdebuted in April at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where it ran for a week.
Tyson, 46, also has appeared as himself in a number of movies, most recently The Hangover and The Hangover II.
“It’s an honor to work with Spike Lee,” Tyson said. “I have always admired his work. Sharing the highlights and lowlights of my life with New York is especially important to me as I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I am thrilled to bring (my story) to Broadway.”
Lee, like Tyson, is a Brooklyn native.
The show will include tales of Tyson’s stormy marriage to actress Robin Givens, his time in prison, his relationship with his trainer and surrogate father Cus D’Amato and the time he spent in a psychiatric clinic as a result of his cocaine addiction.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history when he won the title in 1986 at the age of 20.
Earlier that year, Tyson, then 19, made the only two appearances of his career at Madison Square Garden, the second time knocking out Reggie Gross in the first round.
Tickets for Tyson’s show are priced from $75 to $199. VIP tickets can be purchased for $300.
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