Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has stuck to the comeback trail, and his success has continued to grow. Tyson’s Broadway Show “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth” debuted in August under the direction of Spike Lee, and will now hit the road for a 10-week tour nationwide. Tyson appeared as a guest on Tuesday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” announcing that the tour will stop in 36 cities beginning on February 12 in Indianapolis, where Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992. The show’s original run lasted just 11 days at New York’s Longacre Theater, pulling in mixed reviews.
Tyson is also launching the Mike Tyson Cares Foundation on December 7, which will focus on “providing innovative centers that provide for the comprehensive needs of kids from broken homes,” according to the mission statement posted on the foundation’s website. As a kickoff, Tyson is auctioning off a chance to be his guest at the December 8 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Marquez at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand. The auction, which closes today, is sitting at $22,000.
“It will be like no other night,” Tyson told ESPN about the opportunity. “We’re going to be vocal. It’ll be exciting. We’ll meet some of my buddies and we’ll meet some boxers. It will be a dynamic evening. It’s not going to be like a fight night without me, that’s for sure.”
“I wanted to do something bigger than myself, that’s bigger than me. I’ve always done things for my own profit, and maybe while I’m getting rich I could also help society,” he said of the new foundation. “Society has given me a great deal, I’m a very lucky man, and this is what I want to do with my life from here on out, instead of doing what I used to do, being selfish and only looking out for myself. I want to do things that help others.”
Unfortunately, Tyson will not be hitting the big screen in The Hangover Part III, despite his big-time cameos in the first two films. Though original reports in February included Tyson in final chapter of the comedy trilogy, filming wrapped up in early November without the boxing legend stepping in front of the camera, according to TMZ.
