Facing Tyson: Fifteen Fighters, Fifteen Stories

by Ted Kluck

A ring-level view on what is was like to face boxingâ s most notorious and brutal fighters.

Genres: Sports

272 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Ted Kluck writes on topics ranging from Mike Tyson to the Emergent Church. Ted has played professional indoor football, coached high school football, trained as a professional wrestler, served as a missionary, and taught writing courses at the college level.

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyson is fascinating and reading about his career through the perspective of lesser-known guys who fought him was odd, remarkable, sad, and enthralling. Kluck does a wonderful job of giving a sense of the boxing world to, from the grimy gyms to the corrupt power brokers to the range of outcomes for retired fighters. The book moved quickly too because of how it was broken up into different interviews.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of interesting report of interviews of guys who fought Mike Tyson. No real investigation of any of the criminal allegations against Tyson -- just giving guys' impressions and recollections of their bouts against him. I was surprised how many of them expressed sympathy or even liking -- sure, he tried to bite my nipple off during our fight, and there was all that talk about promising to crush my nose into my brain, but he was basically a helluva guy........

Few admitted being afraid of Tyson, which I read with skepticism. Back in the day I gather he stood out in a scary aggressive sport for being scarily aggressive.

Made me appreciate being a distance runner -- you can grow old in this sport healthy, continuing to participate, and with your brains intact. Lot of sad stories about what becomes of boxers after their usually brief careers.

In terms of the writing itself -- ok, not great, keeps it moving. A few too many "so I tried to talk this guy, but he didn't want to talk about it, so I had taken the train all that way for nothing" interludes, but otherwise fine.

[RK Byers · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was written by the WRONG writer.

[Zach Koenig · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the book "Facing Ali", which expertly chronicles 15 fighters that stepped into the ring against "The Greatest", I stumbled upon this book (which takes a similar approach, this time focusing on "Iron" Mike Tyson) at my local library and had high expectations. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype.

Here is the list of the fighters that this book devotes chapters to: Sam Scaff, Mitch "Blood" Green, Marvis Frazier, Jose Ribalta, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, Pinklon Thomas, Tyrell Biggs, Tony Tubbs, Buster Mathis Jr., Evander Holyfield, Steve Lott, Lou Savarese, Lennox Lewis, and Kevin McBride.

Just look at that list of names and you will automatically see the problem with this book: Whereas the Ali edition featured some of his epic bouts with guys like Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Ken Norton, this effort features only two fighters (Holyfield & Lewis) that are somewhat interesting...the rest are just a bunch of palookas that Tyson's camp set up as punching bags to ease Tyson's transition to the title. In addition, even those two guys give accounts of Tyson that are far short of intriguing, perhaps out of lack of financial considerations (author Ted Kluck refused to pay anyone for the book) or out of sympathy for the pathetic figure that Tyson has now become. I wanted to hear their real thoughts...not the politically correct version.

Perhaps the biggest weakness of the book, though, was that the sub-par fighters (and there are a lot of them!) don't have interesting stories to tell. In the Ali book, perhaps the most riveting story came from George Chuvalo, a guy who never amounted to much career-wise but had some interesting life experiences to tell. Unfortunately, the guys in this book have no such energetic stories.

Thus, this is a piece of Tyson literature that can easily be skipped for other, far more interesting Tyson biographies. The book doesn't delve too much into Tyson himself, and his contemporaries are about as exciting as their actual fights with the Baddest Man on the Planet...a lot of hype for a wee bit of action.

[Jim Rugg · Rating 3 out of 5]

15 of Mike Tyson’s opponents reflect on their experiences fighting Tyson. It’s an easy read. I love sports writing. Kluck focuses a lot of attention on the human side of most of the guys involved (including Tyson). It’s a different perspective than most documentaries and sports coverage, much more down-to-Earth and less epic.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kluck presents an interesting series of essays about fifteen men who fought Mike Tyson, but none of these pieces is long enough to really do justice to its subject. Although casual fight fans might object, lesser lights like Tony Tubbs and Pinklon Thomas led lives that were no less tragic than Tyson's. Nevertheless, what emerges from this work is a kaleidoscopic and nuanced account of Iron Mike's rise and fall--a fitting companion piece to The Last Great Fight, Joe Layden's focused and fast-paced account of the Tyson-Douglas dust-up.

[Kym Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers in its chapters the opponents of Mike Tyson over his career offering a mini biography on some of the lesser known stars of the squared circle. Much like the book 'Facing Ali' it provides an insight into the lives of men who are over shadowed by the greats in which they faced. Or for those legends who are covered it gives an opponents perspective in 'facing Tyson.'

A good read especially while watching the fights it mentions.

70 %

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read and I enjoyed reading about the post-fighting life of relatively unknown boxers who either pummeled or got pummeled by Mike Tyson. There was a lot of stilted writing and bouts of repetition, though the author's humor came out well in some places. I don't think the book helps or hinders one's view about Tyson as a person, though it was interesting to read about some out of the ring encounters with him.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting stories about 15 men who have fought Mike Tyson, from Jose Ribalta, Tyrell Biggs to Lennox Lewis and Kevin McBride. lots of good anecdotes. Mike Tyson really needs to write an autobiography after he finishes doing his terrific one man Show.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned things I didn't know about boxing

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was written by a high school buddy of mine.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Interesting stories of one of the greatest fighters and clearly an icon.

[Gerardo Pleasent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delves into the lives of the men who fought Tyson, and in telling their tales, the author introduces the reader into the tragic world that is boxing.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it even if you're not into boxing. I found the stories of Tyson's contenders, and especially Tyson himself, to be fascinating and at times tragic and moving.