Face to Face with Tyson!

Game expert and major contributor to the book, Matt Turk, recently personally hand-delivered a copy to Mike Tyson! Matt attended a Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth speaking event as a VIP, which includes a brief meeting with Tyson himself.

Here is Matt’s recollection of the event:

The show itself was really good. Going into it I didn’t know if Tyson would be able to hold an audience for 2 hours, but he did a great job and I was glad I went. My only complaint (so to speak) was that he did not talk too much about his boxing career, but rather spent most of the time talking about his volatile personal life (marriage to Robin Givens, numerous arrests, etc.)

There were probably about 80-100 total VIP’s out of a crowd of about 3,000. After the show I got about 1 minute to talk to him and here is what I asked after presenting him with the book:

• “Do you remember anything about who you are hitting on the front of the MTPO box?” Unfortunately, he did not remember but he did not think that it was a real boxer.
• He did say that he did remember filming the original commercial for TV where he is in front of all the TV’s.
• He also said he remembered signing the contract to let Nintendo use his name and likeness.
• I asked whether he would have beaten Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis had he fought them in the early 90’s if he had not gone to prison. He said they both would have been tough fights but felt that he would have beaten them both if he would have stayed in shape.
• Finally, I asked about his acting career. He said he has an appearance in Scary Movie 5 and will be in The Hangover 3.

On the whole I think he was pleasantly surprised by the book and gladly accepted it. I didn’t see anyone else who had anything for him so it is probably pretty rare for someone to actually bring something for him when usually everyone is expecting something from him. After showing him the book he asked if he could maybe use the cover of the book on a slide in future shows when he is talking about his endorsements.

I included a note tucked into the book that explained the project in greater detail (why it was done and why we were unable to distribute it to the public) that also had a link to the book’s website and my email address. 

As I was walking away he grabbed me by the arm and asked me my full name. I responded and he said sincerely “thank you”, and almost on cue he winked at me with his right eye, which was very reminiscent of the video game itself. 

So, after this, even if the book never gets to the public I believe it has been a major success for 3 reasons:

1. Through the Kickstarter project it was proven that there is a market for such a book by surpassing the goal of $25k.
2. Mike Tyson received a copy of the book.
3. The author, experts, designers, and editors have created a project with a standard that will never be surpassed and that can only hope to be equalled. 

A big thanks to Matt for all his help and making the effort to deliver the book.