Luxe Life Blog
Mike Tyson signs on for live, one-man ‘confessions’ show on the Strip
Boxing legends Mike Tyson and Roberto Duran attend the Friday Night Fights press conference at the Cosmopolitan on July 27, 2011.
Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/HarrisonPhotos.com
Boxing legend Mike Tyson confirmed today rumors posted here at Vegas DeLuxe that he will star in his own live, one-man reality “confessions” show on the Strip. “Iron Mike,” the former world heavyweight champion, also confirmed that “The Hangover, Part 3” is a green-light Hollywood go and that he will be back in the mega-hit comedy franchise.
For weeks now, I have exclusively reported that a “global name” would be the first star for a new “live reality” series of performances in the Entertainment Capital of the World. I’ve known that it was the retired boxer who now lives in Las Vegas but was asked not to reveal his identity until the hotel venue announced it.
I have been OK’d to announce the show, but the location remains under wraps for now until it is absolutely official. Mike, 45, confirmed the news this morning. I’m reliably told that his controversial life story will be told with video and photo flashbacks as he adds commentary and confessions. I’m told that he’ll include details of his tumultuous marriage to actress Robin Givens and his prison time.
“It will be raw. Nothing will be held back. He’s not going to shrink from the problems he’s faced and the battles he’s fought professionally and personally. It will be unfiltered, and he’ll tell it like it is,” one of Mike’s pals confirmed. “The project has the full blessing of his wife Lakiha and their family.” Mike has seven children (he lost his 4-year-old daughter in 2009 in a tragic treadmill accident when he lived in Phoenix).
Mike still holds the record as the youngest boxer, at age 20, to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. He has recently appeared on episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” in Argentina and Italy. He says his wife won’t let him do the American version!
Mike Tyson DWTS Italy - from YouTube.com
Mike Tyson DWTS Argentina - from YouTube.com
Mike is so committed to the honesty of his new headliner show that he’ll also answer questions from the audience at the end of each show before meeting fans for autographs and photos. The theater should be officially announced this week, with tickets going on sale for the March debut of “Tyson: the Raw Truth.”
He reportedly earned more than $300 million from his boxing career but declared bankruptcy in 2003, revealing on ABC’s “The View” in 2010: “I’m totally destitute and broke.” But a year later, he told Ellen DeGeneres while promoting his Animal Planet series that he’d turned his life around. James Toback’s documentary “Tyson” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and received critical praise.
Meantime, Mike told radio interviewer Dan Patrick today that he’s set for “The Hangover, Part 3,” the next installment of the wildly successful comedy franchise starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms. The first, shot here in Las Vegas, featured him and his pet tiger, and the sequel, filmed in Thailand, included him singing. The third is due to start filming this summer and fall in L.A. for Memorial Day weekend release in 2013.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
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