20 Sports Documentaries You Must See Before You Die
11. Tyson
Very few boxers have lived a life of such extreme highs and devastating lows like Mike Tyson. Although the former heavyweight champion of the world made world class boxers look like scared children when they fought in the ring, the problems outside of it escalated as quickly as his rise up the ranks.
Following the death of his trainer and mentor, Cus D'amato, Tyson remained a fighting machine, but with no-one there to guide him through everything other than fighting his life outside of the ring quickly took a downturn. The young champion fell in a spiral of drugs, sex and prison time, in what was a crushing fall from grace for a fighter that many believe was the finest of his generation.
One of the best parts about Tyson is that the director of the documentary, James Toback, and Tyson himself don't pull any punches with any of these parts of his career. He discusses all the incredible successes he had, but doesn't shirk away from the issues that followed him either. If you're looking for the ultimate portrayal of one of the sport's biggest icons, then this documentary is a must-watch.