‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out’ Big Challenge For Mike Tyson Himself

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Mike Tyson lost to his virtual self on ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out’ on Oct. 28.
He played during a taping of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Tyson also nearly cursed during an Oct. 29 interview with CNN’s Don Lemon.

Former world heavyweight champion “Iron” Mike Tyson made an appearance on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Oct. 28. He played the 1980s video game, “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out” but cannot beat his video game counterpart.

It turns out the real Mike Tyson can’t beat his virtual self on “Mike Tyson‘s Punch-Out.”

Tyson was on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Oct. 28 to play the famous 1980s video game but can’t beat the main antagonist — himself (per IGN.com’s Seth G. Macy):

“Not even Mike Tyson can defeat Mike Tyson, at least as far as ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!’ is concerned. The former heavyweight champion of the world appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night to talk about topics such as his book ‘Undisputed Truth,’ his one-man show, and being creeped out by people dressing up as him for Halloween.

“Fallon steered the conversation to the upcoming Christmas holiday and presented a copy of ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!’ for the NES, saying he thought it would be amazing to see Tyson fight his digital avatar.

“‘I would get killed,’ Tyson said. ‘He beats everybody.’ He said he only met one person who beat him in the game, a 10-year-old kid. Fallon suggested that the only person capable of beating Mike Tyson is Mike Tyson.

“Tyson paused and agreed. ‘You got something there,’ he said.

“The game was shown on a huge screen and was being played through what looked to be a Retron 5 console. Tyson was able to dodge a few of his namesake’s blows, but like so many before, he was unable to land so much as a hit, losing the match (via) TKO.

“‘It’s a win-win!’ Fallon assured the former champion.”

In another development, Tyson almost blurted out an obscenity during an Oct. 29 interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, notes Mediaite.com’s Josh Feldman:

“Mike Tyson is a pretty colorful character, and when CNN’s Don Lemon ended an interview with him Wednesday night, Tyson went a bit wild and scolded Lemon for not giving him enough time to say what he wanted to say.

“Tyson was on to promote his animated Adult Swim show ‘Mike Tyson Mysteries’ (and dear God, whichever TV executive greenlit a cartoon Mike Tyson show needs a goddamn medal), describing it as ‘Scooby Doo meets the A-Team.’

“When Lemon said they had to wrap , Tyson asked, ‘What the hell’d you put me on the show for?’ Lemon said they had already talked for a long while, and as he cut to commercial, Tyson shouted,’ Don Lemon’s full of sh..’

The Ring Magazine’s Norm Frauenheim wrote an article about Tyson for the publications’ Nov. 2014 issue. The magazine’s official website features a snippet of Frauenheim’s work:

“From the Planet’s Baddest to its Saddest and everything in between, Tyson has always been a surprise, even to himself. Today, he’s 48, or eight years older than the most optimistic expectations everybody had for him a couple of decades ago when he was a fighter with a lifestyle that seemed to dictate an early doom. Then it looked as if Tyson would get to his grave faster than the lonely heavyweight champion he once admired. Sonny Liston died at 40.

“In the end, however, Tyson didn’t follow Liston despite prison, drugs and personal demons. All the signs seemed to say that Tyson couldn’t avoid what he seemed to want so desperately. But he never arrived at his predicted demise. In a bigger upset than his loss to Buster Douglas, he has become everything wenever thought he could be. He’s a dad and an actor. He’s even a boxing promoter. Mostly, he’s a survivor and that’s the biggest surprise of all.

“‘Let’s be men about this,’ said Tyson, who I covered during his time in Phoenix in the late 1990s. ‘Be honest. You didn’t think we’d one day be talking to each other like we are right now. Did you? Come on now, be real. You thought I’d be dead, right? I thought I’d be dead.'”