Mike Tyson to be Ambassador to China, says Mike Tyson

More Rob Sylvester weekend magic.
By Rob Sylvester
Well, despite all his issues, America seems to still have a love affair with Mike Tyson — from making cameos in movies to appearing in video games to just generally saying ridiculous things, you can’t go more than a day or two without reading a news item about Iron Mike. And now, it seems that America is not alone.
Mike Tyson will be taking a trip to China this December, to serve in a role he describes as a “boxing ambassador.” What exactly does that mean? Well, don’t ask Mike.

“I didn’t even know what an ambassador really was,” he said Thursday. “When I think of ambassadors I think of living off government money and jet-setting with girlfriends.”

No government money just yet, though a Chinese company is paying Tyson to visit in December. No girlfriends, either, especially since his wife is due with a baby boy early next year.

And no real formal agenda just yet for his trip to China in December, either.

Well, this just sounds like it’s going to go well for everyone involved — take an enigmatic star with an outlandish personality and a clear distaste for authority and let him loose in China, a totalitarian stronghold with what we’ll call a less than stellar track record for handling free spirits. In his defense though, Tyson does seem to have mellowed out of late, and it’s entirely possible this visit will go off without a hitch as Mike teaches the finer points of pugilism to the next generation of Chinese boxers, while completely befuddling the current generation of Chinese translators.
Mike won’t have to worry too much about his reception there, it seems, as the Chinese people have an even higher regard for his in-the-ring skills than Americans do.

“Chinese people just love Mr. Tyson,” said Gary Yang, an executive with the company sponsoring the trip. “He’s above (Muhammad) Ali there, though I shouldn’t say that.”

Thus marking the first time Mike Tyson has been above Muhammad Ali in anything besides knockout speed and likelihood to return to prison.
Given the total lack of details about what Tyson is intending to do in China (or what China is intending to do with Tyson) I’ll refrain from judging on the overall wisdom of this trip, and instead just offer a word of advice to any Chinese zoo — you may want to keep extra guard of your tigers.
***
Tyson plans to be a boxing ambassador in China [Yahoo Sports]