Boxing: Mike Tyson to be Featured on HBO Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel

According to a press release from the executive producers of HBO, HBO "Real Sports" will go one-on-one with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Feb. 15 when the Emmy Award-winning show returns exclusively to HBO:

"TUESDAY, FEB. 15 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT & 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO.

HBO On Demand availability:  Feb. 21-March 14

Segments include:

*Tyson.  He hasn’t fought professionally since 2005, but Mike Tyson, 44, is still big news.  One of the most recognizable sports figures of the last quarter-century, he was labeled the 'baddest man on the planet' during his controversial and prolific heavyweight career, forging such a dark persona that Madison Avenue largely shunned him during his 1986-1996 championship run.  But after declaring bankruptcy and leaving the ring, Tyson has reinvented himself, finding a niche as a Hollywood actor and taking life one day at a time.  Now, with his own cable TV series devoted to his love of pigeons, he’s back on the national stage.  REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel sits down with 'Iron Mike.'

Producer:  Nick Dolin.

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL has won the Sports Emmy^® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 13 times since 1995, and is the first and only sports program honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism by Columbia University.

The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer."

As a huge fight fan and a big Mike Tyson fan, I'll be interested to see just how much Tyson can reinvent himself, going from the "Baddest Man On The Planet" to a kinder, gentler, more sensitive man than we are used to seeing.

HBO "Real Sports" often provides us insight and intimate interviews with our favorite athletes on an emotionally-driven stage. Also, you can't forget the cheesy music and overly-dramatic faces the "Real Sports" team makes when interviewing our favorite sports stars. They make the program that much more powerful.