Mike Tyson and the 15 Historic Boxers That Would Make for Great Reality TV

The fact that Mike Tyson has a reality show really should surprise no one.  What should be surprising is that it’s on the Animal Planet network and basically revolves around his love for his pigeons.  That’s probably a good thing.  It’s good that “Iron” Mike isn’t on a more salacious, over-the-top type of show.  I mean that seriously, of course, because at this point it in his life, it probably would be a very bad thing.

But if reality programming were big in Tyson’s heyday and his more infamous years, could anyone think of someone else who would be a bigger reality personality than “Iron” Mike?  Probably not.  We know the stories that have come out and that he’s readily told, but just imagine if we had all-access all of the time.  It would be riveting.

The personalities and personal stories that emerge from boxers are unmatched in other sports.  We as fans know that boxers are a different breed.  They have to be to make a living in this sport or to even try to make a living in this sport.  They are our gladiators.

With all of that said, I wondered what it would be like if reality television had been around forever, or if we could travel into the past and think about “what if” some of the all-time greats had cameras following them around all of the time. 

I’ve chosen 15 different fighters, other than Mike Tyson, from the early 1900s all the way until present for one reason or another.  Some may have been because of their enormous personalities, dreadful tragedies, tragic upbringing or simply their time and place.

 I hope you enjoy.

15. Arturo Gatti.  This choice is for more than just the obvious connections that could be made between his Italian heritage, his popularity in Atlantic City and the horrible show Jersey Shore.  It’s because he lived fast and died a tragic death.  He fought like he lived and although it would be like watching an inevitable train wreck coming from a far-off distance, people wouldn’t be able to turn it off.

14. Erik Morales.  I straight-up love Mexican boxing culture and I can’t deny it.  Morales may not have had the greatest, most outgoing personality, but in my humble opinion he is one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time and I would have loved to see him growing up as a poor boy in Tijuana and making it all the way to the top.  If Tijuana was anything then like it is now, it had to be a rough beginning.

13. Hector Camacho.  Here is a guy who was as flamboyant and braggadocios as they came in a time when that was all the rage: the 1980s.  It was also a great decade for boxing and he was one of the best.  I have a feeling that the footage gathered from following Camacho around with a camera would have to have been shown on HBO late at night.

12. Oscar de la Hoya.  He was the “Golden Boy” and has been a star since he was in the Olympics.  He had Latino soap opera good looks and he even made Latino pop music. People love getting a glimpse into the life a star and he fit the bill.

11. Jack Dempsey.  Yes, the Jack Dempsey.  He was the baddest, meanest heavyweight fighter in an era when boxing was one of the top, if not the very top sport in America.  Even though media exposure wasn’t nearly as broad and engulfing then as it is now, I’m certain that every American man knew his name.  He even had a live gate of over 120,000 for his fight against Gene Tunney.

10. George Foreman.  You could pick either era in which he was involved prominently:  The 1970s or the late 1980s through 1990s.  In the '70s he was a badass brother and in his later incarnation he was a sweet, religious family man who had a bunch of kids named George and made more money selling grills than he ever did boxing.  That would be a hit.

9. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.  He is Reality TV.  We’ve already gotten a glimpse of Floyd in this kind of setting with all of the 24/7 shows on HBO.  From his notorious gambling to his desire to produce music, I don’t think there would be dull moment. He’s a natural and people would tune in for sure. 

8. Joe Louis.  The “Brown Bomber” was looked at as a conquering hero when he destroyed Germany’s Max Schmelling at a time when African-Americans didn’t have rights.  But if you watched the documentary about Joe Louis on HBO entitled Joe Louis:  America’s Hero…Betrayed, or simply know your history, you would know how unfairly he was treated subsequently.  It would ultimately be a story of tragedy, but one all boxing fans should be aware of.

7. Max Schmelling.  I may take a lot of flak for this, but if we were privileged to an all-access view of what it was like to be held up as a hero for what surely is the most evil, frightening regime in history, it would involve Schmelling.  It would be terrifying.  But, lest anyone doesn’t know, Max Schmelling was a good German and was never a member of the Nazi party and even risked his life by helping save the lives of Jewish children and even would help his bester, Joe Louis, financially. 

6. Roberto Duran.  This guy had a hard life.  It wouldn’t be fun, but it would be fascinating to watch him as a child and then a young man when he claimed he had to fight just to be able to eat in Panamanian slums.  This would be an incredibly powerful insight into what make a man like Duran.  It would be easy to understand his ferocity.

5. Manny Pacquiao.  He’s obviously a natural because he’s not only the icon of his nation as well as the Philippines, but he’s also a congressman, a singer, a movie star, and, oh yeah, a great boxer.  He’s another one that we’ve seen in bits and pieces on HBO’s 24/7 and I have to believe that if there isn’t one already being developed, that he will one day be in a reality TV show.

4. Julio Cesar Chavez.  I chose Chavez, as the other end of the Erik Morales slant I took earlier.  As we all know, boxing is huge in Mexico and Chavez may be the most popular boxer in their proud tradition.  He may not have been the best ever (Salvador Sanchez is), but he is certainly the most popular ever and in that country that almost makes him a deity.

3. Sugar Ray Leonard.  He was a mega-star in the '80s and was the “Golden Boy” before Oscar de la Hoya.  And he was a great fighter.  For people who are too young or have just maybe forgotten, Sugar Ray was as popular as Michael Jordan would eventually be.  The greatest Christmas I ever had was when I got a Sugar Ray speed bag and a pair of Sugar Ray boxing gloves.  The '80s were shallow times filled with glitz and glamour and following him around would’ve been a spectacle.

2. Jack Johnson.  Johnson was the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world and this was at a time when slavery hadn’t yet been abolished 40 years.  He beat up white men, and was paid handsomely for it; he slept with white women in a time when black men couldn’t even look at white women without fear of something terrible happening and was a true renaissance man whose interests ranged from art to music to fast cars.  A bogus law was made because of him and he was a fugitive of justice who lived overseas and out of the country for years.  If a reality show wouldn’t be great, a feature length movie would (not the one with James Earl Jones—something better).

1. Muhammad Ali.  There’s not much more to say.  He was the character of characters and was at one time the most recognizable person in the world.  From his time in the Olympics to his time with the Nation of Islam, to the political and public upheaval in a time when our country truly changed, to all of the big fights, Ali was the greatest…and would have been the greatest reality TV star as well.