Mike Tyson has gone on to a better place. Many troubled athletes have ultimately ended up there. Hundreds of thousands of normal people go there every year. Even several sorry sports franchises left home and wound up there. No, I’m not talking about Heaven. Iron Mike has stepped out from the shadows once again and found himself in.........Phoenix, Arizona?

Mike Tyson

It’s true. The Valley of the Sun has been harboring Tyson for quite a while now. Maybe this is why he has been out of the media circus lately. Maybe this is why he has been so well-behaved in the past few months. Maybe, just maybe, it took a media friendly city with more rattlesnakes than media snakes to finally free Tyson of his troubles. The former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, one of the quickest fighters to ever step foot in the ring, turned 38 years old last week. Tyson is not nearly as quick anymore, but more importantly, not nearly as quick to lose his temper either.

Within the confines of Central Boxing near the Western part of Phoenix, one of the most confusing athletes of our time works out nearly every day, preparing for a July 30th fight against some guy named Danny Williams. In what figures to be the first of seven fights over the next three years for Tyson, he should claim an easy victory in this one. Or at least that is the plan. Tyson’s advisers have formulated this three year plot to rid the boxer of an estimated $38-$40 million in debt that he owes to the Internal Revenue Service, his ex-wife Monica, and numerous other creditors. How could a boxer who has earned between $300-$400 million over the past two decades possibly be in debt?
Well, with Don King in the mix, Tyson’s financial woes are indeed real. Not that King is the only one to blame, however. Tyson is a grown man who is certainly capable of handling his own money, but when you are as big a figure as Tyson has been throughout his life, people are out to get you. Which is exactly why Tyson is attempting to rid himself of his former chaotic surroundings. Just recently, in fact, he settled with King for $14 million on a lawsuit that could have potentially netted him $100 million. As fast and as furious as the creditors come after Tyson these days, solutions seem to be on their way as well.

“I’ve learned I could be happier with a lot less,” Tyson said recently about his current lifestyle. And indeed, by training in a small, relatively unknown gym in Phoenix, Tyson has rid himself of the outrageous fees that he used to pay former big name trainers. In addition, Tyson has reportedly put homes in both Connecticut and Las Vegas on the market, and traded those digs for a modest home in Phoenix. He has also reverted back to the simple things in his life, such as spending time with his five children, the oldest of whom is now 15, and keeping pigeons in his backyard, something he has long been known to find peace in.

As long as it may take to overcome all the obstacles and setbacks Mike Tyson has seen in his 38 years, he appears to be on his way to building a better life for himself. Love him or hate him, this is a man who has seen and been through a lot in his lifetime.

From his childhood in the tough streets of Brooklyn, through his days as a heavyweight champion and then his three years in prison for a rape conviction, Tyson has endured and continues to be a popular icon in the world of sports. And maybe a place like Phoenix is where a man like Tyson should be. To a sprawling desert that is a symbol of new opportunity for people who go there, comes a ferocious boxer who is used to taking the heat, but somehow keeps finding a way to rise from the ashes of his mistakes. So as people grow older, climb to the crest of their 40 year old hill, and desire a simpler life for themselves without the complications that once were, Mike Tyson has done just that, in the most unlikely of places.