We might have all thought we were being punked when we first saw the ads for Mike Tyson’s one-man show directed by Spike Lee coming to the Pantages Theater in LA, but, lo and behold, not only is it real, it’s getting rave reviews. Even the theater critic who reviewed it for the LA Times, Charles McNulty, is surprised. “If there was one ring in the world that I, a weakling theater critic, knew I could knock Mike Tyson out in, it was the Pantages Theatre, where Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth played this past weekend. Tyson might have 100 pounds more muscle on him than I do, not to mention a facial tattoo out of my mother’s worst nightmare, but I was the one trash-talking all week about our upcoming bout. ‘I want a piece of him,’ I said loudly to no one in particular in the newsroom. ‘When I’m through with him, he’s going to wish he was touring as an uncredited extra in Wicked.’ But like all those mouthy contenders who ended up flat on their back in the first round, I underestimated the former heavyweight champion of the world. He came to box with himself, to thrash out his story before his fans, leaving no controversy unturned and me dazed with a sympathy I hadn’t expected. Yes, he threw a few rabbit punches at sensitive moments and resorted to rope-a-dope in a couple of anecdotes that made him seem more victim than assailant. But there were steady jabs aimed squarely at his own foolishness. I thought I’d be cold-cocking him right now in print, but his mix of street swagger and newfound humility conquered me. Tyson’s diction isn’t meant for the stage. (Julius Caesar isn’t in his future). But he has something that isn’t encountered all that often in the theater — an authentic voice.” Read the entire review here.