Blood Season (Tyson & the world of boxing) - Tapa dura

A gritty, informative, and vastly entertaining rundown on the fight game's recent history, which focuses on Iron Mike Tyson, the reigning heavyweight champion. Berger, who covers boxing for The New York Times, is a savvy near-insider in a demimonde where only the ring is square. These days his beat takes him to the casinos of Atlantic City and Las Vegas more often than to the Big Apple's Madison Square Garden or lesser arenas. As the author makes clear, money ranks highest among the reasons for prizefighting's switch to glitzy new venues. Television can come up with the megabucks required to make major matches, while the pleasure domes of Nevada and New Jersey are eager to bid for bouts that will attract high rollers to their tables. By Berger's perceptive account, behind-the-scenes scrapes pitting promoters like Bob Arum, Butch Lewis, and Don King against one another are every bit as spirited as what goes on in the ring. The same holds true for their bare-knuckle negotiations with Seth Abraham (HBO's "boxing guy"), TV executives in general, managers, trainers, and other of the ring world's denizens. Nor are the sweet science's pawns lost in the shuffle. Concentrating on heavyweights (who set the pace for other divisions), the author offers acute commentaries on the top pugs, e.g., Trevor Berbick, Jerry Cooney, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, the Spinks brothers, et al. At the center of the action, though, is Tyson, whose career Berger has followed closely since first noticing him on a 1985 undercard. In covering the still young man's march to the title and subsequent defenses against all comers, he portrays Tyson as an unapologetic gladiator who revels in his brutal trade. The author also dishes some wickedly delicious dirt about how the hard-punching champ was knocked for a marital/fiscal loop by the manipulative tag team of actress Robin Givens and her entrepreneurial mother, Ruth Roper. A gloves-off briefing that's a sure bet for fight fans, even those who think they have few illusions left to lose. The absorbing text includes eight pages of photographs (not seen). (Kirkus Reviews)