The story goes… on the evening of Sept. 7, 1996, Mike Tyson, the WBC heavyweight champion, attempted to take Bruce Seldon’s WBA title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At this point in his career, Tyson’s fights had become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, where the ever-present hype of the professional boxing scene would come face to face with the worlds of big business, Hollywood, and hip hop.
Sitting ringside was Tupac Shakur, a very close friend of Tyson’s, given their familiar storied rags to riches backgrounds. After Tyson’s victory that night, he and Shakur were to celebrate at an after party, but the rap star never arrived, for it was the night that Shakur was fatally shot, and the scene in Las Vegas quickly turned from would-be celebratory revelry to ill-fated tragedy.
The new documentary, One Night In Vegas, directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood, with the full cooperation of Mike Tyson, tells not only the story of that infamous night but of the remarkable friendship between Tyson and Tupac.
It made its TV broadcast premiere last night on ESPN, and I missed it. If you did too, you’ll have 4 more opportunities to watch it: tomorrow, Thursday the 9th, at 10PM on ESPN Classic, on Thursday, the 30th, at 9PM on ESPN2, on Sunday October 24th at 10PM on ESPN, and on Sunday November 28th at 3:30 on ESPN Classic.
It’s all part of ESPN’s 30 for 30, documentary series.
I’m sure I’ll catch it on one of those dates… likely tomorrow night!
Here’s a preview:
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