Former World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson has revealed that his rise to the top echelons of Boxing came too early in life when he was struggling with “emotional vampires”.
The 54-year-old is set for a return to the ring when he takes on Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout this Saturday.
Boxing fans are intrigued over what to expect when Tyson, who emerged world champion aged 20, turns up for the fight.
“I think Roy can handle getting slapped around a little bit,” said Tyson.
“It’s going to be really hot in that kitchen.”
In an interview with Boxing Promoter Eddie Hearn, on his ‘No Passion No Point podcast’ via BBC Sounds, Tyson didn’t go full throttle with thrash-talking Jones, and the likelihood of a blockbuster fight is diminishing as the event gets closer.
The body in charge of the exhibition has directed both fighters to wear 12oz gloves in a fight that will last eight rounds, rather than 12, and each round will be two minutes long, rather than three. There will also not be a knockout.
It appears that rather than offer a platform for either to chase future fights in the sport, the event is out to satisfy the curiosity of having Tyson and 51-year-old former four-weight world champion Jones face off in the ring.
The fight has given way for fans and pundits to pluck into Tyson’s past, including his world-title win in 1986, his imprisonment for rape six years in 1991, and the well documented financial and drug problems he encountered later in life.
“The best time of my life was probably right before I won the title,” Tyson told Hearn.
“When I won the title it got tricky. It wasn’t the right time for me. I had too many emotional vampires around me.”
Hearn’s podcast provides a platform for the experienced Boxing Promoter to share his thoughts with individuals from popular culture about the key qualities needed to achieve success.
Tyson, whose passion for fighting was ignited when a group of men tried to steal the pigeons he collected as a child, believes his late trainer Cus D’Amato offered him the necessary direction he needed starting out in life but admits he has only truly learned the tricks to have control over some of his behavioral patterns formed while growing up in Brownsville, New York.
“That kid is always in me,” added Tyson. “Now I know how to treat him, how to protect him. I wasn’t protecting him when I was going to jail and all this crazy stuff.
“The best thing that can happen to any young man or woman is to have a diligent role model that cares about them. The feelings have to be mutual. Your objective has to be to make them happy – to be the man they need you to be.
“Just think where I would be without boxing. I don’t even want to think about where I would be without this beautiful sport.
“I’m living responsibly, being present. That’s what it’s about for me now.”
Hindsight is a b---h.
Nice nice