During his prime, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ Mike Tyson (50-6-2, 44 KOs) was one of the most popular names in the sport of boxing, consistently drawing in thousands every fight night. However, Tyson often found it hard to handle his fame. In a recent interview, Tyson opened up about how fame often made him feel helpless.
Tyson is currently on a break after the postponement of his fight against Jake Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) following a health scare. Talking to Brut Sport, he delved into his experience handling his then newfound fame.
“When you’re dealing with an abnormal situation, you become an abnormal person. You might want to kill yourself. You might want to kill other people, might want to drink, might want to smoke, might want to do drugs, just escape it. Cuz this is not normal,” he said.
Tyson was further asked if he had ever gotten used to the fame over the years. “Well, sometimes you think this is going to be cool, and it’s not. You know, at first, like, yeah, I’m the big shot who, hey, this stuff got to stop. Hey, I want to live my life,” he said.
Tyson added that while it seems all glittery and nice in the beginning. Fame often goes on to negatively affect many aspects of an individual’s personal and professional life. “It gets like a little. Hey, this is not cool. And it comes a time. I know every entertainer that’s the biggest in the world say Hey, stop, but it can’t stop; you can’t stop it,” Tyson said.
“I Fear To No Man”
Meanwhile, Tyson’s upcoming opponent, Paul, isn’t too happy with the postponement of the fight. Talking to DAZN, Paul revealed he was looking forward to fighting the “greatest heavyweight of all time.”
“Mike is the baddest man on the planet, one of the greatest heavyweights, if not the greatest heavyweight of all time; he has so much experience. I couldn’t believe it; I was so happy, so focused, so one-track minded, then it just got pulled from underneath me. It was a lot to handle and it transitioned into something else,” he said.
Paul is currently set to fight MMA fighter Mike Perry (0-1) as a replacement. He further added that while he is receiving flak for fighting Perry, he wishes to remain active until he fights Tyson.
