While Mike Tyson may appear incredibly stoic through his ruthless aggression in the squared circle, the boxing legend has admitted that he gets incredibly emotional before each bout
While Mike Tyson may appear incredibly stoic through his ruthless aggression in the squared circle, the boxing legend has admitted that he gets incredibly emotional before each bout While Mike Tyson may appear incredibly stoic through his ruthless aggression in the squared circle, the boxing legend has admitted that he gets incredibly emotional before each bout
Mike Tyson has admitted that he always used to cry before his boxing matches, showing an emotional side to the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’.
Since making his debut in 1985, Tyson has gone on to rack up an impressive record of 50 wins, six losses and two no contests, lifting the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight belts while sharing the ring with the likes of Frank Bruno, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. And while many fight fans would assume that the man with the moniker ‘Iron’ Mike is only synonymous with aggression, ruthlessness and fury, having witnessed his explosive rants and punches through the years, the now 58-year-old has from time to time shown a lesser-seen side to his emotional range.
Speaking to William Shatner on his Hotboxin’ podcast in July 2020, Tyson even explained that he used to cry before he stepped foot in the squared circle, citing how he didn’t like the vicious side to him. He explained: “I always cried before I fight,” before the Star Trek actor asked: “You did always cry before a fight? What were you crying about?”
Tyson went on: “I don’t know, that’s just who I am,” before Shatner asked him to explore his feelings deeper. Tyson continued: “I’m getting ready to change into somebody I don’t like,” leaving Shatner baffled. Tyson added: “He brought more than just fighting with him. He brought jealousy, envy-ness, guilt. He brought a lot of stuff,” before reflecting: “That’s interesting, no one has ever put that together.
“That’s who I was. Everything that was bad was that guy. Everything I remember from my past, my mother, my family…that was that guy.” Tyson then noted that his ego was hard to cut off but that it is able to “sneak up every now and then”.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Tyson explained how all good fighters need to be able to understand and embrace fear and use it to their advantage to get the best out of themselves in the squared circle. He explained: “Fear is our friend. Fear is like fire, you know what I mean? If you’re afraid of it and you let it get out of control, it can destroy you and everything around you.
“But if you can control it, it can cook food for you, it can heat you and keep you warm. It can be your friend, it can fight for you.” Tyson will step back into the ring in a professional capacity for the first time in 19 years when he faces Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the early hours of Saturday morning (UK time).
Tyson has been vacant from the ring since his 2005 loss to Kevin McBride, only returning in 2020 to take on Roy Jones Jr in a ‘Lockdown knockdown’ exhibition bout which was declared a draw after eight rounds. Paul, meanwhile, has crafted an almost flawless 10-1 record since making the move from YouTube to boxing four years ago, besting the likes of Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, and Tyron Woodley to name a few.
And while Tyson may be hesitant to tap into his darker side when the two go toe-to-toe on November 15, the hard-hitting heavyweight recently explained how he brings out the ruthless version of himself with which many boxing fans are so well acquainted. Speaking to Jake’s brother, Logan Paul, and Mike Maljak on the Impaulsive podcast earlier this year, Tyson spoke about how prepared he was to go to war with Jake.
When asked how he brings back his animalistic side by Maljak, Tyson replied: “Listen, he wants to come back every second of my life. It’s so easy for him to come back.” He added: “Only thing I have to do is think of being younger and people bullying me.”
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