He could [and should] have been the greatest ever. Please remember him and all fighters in your prayers.
From CBSNewYork.com:
Mike Tyson Says Prison Stint For Rape Not A Low Point, Admits To Boxing With Gonorrhea
Mike Tyson, despite his many troubles outside the boxing ring, has few regrets.
The former heavyweight champion told WFAN’s Craig Carton on Thursday that if he had to watch one fight from his career over again, it would be his shocking upset to 42-to-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas.
Why? “Because I took a beating like a man,” said Tyson, who lost his unified title to Douglas on February 11, 1990.
Some boxing fans, Carton included, think that Tyson was robbed as the ref appeared to give a bad 10-count. Not so, said Tyson: “Nah, he got me.”
That’s when things got weird. Tyson admitted to having gonorrhea when he bested Trevor Berbick on November 22, 1986.
“I was dripping like a good humid July, man,” he said. [Emphasis mine. - F.G.]
EEEEEWWWWWW!
Listen: Full Mike Tyson interview with WFAN’s Craig Carton
Tyson went on to describe the lowest point in his career, which, perhaps surprisingly, had nothing to do with his three-year stint in jail after being convicted for the rape of Desiree Washington in 1992.
“Listen … I’ve done a lot of time before I even got involved in boxing, so I never felt going to prison was a low point in my life,” he said. “I would think (Evander) Holyfield, biting his ear, that was lower to me, personally, than going to prison.”
The former champ made millions in his heyday and lost it all. He admitted he’s still not in great financial shape — but that’s alright.
“That’s not my objective, like it used to be,” he said. “But I’m happy. … From a family perspective, I’m happy to have my wife and children. I don’t know what I would do without them.”
Despite all his quirks, troubles and stumbles, Tyson was inducted this June into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. It was an honor he described as “very humbling.”
“I’m a would-be boxing historian,” he said. “I’m so happy to be part of that fraternity.”
Tyson will appear on national television in “Same Name” on CBS. He’ll trade places with Mike Tyson from Zeeland, Michigan for three days. The show airs this Sunday at 9 p.m.
In the program, the other Mike Tyson actually goes toe-to-toe in the boxing ring with two-time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.
“He’s an amazing guy,” said Tyson. “And man, when you see these two guys go at it, you’re not gonna believe this guy is a neophyte.”
As for “Iron” Mike’s short tenure as a nurse, well, that didn’t go as well.
“Disastrous, that’s what it was like,” he joked. “I almost gave somebody the wrong shot or something.”
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