He was the street kid from Brooklyn who became Iron Mike. Then something went wrong for Mike Tyson. He lost his title. He was about to lose his freedom. Ali v Tyson: Who Was Greatest?
His first trainer was in fact a police officer. ibid.
Cus d’Amato taught Tyson how to be a winner. ibid.
Those close to him felt he was a victim of Olympic politics. ibid.
He went on to win two Golden Gloves championships. ibid.
While training between bouts, Tyson seemed to flourish in the d’Amato household. ibid.
In 1985 alone Mike Tyson fought fifteen pro bouts. An astonishing workload. All fifteen ended the same way. ibid.
He conquered the world at the age of twenty. But the chaos that follows the self-styled baddest man on the planet trampled anyone in his way. ‘Tyson bit Evander Hollyfield twice’. Now aged forty-four Mike’s rejected drugs and alcohol, embraced religion and undergone years of therapy. Now Mike has turned to the one thing in his life he’s always cared about. Determined to leave his bad behaviour in the past the former boxer is taking up bird racing. He’s returning home to New York and back to the people and the birds he grew up with. To a secret world that exists on the City’s skyline. Mike’s swapping the ring for the rooftops to compete in a six-month-long pigeon racing season ... Mike’s team of beginners is going up against seasoned pros. Taking on Tyson, 2011
At the age of eleven an encounter with a sadistic gang member flicked a switch in young Mike Tyson’s mind. It was the bloody death of a bird that provoked Mike to throw his first ever punch. ibid.
Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth. Mike Tyson
I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds. Mike Tyson
I want to rip out his heart and feed it to Lennox Lewis. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children. Mike Tyson
I’m in trouble because I’m normal and slightly arrogant. A lot of people don’t like themselves and I happen to be totally in love with myself. Mike Tyson
I don’t react to a tragic happening any more. I took so many bad things as a kid and some people think I don’t care about anything. It’s just too hard for me to get emotional. I can’t cry no more. Mike Tyson
I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm. Mike Tyson
I don’t try to intimidate anybody before a fight. That’s nonsense. I intimidate people by hitting them. Mike Tyson
When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him. Mike Tyson
I intend to fight and I want to win. But my priorities are basically to be a good Brother and a strong one, and to try to be a good father one day. Mike Tyson
You can’t stay married in a situation where you are afraid to go to sleep in case your wife might cut your throat. Mike Tyson
I ain’t the same person I was when I bit that guy’s ear off. Mike Tyson
Sometimes I put on a ski mask and dress in old clothes, go out on the streets and beg for quarters. Mike Tyson
My biggest weakness is my sensitivity. I am too sensitive a person. Mike Tyson
I just want to be humble at all times. Mike Tyson
I try to catch them right on the tip of his nose, because I try to punch the bone into the brain. Mike Tyson
I just want to conquer people and their souls. Mike Tyson
I think I’ll take a bath in his blood. Mike Tyson
I know I’m going to blow one day. My life is doomed the way it is. I have no future. Mike Tyson
I was hoping he would get up so I could hit him again and keep him down. Mike Tyson
I feel like sometimes that I was not meant for this society. Mike Tyson
When you see me smash someone’s skull, you enjoy it. Mike Tyson
I just want to do what I do best, and that’s fight. I love it. Mike Tyson
I’m not much for talking. You know what I do. I put guys in body bags when I’m right. Mike Tyson
I’m just a dark guy from a den of iniquity. A dark shadowy figure from the bowels of iniquity. I wish I could be Mike who gets an endorsement deal. But you can’t make a lie and a truth go together. This country wasn’t built on moral fibre. This country was built on rape, slavery, murder, degradation and affiliation with crime. Mike Tyson
I still can’t believe [ Muhammad Ali ] knows my name. It astounds me he knows who I am. I first met Ali in 1976. I was locked up in a juvenile home and he came to visit. I’ve never forgotten it. Mike Tyson
The hurt business. Mike Tyson, interview 2005
Every shot was thrown with bad intentions. Mike Tyson
It’s nothing personal but I’m going to kill this guy. Mike Tyson 1990
Don’t be surprised if I behave like a savage. I am a savage. Mike Tyson
I’ve got nowhere to live. I’ve been crashing with friends, literally sleeping in shelters. Unsavoury characters are giving me money and I’m taking it. I need it. The drug dealers, they sympathise with me. They see me as some sort of pathetic character. Mike Tyson, interview London 2004
It’s such a shallow world I am involved with and I can’t take it no more. Mike Tyson
There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That’s OK. Just spell my name right. Mike Tyson