You guys [press] have written so much bad stuff about me I can’t remember the last time I fucked a decent woman. I have to go with strippers and hoes and bitches because you put that image on me. Mike Tyson
If they lock me up at least I’ll have a place to stay. Mike Tyson
Most writers, in my opinion, are dysfunctional derelicts. Mike Tyson
I like the hip writers: Fitzgerald, the guy who committed suicide, Hemingway, all those guys. Some of them were alcoholics and drug addicts but they had fun. They were real people. They formed the culture of American literature. Hemingway admired Tolstoy, Tolstoy admired Pushkin, and Mailer admired Hemingway. It all flows down. The greats are all connected. One day I’m gonna write a book myself. The first chapter will be about what a rough deal my momma got. She believed in you guys and your society. Mike Tyson
Everyone in boxing probably makes out well except for the fighter. He’s the only one that’s on Skid Row most of the time; he’s the only one that everybody just leaves when he loses his mind. He sometimes goes insane, he sometimes goes on the bottle, because it’s an intensive pressure sport that allows people to just lose it. Mike Tyson, Boxing Monthly August 2000
I don’t care who you are. You’ve got to go down. Mike Tyson
Some people think I’m the greatest fighter that ever lived. Mike Tyson
I’m bored ... I’m bored all of the time. Mike Tyson
Some people think I’m a crazy man that’s totally out of control. Mike Tyson
The first thing I ever loved in my life – I loved the pigeons. Mike Tyson
No-one’s born the best. In order to be the best you have to practise and train every day. Mike Tyson
I’m the guy who used to knock motherfuckers out in less than thirty seconds. Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Sky Atlantic 2013
I’m the best ever... I’m the most brutal and ruthless conqueror there has ever been. I’m Sonny Liston. I’m Jack Dempsey... I’m from their cloth... My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. Mike Tyson
Discipline is the foundation of greatness in and out of the ring. Mike Tyson
People would talk about Mike Tyson and Tupac Sharkur … Mike and Pac has this friendship that a lot of people didn’t know about. One Night in Vegas, ESPN 2010
There was more blood shed out of the ring than in the ring. ibid.
‘He didn’t just knock people out, he destroyed them.’ ibid. commentator
Mike Tyson was charged with two counts of deviant behaviour and one count of rape. ibid.
‘Mike Tyson cautioned him about some of the people he was around there.’ ibid. Gloria, Tupac’s aunt
Is Tupac Crazy or Misunderstood? ibid. Magazine article Kevin Powell
Mick Tyson can reign for a long long time. Tyson, fight commentary v Berbick, 2008
People weren’t bothering me as much. ibid. fight against older kid who killed Tyson’s pigeon
A lot of my friends are dead. ibid.
I won every championship … I’m going to cry … I started believing in this old man … I changed my whole life. ibid.
I have a very deep affection for him. I do. ibid. Cus d’Amato
I fought in the Junior Olympics in 1980 I think it was and broke all the records. ibid. Tyson
The gonorrhea didn’t bother me. ibid.
He’s incredibly abusive. ibid. Robin Given
I have too much love to give. ibid. Tyson
Who would ever have expected this! ibid. fight commentary v Buster Douglas
Mike Tyson has bitten Evander Holyfield for the second time … It’s over! It’s over! ibid. fight commentary
I didn’t take him [Lennox Lewis] too serious. ibid. Tyson
I became the very proud father of six kids. ibid.
‘No no. Get off me. Get off me please. Get off me.’ And he was like, ‘Don’t fight me, don’t fight me.’ And the person was a lot stronger than I was and he just did what he wanted. 911 Tapes, plaintiff in trial of Mike Tyson
‘Stop! Please Stop!’ And he just didn’t stop. ibid.
Huge debts put Tyson in a corner: Mike Tyson, who has grossed more than £150 million in his career says he is down to his last £3,000.
Tyson, who faces huge debts, needs to box again in order to stave off his creditors. Bankruptcy papers he has filed show he owes the US Inland Revenue Services £9.1 million and has other bills of £5.4 million. Daily Telegraph article 16th September 2004 Bob Mee
It was a big thrill … To out-smart them, to out-time them, to out-think them. Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, 1993, Mike
What I do is discover and uncover. ibid. Cus D’Amato 1982
To me, he’s my boy … I will stay alive and I will watch him become a success. ibid.
Mike is a manic depressive … It’s been pure hell. ibid. Robin
I abused my body. ibid. Mike
There’s never been someone that was as dominant or as scary-moment in boxing as Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson: Baddest Man on the Planet (Knockout Sportsworld), 2021
By age 10 Mike had been abandoned by his father and lived mostly on the streets. ibid.
His anger cloaked him in a cloud of intimidation. ibid.
Mike skipped the Olympics and opted to turn pro as soon as possible. ibid.
Quickly developed a reputation for first-round knockouts. ibid.
In his prime he was the epitome of dedication. ibid.
At 20 he was the youngest heavyweight champion in history. ibid.
Tyson’s head movement was eroding … Money and the influences of Don King and Robin Givens have altered the way Mike approached his career. ibid.
King would go one to steal over $100 million from Tyson. ibid.
v Douglas, 11th February 1990: By this time Tyson was alone: no wife, no family, no real friends. ibid.
His erratic spending and substance abuse worsened. ibid.
He called out Lennox Lewis … He was a shell of his former self. ibid.
[Ice-T, narrator]: Why fight when you have all the money and fame you’d ever want? Why fight when you proved a long time ago that you were the best in the world? Countdown: Paul vs Tyson I: How Did We Get Here? Netflix 2024
I feel really bad for Jake Paul. I don’t want him to get hurt. ibid. Lennox Lewis
He [Tyson] wasn’t just a fighter. He was a star. ibid. comment
He’s [Paul] one of the sport’s biggest stars. ibid.
[News]: They’ll face off in AT&T Stadium on November 15th. The fight was originally scheduled for July. Countdown: Paul vs Tyson II: Sweating the Technique
Mike Tyson’s health. That would be the biggest issue for me. ibid. comment
That’s what life’s about: killing yourself. ibid. Tyson
The business of hyping the fight picks up late summer. Iibid. narrator
The rounds will be two minutes long instead of three. Countdown: Paul vs Tyson III: Time to Dance
‘He has to anticipate that some pain is going to be involved.’ ibid. Tyson