Boxer takes on opponent with more bite than him .. a Great White Shark
in the water with those sharks.”
Mike has conquered another fear and claimed he is a “product of fear”.
From New York, he never knew his biological father and the man he knew as his dad left his mum when he was born. He had been arrested 38 times by the age of 13 and was often in fights with bullies who picked on his high-pitched voice and lisp. His mum died when he was 16, leaving him in the care of boxing trainer Cus D’Amato. Mike said: “Fear has driven me to where I am today. That’s basically my life, my upbringing, I’m a product of fear. For anyone born in an environment like mine, inner city, drug infected, violence infected, all that stuff, everything infected with everything.
“You become a product of fear and you go through your whole life trying to overcome that feeling, that emotion but it doesn’t go anywhere because nature’s given that to us to protect ourselves. It’s a part of our ego, believe it or not, our fear is part of our ego.”
That fear made him one of the greatest boxers. In November 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20, dominating Trevor Berbick in less than two rounds.
In 1988, he knocked out Larry Holmes – the legendary boxer’s only professional KO – and knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.
But that raw aggression has also shown itself outside the ring. In 1991, aged 25, he was arrested for raping Desiree Washington and the following year was jailed for six years.
He returned to boxing after leaving prison, beating all in his path including WBC holder Frank Bruno in 1986. After he was beaten, in a 1996 fight against Holyfield, the rematch saw Tyson disqualified for biting his opponent on both ears.
His temper flared again in 1999, when a road rage assault saw him serve another nine months in jail.
Despite Forbes estimating he’d made over half a billion pounds in fight money, Mike declared bankruptcy in 2003. Two
years later, his explosive career ended with a whimper when he refused to come out for the seventh round in his bout with Kevin McBride. Since retirement, he has battled drug addiction, played himself in The Hangover, toured his own one-man show and published two books. ut many are still fascinated by Iron Mike and Oscarwinner Jamie Foxx will play the boxer in a new Hollywod movie. Mike said: “We have little fundamental differences, but it looks like a go-ahead. It’s gonna be monumental.” As for his comeback fight – Mike feels his shark dive has helped him. He said: “It allowed me to realise that most of the things that go on in my head are just illusions that I allow to turn into reality and so I don’t have as much fear, as far as intimidation. “When I talk about fear, I’m more concerned about intimidation that I may be in the state of fear and I may not be able to perform at my highest level and that’s what I worry about. It’s not actual fear of getting beat. “It’s the fear of allowing fear to entrench me so much that I can’t perform at my highest level. ●Tyson vs Jaws: Rumble on the Reef is on Discovery Channel UK on Sunday at 9pm.