Boxing legend Mike Tyson has revealed what happened during the one occasion he fought someone while in prison.
Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world at the age of just 20, was sentenced to six years in prison and four years on probation for rape in 1992, although served just three years.
Reflecting on his time in prison while speaking on the The Pivot podcast, Tyson said: “I’m just very grateful – I’m a cool guy, I’m a good person, I treated everybody nice.
“I had the best three years of my life in prison.”
After his release, Tyson engaged in several comeback fights where he would go on to regain the WBA and WBC titles in 1996.
Tyson, also known as ‘Iron Mike’, would then retire in 2005 and has since swapped the boxing ring for the cannabis industry, as well as podcasting.
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A career change which has led to him opening up on his time behind bars, as he recalls the only incident where he fought someone while incarcerated.
“I treated anybody the way I wanted them to treat me. And that’s just how it was. They weren’t scared of me. It all came down to respect,” he said on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson
“Just one time [I had to punch someone]. Somebody said something and I just went over there and hit him.
“We were locked down for a long time and it was just something that was irritable and I went over there and hit him. We were locked down and couldn’t go to the gym.
“Somebody got stabbed or something and we were locked down. I was just upset and miserable.”
Tyson recently returned to the ring back in 2020, after taking on Roy Jones Jr. in an eight round exhibition fight which controversially ended in a draw.
