53-year-old Mike Tyson who is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of boxing has said he is “looking forward” to death.
In an interview with The Sportsman, the former world heavyweight champion said that he does not fear death.
Speaking to The Independent, he revealed that during his active boxing years, he always knew there was a possibility of dying either during practice or a fight. However, he survived because he always knew he “would do the killing.”
He said:
“I knew there was a possibility that I could die during training, during a fight. I knew that.”
“But I wasn’t scared because I thought if anybody was going to die, I would do the killing. That self-confidence was a survival mechanism.
“But now, from my experience, from what I believe, the more I know about not existing, the more willing I am to die.”
When asked if he is actually looking forward to death, the knockout king said:
“Yeah. I don’t fear it.
“Living might be more complicated than dying to me. The belief of it. I don’t know if it’s true. Because living takes a lot of courage. Without courage, you can’t handle living.”
Tyson added:
“Living is a journey, living is a struggle. People have everything and they still can’t do it, they struggle. We take ourselves too seriously.
“We think we’re somebody. Who the f***? We’re nothing! We come from s***; we think we’re special! Fame is s***.
You find out you’re not [special]. You’re capable of going to jail, you’re capable of dying, you’re capable of being mistreated.
I don’t really expect bad things to happen to me, but when they do happen to me, I understand it and I’m able to handle it. I’ve handled bad stuff before, that’s been my life. I don’t trip over bad things, I know s*** happens. When bad things happen, I will be still striving to do something. I won’t be discouraged.”
Tyson is still the youngest heavyweight king in history, having first won the title in 1986 aged 20 years and 4 months.
Tyson won his first 19 fights by knockout – 12 of them in the first round. He was once known as ‘the baddest man on the planet.
He was the first heavyweight to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF belts and later became the lineal champion.
Since his retirement from boxing, he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
However, he has a controversial past and in 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. He was eventually released on parole after serving three years.
In 1996 Tyson lost to Evander Holyfield, and infamously bit his ear in their rematch a year later.
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