M (20)

JUNE 2016 MUSCLE & FITNESS 17

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made from wheat semolina]. I’ll go to

the health club and work out. In the

afternoon I’ll eat some greens and

chicken and take vitamins. At night

I have tea and maybe some grapes.

In your show [Mike Tyson:

Undisputed Truth, which he

is currently performing at the

MGM Grand Hotel & Casino

in Las Vegas], you talk about

catching Robin Givens, whom

you were in the middle of

divorcing, with Brad Pitt.

How close did you come to

knocking him out that day?

Not close at all. I wasn’t mad. He just

beat me to the punch. He’s a nice guy.

Even then he came across as a real

nice guy. He said, “How you doing?”

And I said, “What’s up, buddy?”

How does it feel to relive

your life every night onstage?

Does it make you feel

differently about anything?

Never, ever. I don’t think of myself

as Mike Tyson up there. I think I’m an

actor who’s portraying Mike Tyson

and I know him better than anyone

else. I’m very objective about it.

It’s not personal at all. If it hurt

I wouldn’t be able to do the show.

So you’ve made peace

with your past?

Absolutely. I would be a monster to

live with if I hadn’t. There’s no way

I could live with my wife. I’m sure

I have regrets but I try to believe

that I don’t. I don’t think there’s a

better life out there than the one

I have now. Thinking regretfully

means I don’t appreciate this life,

and this is an awesome life.

But I don’t know if I’d call it peace.

Peace comes with death. I don’t

have any drinking or drug issues

anymore, but life on life’s terms

is always a struggle.

Don King famously cheated

you out of a lot of money.

Does boxing need an

organisation that

protects fighters?

One hundred percent. But it won’t

do that. Boxing comes from the

underworld. It sees the people in it

as subhuman. That’s the stereotype

about fighters, that we’re savages.

Black or white, that’s the category

we’re in. Fighters should organise

unions and leave egos at the door.

Is it true you had gonorrhea

the night you fought

Tr evo r B e rb i c k a n d

won the title for

the first time?

Yeah. I asked my

assistant, “What’s

that stuff? It

doesn’t look good.”

I was only 20.

He looked in my

underwear and said,

“You have gonorrhea.”

What was going

through your mind that night

when you won, becoming

the youngest heavyweight

champ ever?

I wished my mentor, Cus D’Amato,

was there. He deserved to be there,

and I deserved to have him there.

What do your tattoos mean?

When I was in prison some people

sent me books on Mao and Arthur

Ashe and I read them. I liked them, so

I put the tattoos on my arms. Mao

was a peasant who hated his father.

He had a harsh life. He conquered the

British and Japanese. He’s an

interesting guy. Ashe was very

intelligent, insightful. He was a

giant intellect. There wasn’t

anything he didn’t know

about. And I always

loved Che Guevara,

so I put him on my

stomach. It took a

long time, about six

months, because it

hurt so much.

Have you ever

played [the 1987

Nintendo game] Mike

Tyson’s Punch-Out and

fought yourself? You were

almost impossible to beat.

I sucked! I wasn’t into that back

then. Now I play Call of Duty every

day by myself. My kids stay far

away from me when I’m playing.

You turn 50 on June 30.

What wisdom do you have

to offer younger guys?

If they get to 50 they’re very

fortunate.

RICH MAN

According to

Forbes, Mike Tyson

made an estimated

$28.6 million in

1990, making him

the world’s highest

paid athlete at

the time.

KO KING. Tyson demolished Trevor Berbick in two rounds back in ’86, despite battling health problems.

OLD-SCHOOL ARSE KICKER EDGE