Mike Tyson has described his time in prison as the ‘best three years of his life’ despite missing out on multiple lucrative boxing paydays. In 1992, Iron Mike was convicted of the rape of Desiree Washington and sentenced to six years behind bars, although he was released on parole after three.
At the time, Tyson was raking in £26million a fight and boxing two to three times a year meaning the “baddest man on the planet” lost out on at least £211million during his stint in the slammer. However, Tyson didn’t seem too concerned about the financial effect and remembers his time at the Plainfield Correctional Facility fondly.
Speaking to The Pivot podcast, he 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.”
When asked if he missed his millions, Tyson replied: “I had peace though. That don’t mean nothing when you don’t have peace. Just sit there within your balance. You need your sanity to dictate any part of life.”
After his release, Tyson went on to win his next two fights against Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathias Jr en route to a second run at world heavyweight gold. In March 1996, he defeated WBC champion Frank Bruno, to regain the green belt six years after losing it to Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen.
Describing how it felt to overcome the odds and become a two-time heavyweight champion after years of inactivity, Tyson added: “Yeah, it was, ‘I’m back from prison motherf***ers, y’all didn’t break me. My ego was going crazy and stuff. Everybody was talking, ‘Mike is over, he’s in prison, nobody ever came back from prison and was the same guy.’ I just wanted to change their minds.”
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