26 Burning Questions With Mike Tyson

Naturally, he wanted to meet at a casino.

I didn't even know Utica, New York, had casinos, but an eight-hour train followed by a 30-minute limousine ride proved me very wrong when I arrived at the Turning Stone last week on a rainy afternoon.

Witnessing Mike Tyson enter a room is akin to watching a comet hurtle through the nighttime sky—mesmerizing and wonderful, if a bit frightening when it sends you into an existential crisis upon falling asleep. He's not terribly tall (what, 5'10"?) but built like a house, thick in the chest with forearms the size of pistons.

His facial tattoo, trademark lisp, and tendency to use large words in odd places paints Tyson as that cartoonish character we’ve constructed mostly in our own minds (count me among the guilty) over the last four decades. But much of the caricature seems to be just that, a fabrication in our minds of who we wanted him to be, not who he actually is.

Interviewing Tyson, I found him to be warm and engaging, but also much like he used to be in the ring: fearless, demonstrative, and unpredictable. And like those fights, I never wanted it to end.

Let’s talk about your love of pigeons.
Yeah, that’s just a culture thing. Something a 20-year-old would never do—you gotta be a baby. I was nine years old when I got involved with pigeons. I didn't want to go to school no more, so I'd just play hooky at the pigeon coop. Been doing it all my life. When I die, I’ll have birds. They stay with you forever, once you have them, you have them for the rest of your life.


I didn’t want to go to school no more, so I’d just play hooky at the pigeon coop.


Do you still have birds right now?
Yeah, 2,000 of them. I have 150 in Vegas. I have some in Jersey City. I have some in Brooklyn and California. Everywhere I hang out, I have my birds.

You seem so...intimidating on television, but you’re so soft-spoken and nice. 
This is what I always say: if you’re not humble in life, life brings humbleness upon you. It’s just inevitable to happen and I’ve learned a lot of life lessons.

What’s your last memory of not being famous?
I don’t remember.

Did you have a moment when you realized you were famous?
I don’t know, but I was walking down the street one day and, um, Jack Lemmon stopped his car. He went up to me and shook my hand. I was like, 18.

What's it like being that type of celebrity at age 18?
It’s all I’ve been programmed to be. The only thing I ever did was fight, go to the gym, train, watch fight movies, jerk off, go out. My trainer was always trying to get me to go out. I got so overwhelmed and amazed with the fighters, their lifestyle. I was really overwhelmed with it. It consumed my life and I always wanted to be a big-time fighter…be famous…having a bunch of girls…having jets and houses. My mentor, Cus D’Amato, would say, "See that mansion? If you listen to me, it’ll be like buying a candy bar." And I’d say, "I’ll never get a girl, will I Cus?" He said he would buy me a baseball bat: "Because you’re going to have to beat the girls away from you," he’d say. I was so focused. I dreamt about fighting.

So you were born to fight?
No, I wasn’t born to do it. That’s the whole idea. I never thought about being a fighter. I wanted to be a gangster or criminal. Everybody in my neighborhood was. Then I got involved with the fighting and it just overwhelmed me. My mentor had champions before me and that’s just all I ever focused on. No girls or nothing.

Was it hard to get girls off your mind?
Well, I was a late bloomer…I got in so much trouble because all I ever thought about was fighting. If anything ever kept me from reaching my goals, I would despise it and hate it. I thought girls were the enemy because they distracted me. I was a really sick guy. I think I am sick.

The only thing I ever did was fight, go to the gym, train, watch fight movies, jerk off.


What do your friends think of you?
Man, all my friends are dead now. Got in trouble, got locked up, died of AIDS.

What’s the biggest piece of advice you would give to yourself early in your career?
What advice would I give to myself? Nothin’. I wouldn’t have listened to myself.

How about your tiger collection?
I had a couple of them. You get them when they’re real small and they don’t grow fast, but if you leave and come back, they grow fast. If you’re around and watching them grow, it takes a long time, but if you leave for two weeks and come back, they’re huge. They’re real possessive and if you’re on the couch and you say: “Hey, get off the couch!” they’ll hit you with their leg. They’re real territorial.

What’s your fondest tiger memory?
Sh*t, name them. One day there was [a reporter] who came by and was gonna write a nice story about me, because I had gotten a lot of bad press. I brought him in the garage and I thought it was gonna be cute for him to see my cat. I wanted him to think I was a cool guy and eccentric! So I opened the door and tiger runs. She’s a sweetheart and she jumps on the guy and the guy gets a heart attack. [Laughs] He ripped me to shreds. He ruined my life in the article. He destroyed me in the article. Ho-ly sh*t. I didn’t know he was sick and he had a heart attack! When the article came out, people wouldn’t touch me with a thousand-foot pole. I was just trying to show off!

The Mike Tyson in The Hangover movies has tigers and it seems so fictional and ridiculous!
That’s why they did it!

How did your cameo in that movie even happen?
At that stage I was doing drugs and I knew nothing about the movie. I was in Vegas and I go to a club and I noticed five white people in the VIP section. So I sit down and I notice Zach Galifianakis and he’s like, “We’re going to be shooting a movie with you in two weeks!” And I say, “Me? Can I get some money, because I’m broke as shit.” Usually I was in strip clubs and brothels, begging for free sex, so I wanted some money! I was out of my mind at that time. We started shooting and it was awesome. Later I went to a restaurant in LA and there was a sight-seeing bus, a bunch of kids jump out and they’re like, "Yo, we saw you in that movie!" And I knew I was back.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever bought?
Name some stuff. I had a lot of guns and stuff. Wow, I might get arrested for saying this. I had some interesting guns. I was in Cleveland one day and Don King got nervous and called the sheriff and they took all my guns. They could’ve took me to jail, because they were all illegal. They just took the guns—I had a little arsenal there—and they took the guns and left me alone.

Do you have a big car collection?
When I was younger, I had every car. I don’t have the money to afford them now and I don’t even know how to drive them! You need to press buttons and stuff. Man, I had some really interesting cars. I paid up to a million dollars for a car once. I had a lot of goodies.

Do you have a top five?
Shoot, I don’t know. McLaren, Ferrari F50, Lamborghini LM002 truck, just a bunch of really cool cars. I used to pick them up right from Bristol, England. I’d go look at the car, examine it, and they’d send it. Back then it was that easy.

Usually I was in strip clubs and brothels, begging for free sex, so I wanted some money. I was out of my mind at that time.

Fondest car memory?
Well, I used to come home drunk a lot at the condo. Sometimes the garage would be locked and I’d park in the front and I’d go home and sleep at six o’clock in the morning, and I wouldn’t wake up until 6 p.m. the next day, and the condo guys would be mad because no delivery guys could do their deliveries! They’d tell me to move my car and I’d yell, “Naw, I can’t get up!”

Who have you always wanted to fight, but never got the chance?
No one. I fought everybody. All the old-time fighters I really admired. I met Cus when I was 13 and he said, "This is what you’re going to do." I was scared…everyone was talking tough and I wanted to be tough with them. I came from a tough neighborhood [in Brooklyn]. He asked me if I wanted to [box] and I said yeah. Cus D’Amato put so much effort in me and I didn’t want to let him down. He really took care of me. I wish he was here…ho-ly sh*t.

How about anybody in history?
Achilles.

Was there anything Cus told you to do that you didn’t want to do?
He would feed my ego and how great I would be. The craziest thing is that everything he said happened. It’s the only part of my life that I don’t connect: who is this guy? How did he know I could do this stuff? Who is this guy and why did he die so soon (1985)? I had so much admiration and respect for him.

Man, all my friends are dead now. Got in trouble, got locked up, died of AIDS.

If you couldn’t have boxed…what would you have done?
I don’t know…this is what I was meant to do. I wasn’t born to be a boxer, but I was convinced to do it. I never played any sports, this is all I ever did. All I ever did in my life was box, I never did nothin’ else. I knew the street life and fighting. Nothing else. I’ve learned things, I got into the theatrical world, but all I wanted to do is fight.


I was in Cleveland one day and Don King got nervous and called the sheriff and they took all my guns.


If a camera crew were to follow you around for a few weeks, totally unfiltered, what would we see?
Probably my tantrums. I want my way most of the time. My wife tries to have me do [things] I don’t want to do. I get upset.

Your face tattoo. Would you ever get more, or get it touched up?
I don’t know…depends on how I am. I normally get tattoos if I’m pissed off or something. I haven’t been really depressed or anything lately. It’s pretty addicting.

What’s your biggest piece of advice for amateur boxers?
Be dedicated. To be a success in anything…I think boxing is like being in a monogamous relationship. Whatever you do, you don’t deter. You don’t sleep with other women. You plant your feet down and you don’t divert from it.

How long would it take to knock me out cold?
Depends on how you want to get knocked out.


Jeremy Glass is the Vice editor for Supercompressor and has a photo of Mike going in to bite his ear. Seriously. Find it on his Twitter @CandyandPizza.