Mike Tyson has admitted losing his entire fortune was down to the pressures of being famous.
Tyson is considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time rising to unprecedented fame for his entertaining and power-punching style, in addition to his brash-talking personality which boosted his popularity.
The former undisputed champion headlined some huge events earning mega purses, which totalled up to a reported $430million [£343m] fortune, but he later filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
After recovering to financial stability following the loss of his fortune, he has suggested that people around him, in addition to poor business decisions saw his world collapse.
He told tennis star Nick Kyrgios: “At the beginning, I didn’t handle fame too well. You know because at first you want the fame of being a champion, but you have no control then.
“And that’s when I first started getting in trouble because sometimes I might be walking the streets, they don’t know my mother died or something about my family.
“I’m hurt and they just jumping in, ‘Hey man, give me a picture. Hey man this. Hey man. I love you. Give me this’.”
“I might not be in the mood, so I used to be violent about it. And then, I started getting quite a few lawsuits and I stopped.
“I’m a glutton for pain, but I stopped. I couldn’t sign anymore checks so. I was always being sued.
“Constantly blew my money away from being sued and going to court and just associating with the wrong people and making bad business decisions.
“And it was just the whole caboot, pretty much. That was just me getting caught up in a vortex of destroying myself.”
Tyson competed in 58 fights after turning professional, and made a phenomenal rise becoming the youngest ever heavyweight world champion aged 20 against Trevor Berbick in 1986.
But as the fame grew and the spotlight became brighter, he admitted he struggled with the fame, even turning to drugs and alcohol.
He was still able to have a phenomenal career in the limelight, earning some mega purses including $30m for his fight with Frank Bruno, and two infamous contests with Evander Holyfield.
‘Iron Mike’ earned a career-high fortune of $35m [£28m] for his fight with Lennox Lewis in June 2002, just one year before he declared he had lost his entire career earnings.
Since declaring bankruptcy, Tyson has recovered and is still a huge star in the boxing world despite retiring in 2005.
He earned a huge purse to face Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr in 2020, while simultaneously amassing a fortune from a cannabis empire in the US.
The 57-year-old has also announced that he will face YouTube star Jake Paul, a fight which will see him earn a reported $20m.
He is now certainly back on his feet, but a showdown with Paul under professional rules could provide a serious danger in another bid to gain revenue.
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News Summary:
- Mike Tyson tells Nick Kyrgios how he ‘blew’ £350million fortune ahead of Jake Paul fight
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