Mike Tyson and Rosie Perez had a very, very strange conversation
On Friday, boxer Mike Tyson is returning to the ring for a live-streamed Netflix fight with the YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul. Sit and talk with the actors Rosie Perez proceed for Interview, Tyson said he had a simple reason for agreeing to fight Paul: influence.
“You have a YouTuber who has 70 million fans,” Tyson explains. “No champion has so many fans. And I am the greatest warrior since the beginning of life, so what does it mean now? That created an explosion of excitement. And that is what life is all about: making the biggest impact before you die.”
The 58-year-old boxer began his boxing career in 1985 at the age of 18 and officially retired in 2005. His rise was marked by numerous scandals, including a divorce from his wife. Robin Givens, who accused him of abusing her. Tyson told a biographer that once he hit Givens and threw her against a wall, which was “the best punch I ever threw in my life.” In 1992, he was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman and spent several years in prison. He has maintained his innocence. 2003 he told ESPN“I just hate her courage. She put me in that state without my knowing,” Tyson said. “I really wish I had done that now. But now I really want to rape her.”
Last year, another woman filed a $5 million civil lawsuit against Tyson, accusing him of raping her in the back seat of a limo several decades ago. According to USA TodayTyson has denied the allegations and his legal team plans to file opposing papers by November 18, days after his fight with Paul. Paul said he would make $40 million from the fight; Tyson is according to the report estimated to earn about 20 million USD.
These events do not appear to have hindered Tyson’s fame or popularity. In 2008, he was the subject of his own documentary, Tyson. In 2009, he starred as a hilarious caricature of himself in Hangover. As Perez told Tyson, “I’ve always protected you from day one. I would tell people, ‘He was a funny bastard.’”
Tyson’s past and the new rape allegation were not mentioned in the interview, but Perez spoke about her own experience with abuse. “Memories of the physical abuse I endured and some of the terrible things I did to people,” she said. “It scared me and inspired me. When I started learning Shaolin kung fu, it was the first time someone said to me: ‘You need fear’. Fear is your friend. You have to learn how to walk with it, talk to it, manage it and understand that it’s your superpower.’”
Tyson also talked to Perez about hallucinations caused by toad venom and bites Evander Holyfieldear ofand what he feels is a brush with death. “Hey, life isn’t over yet. We are still fighting. We only get rid of it on the day we die,” he said. “There’s no way I should be here talking to you right now. All my friends are dead. They OD, they have AIDS. My friend and I both had sex with this girl at the same time and we both died of AIDS. I don’t have AIDS. Same goes for Nguyen.
Perez responded with awe. “It’s crazy,” she said. “You have a spirit hovering over you.”
