He was known for packing a punch, and there were accusations that he hit women. But, the extent of Mike Tyson’s downward spiral, which plunged him headlong into hitting rock bottom, has never been fully revealed. Until now.
The former heavyweight champion has given a no-holds-barred interview with Las Vegas Weekly, in which he reveals that after taking copious amounts of drugs and drinking heavily, he started beating up seven prostitutes in his hotel room in 2009.
He revealed: “Laying in bed in a hotel room – I try never to be alone, even if it’s a prostitute, a dog.
“This is really dark. I am in my hotel suite, I’ve got seven women there, and I have a morphine drip, and I had my cocaine, and I had my (Viagra like pill) Cialis, I had my marijuana, I had the Hennessy, and I am at my lowest point because I got paranoid and I thought these women were trying to rob me and set me up.
“I started beating them. I was in a dark place. There was a purpose, though, because I didn’t want to give them any more of my soul.
“So this is my devil, this is where I am, I am locked up alone. There is nobody there telling me that I’m doing too much.”
He goes onto to add that it was at that moment, that he realized he had to turn his life around.
“That’s when I realised it wasn’t just demons – it was the devil himself.
“It was the lowest point of a very low life, but it was my own knockout punch to clean up life, get whole, get well – and I haven’t done anything in three years now.”
The 45-year-old, who is hitting the stage for a six night comedy show at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, now insists he is a changed man.
“I’m clean. I’m sober,” he says.
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