Mike Tyson says he’s grateful for his troubled past despite addiction, prison and personal loss
“Everything that was quote-unquote ‘negative,’ turned out to be a positive for me,” Tyson said
Mike Tyson says he is grateful for the difficult experiences that shaped his life, despite the years he spent battling addiction, facing personal tragedies and serving time in prison.
The former heavyweight boxing champion, now 60, reflected on his turbulent past in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of the release of TYSON, a four-part Netflix docuseries exploring his career and personal life.
“I just don’t understand why they still want to know about me,” Tyson said, admitting that revisiting parts of his life can be uncomfortable. The documentary looks at everything from his childhood in poverty and numerous arrests to his rise as heavyweight champion and the controversies that followed his success.
Tyson’s life has also been marked by significant personal losses, including the deaths of his mother, trainer Cus D’Amato and his four-year-old daughter. The series also revisits his struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction, his marriage to Robin Givens, financial problems and the rape conviction that resulted in a two-year prison sentence, which Tyson has always denied.
Despite those experiences, Tyson says he now looks at his past differently. He has been free from alcohol and cocaine for 10 years and said the memories of what happened remain with him, even though he considers the past to be behind him.
“Everything that was quote-unquote ‘negative,’ turned out to be a positive for me,” Tyson said. “I’m very grateful for it all because it made me a better person. Everything bad that happened to me, I’m grateful for.”
Tyson also reflected on the influence of D’Amato, who discovered him after he took a boxing class while in juvenile detention. D’Amato later became his legal guardian and helped Tyson develop both his boxing abilities and confidence.
“He gave me confidence. He gave me character. He made me believe in myself and what I could do,” Tyson said, crediting his former trainer with helping him move away from a life of crime and focus on becoming a champion.
The documentary also revisits some of Tyson’s most infamous moments, including his 1997 fight with Evander Holyfield, when he bit his opponent’s ear twice. Tyson said he remains embarrassed by the incident despite the public fascination with it.
TYSON will explore the highs and lows of Tyson’s life and career, with the four-part series set to begin streaming on Netflix on October 13.
