Mike Tyson made sure to “nip it in the bud” when a prisoner tried targeting him during his first stint behind bars.
The boxing legend was imprisoned in 1992 after being convicted of rape in Indiana. He was given a six-year sentence as well as four years of probation for the crime.
Tyson, then in his late 20s, would ultimately spend just under half of that time in jail, being released on parole for good behaviour. But that doesn’t mean he was an angel throughout his stay at the Indiana Youth Center.
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Naturally, there was a target on his back, having been the youngest heavyweight boxing champion of all time. So he made sure to swiftly establish he wasn’t to be messed with.
During an interview with Playboy in November 1998, Tyson was asked if he was ever attacked in prison. He replied: “People will try you. They’ll try the strongest. You have to be a man. They’ll try anybody.
“They start by saying something funny, something sarcastic, to see how far they can go. But you nip it in the bud. You don’t let anyone get away with saying anything funny or sarcastic.
“You have to demonstrate who you are right on the spot. That’s what I do. That’s who I am. I’m a settler. I’m in my glory in a place like that. Chaos all over. Yeah, they tried me a few times.”
The interviewer then questioned if anyone had pulled a knife on him to gain an advantage, with Tyson hinting that he too carried a weapon. “They had them, but they didn’t have anything I didn’t have,” he answered.
Iron Mike had countless run-ins with the law before, during and after his professional career but has since turned his life around. And he’s now set to add a 59th fight to his record of 50 wins, six losses and two no-contests.
He steps into the ring with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul this Friday (November 15) in the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a contest which will be broadcast live on Netflix. Tyson will be looking to defy the 30-year age to Paul, whose jeopardy is facing one of the hardest-hitting fighters in history.
