Mike Tyson: From Robberies to Royalty - Redemption Story | E169

Summary

Podcast Summary: In Search Of Excellence – Episode E169: Mike Tyson: From Robberies to Royalty - Redemption Story

Introduction

In Episode 169 of In Search Of Excellence, host Randall Kaplan engages in a profound and candid conversation with Mike Tyson, the legendary heavyweight boxing champion. Delving deep into Tyson's tumultuous journey from the pinnacle of boxing fame to personal struggles and eventual redemption, the episode offers invaluable insights into overcoming adversity, the importance of confidence, and the transformative power of personal relationships.

1. The Essence of Confidence and Success

Mike Tyson opens the discussion by emphasizing the critical role of confidence in achieving success. He states, “Life is all about confidence. Confidence breeds success. Success breeds confidence. And when confidence is applied properly, it will supersede a genius” (00:00). Tyson reflects on how confidence propelled him to the top of the boxing world and discusses the psychological interplay between confidence and success.

2. Navigating Friendships Amidst Success

Tyson addresses the complexities of friendships when one attains significant success. He shares his experiences of realizing that not all friends are genuinely happy for his achievements. “No. Especially if they tell you to keep doing, keep it up, don't give up and you do what they tell you to do and you succeed yourself. Now they inspire you to not even tear you down” (00:17). This revelation highlights the challenges of maintaining authentic relationships in the face of fame and fortune.

3. Extreme Preparation: The Mindset of a Champion

Delving into his training regimen, Tyson underscores the importance of extreme preparation. He draws parallels with Muhammad Ali’s relentless dedication, asserting, “You got to beat him to death, you're not going to give up” (00:31). This unwavering commitment, fueled by fear of failure, became a cornerstone of his boxing prowess and overall success.

4. Reflections on Prison and Personal Growth

Tyson candidly discusses his incarceration, describing it as the “three best most valuable years” of his life (07:08). He elaborates on the psychological transformation he underwent, gaining perspective and peace. The experience taught him humility and the importance of gratitude, regardless of his status or wealth.

5. Memorable Fights: Lessons from the Ring

• Evander Holyfield Fights: Tyson recounts his intense rivalry with Evander Holyfield, notably the infamous "bite fight." He explains the frustration and desperation that led to the extraordinary incident: “Yeah, he was kicking my ass a little, too. I have to put that in, but yeah” (13:20). This fight serves as a pivotal moment in his career, illustrating the fine line between determination and loss of control.

• Buster Douglas Upset: Reflecting on his shocking loss to Buster Douglas, Tyson acknowledges the underdog's deserving victory: “He had fought a great fight and he deserved to be champion at that time” (13:43). This defeat taught him resilience and the importance of learning from setbacks.

6. Life After Boxing: Struggles and Recovery

Transitioning from his boxing career, Tyson opens up about his battles with addiction and personal turmoil. He describes a period of profound despair, culminating in his marriage, which played a crucial role in his rehabilitation: “She decided, hey, I'M gonna clean this mess up” (24:00). Tyson credits his wife with helping him regain stability and focus on a positive path forward.

7. Entrepreneurship and Cannabis Ventures

Tyson discusses his foray into the cannabis industry, detailing both successes and challenges. He explains how partnerships and strategic decisions led to the growth of his cannabis business, Tyson 2.0, and the creation of his podcast, Hot Boxing: “We made more money in a year than I did four years with the other company” (26:14). This venture illustrates Tyson’s ability to reinvent himself and leverage his brand beyond the boxing ring.

8. Family and Parenting: A New Purpose

A significant portion of the conversation centers on Tyson’s transformation into a dedicated family man. He highlights the profound impact of fatherhood on his life, emphasizing the importance of spending quality time with his children: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” (23:20). Tyson reflects on the lessons learned about trust, respect, and the enduring bonds within his family.

9. Philanthropy: Mike Tyson Cares Foundation

Tyson passionately describes his philanthropic efforts through the Mike Tyson Cares Foundation. He outlines the foundation’s initiatives, such as supporting families affected by domestic violence and providing educational resources to children: “We help the family that's dealing with domestic violence and they don't want to go home...” (35:02). This commitment to giving back underscores Tyson’s dedication to making a positive impact beyond his personal achievements.

10. Advice to the Next Generation

Tyson offers heartfelt advice to young individuals, emphasizing perseverance and resilience. “Never give up. Fight to your last breath. Never, never, never give up” (31:25). He encourages aspiring athletes and entrepreneurs alike to maintain their competitive spirit and to learn from every experience, whether success or failure.

Conclusion: Embracing Redemption and Future Aspirations

As the conversation draws to a close, Tyson shares his aspirations for the future, focusing on family unity and continued personal growth. He reflects on his life's journey, recognizing the importance of self-love and helping others: “Self love is helping other people. Give them what you want and give it to someone else” (32:34). Tyson’s story is a powerful testament to the possibility of redemption and the enduring human spirit's capacity to overcome adversity.

Final Thoughts

Randall Kaplan’s interview with Mike Tyson in In Search Of Excellence offers a compelling narrative of triumph, struggle, and redemption. Through Tyson’s honest reflections and profound insights, listeners gain a deeper understanding of what it truly means to pursue excellence in both personal and professional spheres. This episode serves as an inspiring guide for anyone striving to overcome obstacles and achieve their fullest potential.

Transcript

[Mike Tyson]

Life is all about confidence. Confidence breeds success. Success breeds confidence. And when confidence is applied properly, it will supersede a genius. I have people at the bottom of the world and I have people in the top of the world. And the pain is relevant. It's the same.

[Host]

Do you think all your friends are not that happy for your success?

[Mike Tyson]

No. Especially if they tell you to keep doing, keep it up, don't give up and you do what they tell you to do and you succeed yourself. Now they inspire you to not even tear you down.

[Host]

Right.

[Mike Tyson]

Isn't that ridiculous?

[Host]

Ridiculous. How important and has extreme preparation been in your success?

[Mike Tyson]

And this is extreme. It's guys like Muhammad Ali, you got to beat him to death, you're not going to give up. If the referee don't stop the fight, if the corner don't stop the fight, you got to kill him. He's not going to give up. He says not going to give up, quit. And that's the mindset that I believe I have.

[Host]

My guest today is Mike Tyson. Mike is the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, one of the greatest boxers of all time, and one of the most recognized sports personalities in the world. When he was 20 years old, 4 months and 22 days old, he became the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. And he was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. He finished his professional career with a 56 record with a knockout to win percentage of 88% and is a member of of the International Boxing hall of Fame. In addition to his incredible boxing career, Mike has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows and is the creator and actor of the one man hit Broadway show the Undisputed Truth and is the author of a best selling book of the same name. Mike is also a successful entrepreneur. He's the founder of two companies including Tyson 2.0. And he is a dedicated philanthropist through his Mike Tyson Cares foundation and his support of other charities including the Make a Wish foundation and the Special Olympics. Mike, it's an incredible pleasure to have you on my show. Welcome to In Search of Excellence.

[Mike Tyson]

Pleasure to be here, my friend.

[Host]

So many people I know are motivated by different things in life and I think when you don't have money and I know as a kid I wanted money and I was motivated by money. For me, I wasn't an athlete. I was a terrible athlete. Much better today than I was then. I think a lot of it's mental and there's a lot of confidence and I didn't have A lot of confidence, being bullied and not being the cool kid.

[Mike Tyson]

See, and that was the difference. Once I never had come, but once I got it, it took me to another place I wasn't prepared to be. You know, it took you to that stratosphere where it appeared to be like you might even be better than some people. And then, like, like I said, you get to look at yourself from a different perspective. You appear to be surpassing people, but you don't like yourself. The more success you receive, the more conflict you have within. And I never understood that. And I was always a glutton for more and more. I was always taught, crush the world to your feet more and more and more. And as I got older, I realized when I didn't have it, I wanted. But now that I have it, I don't want it anymore, you know? So I have to understand this. Someone has to manage your life because you're not. You're not quite qualified to manage your life. So I ran into some beautiful people that came from the experience of meeting my wife. And life has changed for me so drastically. It would never have done that if I wasn't married to this woman.

[Host]

All right, we're going to talk about your awesome wife, Kiki of 14 years a little bit, but let's talk about money. And I do want to talk about the motivation of money to our future. So many people I know are motivated by money and they hate what they do. A lot of my lawyer friends, for.

[Mike Tyson]

Example, I'm very unable to do that if I don't like what I'm doing. I'm unable. You're unable to get any work out of me.

[Host]

So what's your advice to people in general where money is their greatest motivator of success?

[Mike Tyson]

Really, whoever believes a lot of fame and money is going to make them happy, the people who believe that they never had any fame or money, really never had any fame or money because it becomes a job now, as it becomes a job to watch people, to watch characteristics, be prepared for a particular characteristic that you're looking for, for good people or bad people, people that prepare to use skiduggery on you. It's. You become your own alarm system, you understand? You become your own system of protection. And that's just a mental way to live. But we have to have some perspective on living in that way.

[Host]

I have a lot of friends who live month to month, and I have a lot of very wealthy friends. And some of the most unhappy, miserable people I know are sent to millionaires who are Depressed, terrible parents, they travel the world. Kids, they're really fucked up and they have a lot of problems, a lot of drugs. Suicide is an issue. It's sad.

[Mike Tyson]

Listen, I'm there too. Listen. I have people at the bottom of the world I'm friends with and I have people on the top of the world that's friends with me. And the pain is relevant. It's the same, right? Both people losing someone they love, they grieve the same. I don't care how much money you got, how much power you got. We both grieve the same, we both breathe the same, and we're the same. Some people decided money was a big part of their life, right? And there was nothing that was going to stop them from getting that money. That's what it's all about. I'm the kind of guy, I learned from my mentor, you have to want to be up more than anybody in the world wants you to be down. And that's. And once you feel that way, you have no mental problems because you don't care what somebody that you don't care about.

[Host]

Today you're listening to part two of my incredible interview with Mike Tyson, the.

[Producer]

Greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

[Host]

If you haven't yet listened to part one, be sure to check that one out first. Now, without further ado, here's part two of my incredible interview with Mike. A lot of people, when you're successful, who you think are your friends, are not that happy for your success.

[Mike Tyson]

No. Especially if they tell you to keep doing, keep it up, don't give up, and you do what they tell you to do and you succeed yourself. Now they inspire you. Now they want to tear you down.

[Host]

Right.

[Mike Tyson]

Isn't that ridiculous?

[Host]

Ridiculous?

[Mike Tyson]

I found out there's a friend would rather fight you than pay back a debt. That's what I learned. All people that you help and stuff.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Mike Tyson]

And next, if they believe they have to pay you back, they'll find some way to fight you, have some altercation with you, where your guys went and talks to you. And I want to talk to them and see them and get your money back.

[Host]

Right.

[Mike Tyson]

But I look at that from a different perspective. If I was capable of helping somebody and they want to help be residual and help me back or anything, I gave them that money. Now that I can never talk to them again, they can talk to me, come around me again. So I paid for really back juncture in my life and I don't have to deal with it anymore.

[Host]

You already mentioned you had gone to prison. From you were sentenced to six years. You did three years. You called it the three best most valuable years. How, how is prison the free?

[Mike Tyson]

Well, listen to this. It started at 63 and then went down to 3. I got 60 years wiped out the books. But the really situation was that everything in life is psychological. Being able to be adaptable and being able to just have the confidence to believe that you know you're going to survive this life is all about confidence. Confidence breeds success, Success breeds confidence. And when confidence is applied properly, it will supersede a genius. There's nothing more powerful in this world than confidence in a person whose time has come. When that happens, you're almost in God's status.

[Host]

But how was prison the three best years of your life? What did it do to make you a better person?

[Mike Tyson]

It gave me a perspective. It gave me more than that, peace. I had no trouble. I didn't have the altercation, no fight. Everything went well for me in prison. Everything was almost perfect. I lived great there, I ate great there. I was treated, yeah, I was treated with privilege there. But I gave everybody respect. The first year I was there, I was an ass. You know, I think, hey, everybody here deserves to be down on me. I'm the man here. And then I had to get, go to the get a couple of visits to isolation. And after I had that miserable year, I started getting the hang of it. I started became a trustee. Everybody respected me and everybody liked me. When I first went there, I was a jerk. Nobody liked me. Next thing you know, they had put another year on me for fighting with the gods and cursing everybody. I just being uncomfortable person in prison because I felt that I was wrong. I don't deserve all these people deserve to be here, but accept me. And then I realized that we're living life on life terms. I should be as grateful that I'm still living. I did only three years. There were guys in there that did my time 10 times. They did 30 years. They did 30 years. And when I said I had three, that was sad. They said, what's wrong with you? I did your time three times already. What do you worry? I had 30 years. I'm not depressed. We have to live with life on life terms. And that's when I understood, who the hell am I? I'm nobody. And I realized that some people are so great from society's perspective that they hold you up so high, only one got to take you down is you. Because this doesn't feel right. You gotta tear yourself down. Because what's more Just as powerful as building yourself up is just as equally powerful as tearing yourself down. So that's a rush, too.

[Producer]

I hope you're enjoying this video so far, but before we jump back in, I wanna know if you've ever thought about what you need to do to reach nice level of success in your life. Over the last 25 years, I've been an advisor to more than 50 companies. I've invested nearly 100, including Google, lift and Seagate. And I also co founded a company that today is worth more than $15 billion. I've been incredibly blessed in my journey and at this stage in my life. I want to give back. I want to share the lessons I've learned so you can reach incredible success way faster than I did in my own journey. I've learned that having the right mentor is a massive advantage to achieve achieving our goals. I'm hugely passionate about mentoring others. I'm looking for a few hungry entrepreneurs who are excited to take action on their journey to incredible future success. So if that's you, I've got an opportunity. In the description of this video, there's a link where you can apply to work with me. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions, and if you're a good fit, my team will reach out so we can build a game plan together. All right, now let's get back to the video.

[Host]

When people go to prison, you're kind of the new guy in there, and you got to fight to establish respect with some of the other prisoners. Were you a target? And said, all right, I want to beat up Mike Tyson, the heavyweight champion of the world.

[Mike Tyson]

I don't know how to say it. Everybody loved me. You know, any problem that happened in prison was because of my ignorance, because I felt I shouldn't be there, and I was better. These guys are criminals, and I'm not the real criminals. And we have to know that. We're just here for a moment in time. We're just passing through. No one's better than anyone else. Some people may have better opportunities, but we just are God's creatures, big and small.

[Host]

When you're there, you knew you were gonna fight again. And you're training every day. You're running nine miles a day in prison around the yard, including four miles a day in your prison cell, running around and around, and you're doing so many jumps. You said that you dented the concrete floor.

[Mike Tyson]

Listen, I never saw that. The prisoners and administration saw that. It wasn't even anymore. But I would do it every day. Run the place. Neck is in place. Running. That's just what I wanted to do. I wanted to be the best in the world. I knew I was going to fight, I wanted to look the best. And most of my career fighting, it was just based on my ego, and I had the determination, but it all stemmed from my ego. I was thinking, nobody's ever going to pick on me again. Think of those cold, weak moments when people abuse me. It's never going to happen again.

[Host]

You went in at 285 and you came out at 215. So you're a lean, mean, fighting machine.

[Mike Tyson]

Yes. I never went to the cafeteria. I always had great food. My girlfriend at the time always sent food over, sent money to certain people, and they would go out, bring the food in for me. We always have great smorgasbords in prison.

[Host]

Let's talk about Evander Holyfield.

[Mike Tyson]

Oh, yeah, he works with us now.

[Host]

Yeah. Well, we're gonna talk about. I know your partners. That's an incredible story. So you had a first fight with him back in on November 9, 1996. You had the rematch June 28, 1997. And it was the sound and the fury, and then it was known as the bite fight. So can you, can you walk us through? I, I, I saw that fight on pay per view. I'm a huge fan of yours and I've seen a bunch of your fights, but it was surprising to watch that. Can you just explain what you were thinking and what happened there?

[Mike Tyson]

Hey, listen, I was in the ring fighting him, and I noticed the first time, something that happened, he didn't hit me, but I was dizzy about something. I don't know, maybe I thought he hit me. But then when I watched the fight, it was because he was headbutting me. I was running into his head most of the time. The second fight, it started happening again. My head was busted and I was in desperation. The referee and I just got frustrated.

[Host]

I bit him and disqualified.

[Mike Tyson]

Yeah, he was kicking my ass a little, too. I have to put that in, but yeah. Yeah.

[Host]

Let's talk about probably the greatest upset in sports history. You're fighting Buster Douglas. He's a 421 underdog. And you lost that fight. How did you lose the fight? And talk about kind of the habits you were doing before the fight and what you learned from that fight.

[Mike Tyson]

You know, it doesn't, Regardless of that, I was just living ridiculously. He had fought a great fight and he deserved to be champion at that time. He deserved, he worked hard. He earned that fight. To be champion. There was no excuses.

[Host]

You learned at some point when you lost a fight that the pressure was now off and you were not disappointed. You were actually happy. It happened because you learned lessons from those. What did you learn from that? That was the Buster Douglas fight.

[Mike Tyson]

I learned that losing wasn't all as bad as it made out to be. That's what I realized about that. It's not, you know, losing is not as bad as people think it is. You know what I mean? So what? I cleaned myself up. I fought four more times getting ready to fight again for the title, and I got myself in trouble. I never once said this after the fight, it's over. I'm not gonna do this. Only that's a hand thing. And I won my title back in six months. Never in a million years. I said that it's over. I'm never going to China again. My life is over. My career is over. I knew it from my experience and from watching fighters and talking to old fighters that fought in the 20s, like when I was fighting in the 80s, and they would just tell me, mike, man, I know a great fighter like you not gonna listen. This more discouraged you and I just never got discouraged in my life after certain things as being a kid, to be discouraged anymore.

[Host]

I hope you're enjoying this video so.

[Producer]

Far, but before we jump back in, I want to know if you've ever thought about what you need to do to reach the next level of success in your life. Over the last 25 years, I've been an advisor to more than 50 companies. I've invested nearly 100, including Google, lift and Seagate. And I also co founded a company company that today is worth more than $15 billion. I've been incredibly blessed in my journey and at this stage in my life, I want to give back. I want to share the lessons I've learned so you can reach incredible success way faster than I did in my own journey. I've learned that having the right mentor is a massive advantage to achieving our goals. I'm hugely passionate about mentoring others. I'm looking for a few hungry entrepreneurs who are excited to take action on their journey to incredible future success. So if that's you, I've got an opportunity. In the description of this video, there's a link where you can apply to work with me. All you need to do is answer.

[Host]

A few simple questions.

[Producer]

And if you're a good fit, my team will reach out so we can build a game plan together. All right, now let's get back to the Video.

[Host]

Lots of people, when they have a lot of success, they have some knockdowns. They get fired from jobs once, twice, three times, they give up. What's your message to all those people? Experience great disappointment if they should keep going.

[Mike Tyson]

Well, I'll explain that with a story.

[Host]

Okay.

[Mike Tyson]

You know, Don King was my promoter. Of course, this understood from society that he stole money, right? Some stuff that, you know, it's in the past. He did some reals. And so he expect me to be on dope because I was on dope for a while. Expect me to stay in jail. I was arrested for a while. After I lost everything, I got in trouble. And then things have changed. My wife, I married my wife. We wrote this one man show. It went insane. We went all over the world, performed all over the world. We performed in countries that couldn't speak our language and had an interpreter. And plus I had other success. Plus I got this boxing success. Then I have this a pair my clothes and everything. And then I have this boxing called Tyson Sports pretty much. And it has the best boxing equipment in the world. And I go from all this, right from being such a despot, drug user, alcoholic. And I go through all this transformation, forms of redemption, so to speak. And know what happened. Don King is my neighbor now, but he never in a million years thought I'd be this close to him again, you know, now he's my neighbor. What's that mean? I can walk to his house. He have to see me till the day he dies. I don't look at life like, hey, I'm envious of some mad that people have grudges. No, because life is. It's all been written. As soon as eternity started, everything's been written happened already. That's when he said, let there be light. Because he, he wrote our life in the dark. And so whatever happens is meant to happen. It was written. Do you ever watch Lawrence of Lawrence of Arabia?

[Host]

I've never seen it. And my, my kids are. Are horrified right now. But I. Since you're saying it to me, I. I promise you I'm going to watch it.

[Mike Tyson]

What a movie. Because one of the movies, this guy, that this one gentleman wanted to help another guy saying, you're wasting your time. It was written that this guy is gonna die and he's not gonna live long. And the guy was right. It was written. You could tell by somebody's character if they don't redeem themselves, their. The future is already destiny. They're written already. Like once old boxing friend of mine met me the other day and said, we never had a million years believe that you'd still be alive. Because I lived that kind of life. I didn't have any hope in life. Even though I had a lot of materialism, I never had hope for a better life. And now that I have hope for a better life, you know, adversities don't stop, but we just handle them differently and from a positive perspective as well.

[Host]

You're a famous athlete. People come up and take pictures with you. Some athletes like it to a point, some don't. You're with your family, hey, don't take my photo. At some point, this 12 year old kid comes up to you. And later in life you want to learn something about the music business. So you call this amazing guy named Rodney Jerkins. He said, I know who you are. For those people who don't know, Rodney is, who goes by the Dark Child, is one of the most successful music producers of all time, has worked with everybody you can ever imagine. Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Rihanna, everybody and everyone just dying to work with them. So you call him up, I think you're living in Maryland at the time, and you said, I want to come see you the next day. And Rodney says, hey, Mike Tyson, call me up. Come on over. He drove over in a black Rolls Royce. What were you? And Rodney's known to be this incredibly nice, thoughtful, logical guy who is a great friend.

[Mike Tyson]

Very logical. That's a good word. He's very logical.

[Host]

And he's counseled a lot of people throughout hard times. Justin Bieber and a whole bunch of people. So you go over there, you spend time with him, you guys become great friends. At some point you want to fight Lennox Lewis, but you don't really want to fight him. So Rodney's kind of coaching you. Can you tell us how you popped him in the chin? And can you also tell us what his friendship means to you?

[Mike Tyson]

Hey, listen, what time that always pop Rodney's chin every now and then. But listen, Rodney is just the sweetest guy in the world. You know, people you know, of course you have to have that tough exterior in the music business, but he's just one of the most beautiful person in the world. I'm so grateful to be friends with his family. He's friends with my family. And it's hard to pretty much. How do you define his friendship? It's just total love.

[Host]

What does he mean here? How big of an influence does Rodney.

[Mike Tyson]

Had on your life? One of my best friends. He's doing well. Listen, one of my best friends Most famous person. When I say famous, I don't mean from a star perspective of just famous. As far as friends, one of my favorite people, when I say famous is, I mean that's one of my famous people, not no celebrity.

[Host]

Yeah, well, shout out to Rodney for bringing us together. Dark Jones.

[Mike Tyson]

Listen, listen, I'm in, I'm in Dubai and I'm telling him about Rodney Jurgens. Rodney Jurgen. This guy doesn't know who the hell is Rodney Jurgens. This guy in Dubai. I said, come on, Rodney Jersey dealt with this guy. And then my friend that's there, he said, he's Dog Chat. He said, oh yeah, I know Dog Chop Child. But they didn't know his name. They only know my dog Child.

[Host]

You got to have a branding in the music business. So they branded him Dark Child.

[Mike Tyson]

But I'm saying his name, I'm thinking these people know who he is. Wow. Rodney's not known out here. But once my friends said, doctor, yeah.

[Host]

He, he's a legend. And once again, shout out to Rodney for setting us up. I, I really appreciate he'd become a good friend in a short amount of time.

[Mike Tyson]

Oh, he sees nothing in him but godly soul. If it's not God's work, he's not doing it.

[Host]

One of the things that's one of my favorite topics that's made me successful among a lot of hard work is something called what I call extreme preparation. So I'm talking about the kind of preparation that's not normal preparation. I'm talking about when someone spends one hour on something. I may spend five or ten, or someone we're making a presentation to a company, they may spend 10 and I may spend 40. How important has extreme preparation been in your success?

[Mike Tyson]

It's not for everyone. That's why it's called extreme. Not everyone's extreme. Some people are balanced. My extreme preparation comes from fear. Every part of success comes from fear. We turn the fear into happiness, but it comes from the fear, the fear of failing. Especially when everybody have everything riding on you. There's a fear of letting everyone down, letting yourself down. That's how come some people would rather die than, you know, I mean, let people now let themselves down. It's just a feeling that I don't know why from that desperation. It's just feeling, if I don't succeed, I don't want to exist. You know, people we have been, this is the extreme guys like Muhammad Ali, they rather you got to beat him to death. They're not going to give up. If the referee don't stop the fight. The corner. Don't stop the fight. He got to kill him. He's not going to give up. He's just not going to give up and quit. And that's the mindset that I believe I have.

[Host]

One of the greatest quotes of many that you have is everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

[Mike Tyson]

Listen, I hear that sportscasters, commentators, politicians, everybody. And I was saying somebody said that became one of the most important quotes in the 21st century. And I'm saying to myself, hey, that's not even my quote, that's customado quote. I said if he was here now, he would laugh to death with somebody took them that serious. But is it true? Yeah, everyone has a plan until they get hit or they find some kind of adversity in their, in their presence.

[Host]

Let's talk about life after boxing. You were addicted to drugs.

[Mike Tyson]

No, listen, let's start. You're not starting after life after boxing. I was totally broke after I finished boxing. Totally what? Five million or six million dollars? But that's totally broke to me at that particular time. I didn't know what I was going to do. So I really indulged myself in what and my discouragement, my, my fears, my. I don't know, I just felt like my life was a waste and all that crap. And I did a lot of drugs, I did a lot of liquor, I became a glutton, I ate food, I was like 330, you know, 380, 360, something to that effect. And then I decided to call my wife, who wasn't my wife at the time, and see what I could suck out of her or something. And she came, she saw my condition, she never saw me like that before. But before she came to see me, friends of her were saying, have you seen Mike lately? He's a meth. And so she saw me. I was on medication then maybe now and then I might, I don't think I'm on coke. And yes, I was. And so she saw me, I was a mess. I don't know why she even got involved in my life. She had some adversity as well. But my stuff was just nasty, dirty. I had nothing. I can't believe I still had a house with nice cars. They didn't come and get this stuff. I mean, I'm saying, wow, what's happening here? I'm ready to go to my friend's house. I was do some creepy stuff. And my wife, she just came in single handedly and decided, hey, I'M gonna clean this mess up. She was really diligent on really allowing me to be a respectable human being in society. And so I'm really grateful and appreciative about that because it was just before we were coming here, said we were getting ready to go in a total different direction till we got it together. And no one else helped as much. I had a young, we had a young daughter named Milan in 2009 and that changed the whole game pretty much. We were working, succeeding, and giving her a great life.

[Host]

I want to talk about a huge pivot in your life. Discovered cannabis.

[Mike Tyson]

Yes.

[Host]

At some point it's changed your life, it's brought you a lot of peace. And I want you to talk about that, how you discovered it, and I want you to talk about your toad experience and what that was like.

[Mike Tyson]

So the cannabis, right. I've always smoked my whole life since the kid. I had no idea. I've been arrested for it before. I got in trouble before illegally. Someone came to me to have opened up a cannabis. I had no idea what to do, how to. I had no idea what was going on. So we got involved with these people, we partnered with them. It didn't turn out well. They didn't manage the finance and all that stuff. Right. So we ran into some. My brother in law introduced us to some other people and these people were. We made more money in a year than I did four years with the other company. And so this seemed like to be the right ticket. And I, my brother in law allowed these people to explain what they were capable of doing. It seemed like a no brainer and it wasn't. And it was a no brainer. And when we're in over 100,000 stores, we're the biggest cannabis company in the country. It's not the world. And if it's not yet, it will be. And that's just. It took the whole world by surprise. It even got me a part, a pod show like you have podcast. And so my podcast is Hot Boxing. You know, we're on the boxing, we're smoking and it's hot. So that's the name of my podcast and it's been very successful. And I'm, and I'm. People are allowed to drink and smoke on the show.

[Host]

Talk about what the actual CBD has done to you as a person and your mood and your calmness and making.

[Mike Tyson]

Hey, let me explain something to you. This is gonna be funny. Out of all those fights I had, I only smoked pot once. I never smoked pot. My whole fighting Career. But it's once and I wish I did. I wish I wasn't sober during my fighting career.

[Host]

Why?

[Mike Tyson]

Because I wish I was smoking cannabis. I was drinking like a fish liquor. But if I smoked cannabis, I think I would have been a better fighter.

[Host]

Most people would think the opposite of that is true. It slows you down. People, you see these signs on the highway, smoking, if you're high, you're drunk.

[Mike Tyson]

A little smoking is too high and stuff like that. A little high is too high, they say. But listen, we're not talking about being high. We're talking about elevating ourselves. The word high comes and see people get language wrong. The word high doesn't mean. It means your highest form of thinking. And that's what high mean. Doesn't mean, oh, I'm high, I'm under control.

[Host]

How were you making money at. At. At that point?

[Mike Tyson]

Listen, that's point. England didn't have that rule of the United Kingdom, so I made my money in Europe. Most of my money I had to make in Europe.

[Host]

You said that the high point in your life is that when you have a willingness to die. I think just the opposite. I don't want to die. But you've been quoted as saying that. Is that a high point of your life?

[Mike Tyson]

This is what I found out since I've been involved with psychedelics and I don't know, cannabis is in that same category. And I'm trying to realize, why did God create this stuff? How could God know that this stuff attacks a certain part of your brain to make you see certain images? And as time, you know, I've been doing this for a few years and it's about preparing you for death. So all this is about all the psychedelics, all that stuff, that's what it's all about. Even liquor, from perspective. It's all about preparing you for death. For you could die with dignity. And oh God, no, please don't do that. I don't want that. No, that's not what it's about. It's about accepting death. Because if death is not great, then how can life be great? If life is not great, how could death be great? They go hand in hand. They're related to each other. Without one, there won't be the other.

[Host]

How do you define success?

[Mike Tyson]

Success? Success comes in many forms. It's not necessarily finance. Success is not drinking anymore. That's a form of success, not cheating on your wife. Success has so many different perspectives. When I think of success, I never think about money. I think about happiness and I believe that's what success is. Happiness, your perspective on happiness.

[Host]

What are the ingredients of success?

[Mike Tyson]

Is your perspective on ingredients. How does success work for you? Success works for me is when I'm in a competitive mood. I don't think no one's going to beat me. And that's just in life. Not from a physical perspective, but just in a, in a competitive perspective. I was born to compete. That's just all I do. I'm just game for competition. If it's fighting, is this cannabis, is it entrepreneurship? Whatever it is, I want to fight you. I want to break whatever system that is fighting school. I want to crush it to my feet.

[Host]

What motivates Mike Tyson today?

[Mike Tyson]

I just think it's my children. So making sure, not necessarily. And I'm going to give them a great life. I want to give them a great perspective on my life or on life period. You know, I don't know if people. I might be scared to die, I don't know. But I know I don't cling to life. I don't want to be here. Certain people are not here.

[Host]

You've got young kids.

[Mike Tyson]

Yes.

[Host]

What's your advice to a young 18 year old boxer and more generally to an 18 year old in general, male or female?

[Mike Tyson]

Just let them know. I learned this from Billy Jean King. I heard, I said this just to know this. Whenever you want to be the best in the world and I'm talking about a bug collector, garbage can collector, a boxer, a watch collector, you know, anything, lawyer. Whenever you're prepared to be the best in the world or anything, you have to be prepared for disappointment because you're going to be disappointed, you're going to be discouraged and you have to prepare that's going to happen and not to give up. Never give up. Fight to your last breath. Never, never, never give up.

[Host]

You have a great family. We talked about your wife Kiki. 14 years together, you have two kids together, you have seven kids total. You moved to Florida because you have.

[Mike Tyson]

My daughter plays tennis, she plays tennis, my son plays golf and they told me this is the place to be for that stuff. They want to be professional. At least my daughter does.

[Host]

That's amazing that you did that shows what kind of parent you are, what kind of family you are. Talk about what it is like to have Mike Tyson as your dad and then talk about the work life balance.

[Mike Tyson]

Well, it depends on what particular area you caught me in. As I'm younger, I'm not as good of a father in my 20s and 30s as I am in my late 40s and 50s, middle 50s. It just changed the perspective change. The selfishness evaporates a little and you selfless. And that's when life becomes better because that's what true self love is, loving other people. I always thought self love was me buying the big mansion, buying the beautiful car, fancy clothes. But self love is helping other people. Give them what you want and give it to someone else.

[Host]

We talked a little bit before the show about our kids. We live for our kids. What's your advice to all the successful people out there who don't spend enough time with their kids and look back.

[Mike Tyson]

And say, well listen, whatever you do with your kid is going to pay off. If you spend time with them, that's dividends that you're not going to have a good relationship with them. If you spend a lot of time with less dividends, that good stuff is going to happen to you. You know, it's just about what you want to put that time in and what you want to get out of from that time. I want total respect for my kids because I give them total respect. You know, we can lie to the people outside of our house, but we can't lie to the people in our house. They watch us every day. They watch us when we're not having our, I don't know, when we don't have our face up. It's hard to say. They see us at our best and they see us at our worst. So when people have, you know, tricky relationships with their children because their children seen things they did that the people in the streets never did or their friends. So that's like children have a different relationship with their parents than they do with certain other people. They don't look at, listen, my kids don't look at me like they see everybody in the world. My son's like, everybody's kissing your ass. Nobody's kissing my ass. They showing the respect that I'm giving them. Kids are interesting. Kids are interesting. I had a real, I had a challenge with my kids to have them trust me again and have, you know, have self respect we used to have. My family came over last night. One of my oldest son, my middle daughter, her girlfriend and their mother. And it was just like family. It's just that's the best part of my life when we're all together. Matter of fact, what makes me happy when every one of my kids are together in one place, that's my happiness. Everyone. We have to be together in one place and just vibing off each other. That's how I'm at my best.

[Host]

Tell us about the Mike Tyson Cares foundation and how important is giving back in search of excellence?

[Mike Tyson]

Mike Tyson Foundation. There's just such a rare thing it's done that I probably can't even express. But you know what we do? We help the family that's dealing with domestic violence and they don't want to go home because they have to go home to this overpowered variety in person. So we have facilities for them. We have. We're in position where we can help the kids with scholastic equipment, books, pencils, even teachers. And it's just like I was saying, it's such an array of things, a charity perspective. I don't even know all of them, but it's just, man, it's just an array of beautiful stuff doing that my family and my team are doing.

[Host]

What's next in your future?

[Mike Tyson]

Sky's the limits, man. Anything's capable of happening. But keep giving affirmations to God.

[Host]

I want to ask you some fill in the blank questions as we end today, okay? Ten years from now, I want to be doing whatever I want.

[Mike Tyson]

I want to be with my family. I want to all be together. I don't want to live far from one another. I just want to celebrate and end my life doing that. Loving my family, trying to prevent any altercations from us. And hopefully that when we all said and done, we loved each other before we died and there was no kind of interventions or fights or anything, and everybody loved each other. There's some families that die not loving each other, you know, don't even want them at their deathbed.

[Host]

The biggest accomplishment in my life is.

[Mike Tyson]

I think, marrying my wife and having my kids.

[Host]

My biggest regret in life is sex partners. The one thing I've always wanted to do in my life that I haven't.

[Mike Tyson]

Done is nothing but dying. That's all. I don't look at life from that perspective. I look at life as just enjoying every great moment with everybody you love. Because life is just a blink in the eye and it's over. We can't even anticipate our next breath. You know, I look at life from that perspective too. Life is beautiful. Death is beautiful. I was looking at the story of Buddha I was going through and I had no idea that his purpose, his purpose was to stop self suffering. I had no idea somebody wanted to do that. But he realized that suffering doesn't exist. Only self suffering exists. And I started thinking about that. I said, he's right because I don't suffer most of the time, the only time I suffer is when I'm doing it to myself. Your low self esteem comes in when you're doing so good. You say, wow, how can I be doing so good when I don't think so good about myself? I'm one of those guys with the greatest ego with the lowest self worth and I don't know how that works, but it works really good for me.

[Host]

The one person in the world that I'd like to meet and I've not met yet is God.

[Mike Tyson]

No. Being in the presence of what it is, I don't know, woman, man, child, baby, energy. It's imagine dealing with God. My friend said, I deal with God every moment a day, every second of the day. You're dealing with God because God is you. And we know who we are. We know without even being involved with us being like mongoloids, cavemen, we know the difference between right and wrong. We know how we feel when we do wrong. Even though we laughing and we know even though we're evil, we know this is just not right. You just don't do that to people or the cancer. Just don't do that. We know you just don't do that. I don't care if you're invalid. We know the difference from right and wrong.

[Host]

The number one person I want on my podcast and haven't had is.

[Mike Tyson]

I don't know, I have no idea. I just like it's talking to people, interacting with people. I listen, I would take a guy in the street and we would have just as much fun. I'm talking about homeless guy. We would have just as much fun than I would if I had the best comedian in the world on the podcast. My podcast is all about love, dealing with reality and not taking the world too serious. You know, I've been saying this to people that I learned from somebody. He said that human beings take things too serious with God. Meant to be fun. I always kept that idea when I get in my extreme modes, hey, this is not meant to be complicated. This is meant to be fun and happy. So that keeps me in perspective.

[Host]

The one piece of advice I have for a 25 or 30 year old.

[Mike Tyson]

Is it's not as bad as you think. Your mind makes things in life worse than it really is. All right? Just believe in yourself and don't let nobody knock you off your, you know, nobody knock you off your mountain. Have to believe. You have to stand firm in life. You know, you don't have to win all your fights, but you got to fight them all. That's what I learned. You don't have to win them all, but you do have to fight them all.

[Host]

The one question you wish I had asked but didn't is, I wish I.

[Mike Tyson]

Asked my mother, what was your life like? What did you do when you were 10, 15, 20? What did you do? And then what did you do with your life? We never talked about my mom. I never talked to her about her family. I never knew anything about her. I learned more after she died, but I wish I asked more questions about her. So I got to become acquainted with my father as time went on, and he told me most of the stories about him and my mother from his perspective, as far as he knew her. And so that's how I knew her.

[Host]

If your mom were sitting here today, what would you tell her?

[Mike Tyson]

I was saying I turned out better than we thought we were.

[Host]

She'd be.

[Mike Tyson]

Yeah, very proud. My family have a lot of pride. The Price family have a lot of pride. I'm a Price, too, so we have a lot of pride.

[Host]

Mike, it's an honor to have you here today. I'm super grateful for your time. I'm a huge fan of yours. You have a great story of success and redemption, one of the great stories of all time.

[Mike Tyson]

Listen. No. This is what I learned from Rodney. Without no test, there's no testimony. You can't talk about your life. You never. You never lived it.