BOXING legend Mike Tyson has surprisingly revealed the death of his mum was ‘one of the best things that has ever happened to me’.
Lorna Tyson passed away from cancer in 1982, three years before her son became a professional boxer.
Mike Tyson says his mum dying actually had a weirdly positive effect on him
Mike Tyson’s mum Lorna died when the boxing legend was just 16 years old
Tyson has been open about his upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, where he had to fight to survive.
And he has revealed that losing his mum so young actually helped him live on the mean streets.
The 55-year-old told the ShayShay Club: “You know, one of the best things that ever happened to me is that my mother died.
“Because my mother would have ‘babied’ me.
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“There’s no way I would ever got into a street fight. No way I would ever learn to stand up for myself.”
Iron Mike was just 16 years old when Lorna died.
Raised in Brownsville, a neighbourhood rife with crime, Tyson had a tough start to life – fit for the boxer he became.
He didn’t know his biological father Purcell Tyson and his stepdad Jimmy Kirkpatrick walked out on him and his family soon after he was born.
Tyson would later say about Kirkpatrick: “My father was just a regular street guy caught up in the street world.”
As a teen, he fell into bad company, associating with local gangs and getting himself into trouble.
He was taunted by other kids for his high-pitched voice and lisp, and got into plenty of fights.
Remarkably, before he had turned 13, Tyson had been arrested around 38 times and was sent to a juvenile home called Tryson school for boys.
Speaking about his mum previously, former unified heavyweight champ Tyson said: “I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something.
“She only knew me as being a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew I didn’t pay for.
“I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it’s crushing emotionally and personally.”
Tyson made a stunning return to the boxing ring in November 2020 with a points draw against fellow legend Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition.
The cannabis-loving fighter insisted he would fight on – but SunSport exclusively revealed has officially walked away from a money-spinning fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
The self-styled ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ was in advanced negotiations with Paul, 25, about an exhibition fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Now Tyson has claimed that he has convinced Lennox Lewis to face him in an exhibition fight – despite the pair having a combined age of 111.
Money is no issue for Iron Make, who earns £500k-a-month from his cannabis empire.
Mike Tyson became the youngest-ever heavyweight champion when he beat Trevor Berbick in 1986
