MIKE TYSON told Jamie Foxx he was happy he was skint so “vultures” could not take anything from him anymore.
Iron Mike is making a boxing comeback at the age of 54 against Roy Jones Jr and recently trained with WWE hero Kurt Angle to keep sharp and ready.
With a successful podcast, marijuana ranch and even Hollywood film cameos, the former heavyweight champion appears to be living the good life again.
But gone are the days of the sort of outlandish lavish spending that saw him blow his estimated £320million fortune and file for bankruptcy back in 2003.
In fact, the Baddest Man on the Planet has even managed to become a millionaire again – having recovered from eye-watering debt of around £18m at one point.
Now he is set to have a Hollywood movie biopic based on him with Oscar winner Foxx due to play the boxer.
The actor, 52, has bulked up dramatically to play the heavyweight legend on the silver screen.
However, with filming postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, Foxx has used the time to give a series of interviews about the film.
And he revealed an interesting chat with the icon led to him discovering how much happier Tyson is WITHOUT the huge bank account he had in his prime.
Foxx told Showtime’s ‘All the Smoke’: “When we were talking about the movie, I said what’s interesting about Mike is not the ring now, it’s the Mike that we see now.
“When I called Mike one time, I said ‘Mike, how are you doing?’ – And it’s this voice ‘All praise to Allah, my brother I’m just happy’.
“I said ‘why you happy?’ and ‘I’m happy I don’t have money anymore, I don’t have any money’. “I said ‘why do you say that? Why does that make you happy?’
“‘Cause no one can take anything from me anymore. There are no vultures. Nobody out there trying to take anything from me. So I’m just happy.’”
Legendary director Martin Scorsese has also agreed to work on the movie.
Foxx added: “We want to show everybody evolves. Everybody comes from a good or bad place.
“I think when we lay the layers on Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey and the way we’ll place it.”
