August 7, 2004 at 5:59 am
Boxing legend Mike Tyson has been sleeping in homeless shelters and living like a ‘street bum’ since declaring himself bankrupt.
The former heavyweight champion of the world, who once had more than £165million in the bank and regularly earned £5million per fight, also said he has been accepting handouts from drug dealers.
He added: ‘For two years I have been a bum, truly a bum in the streets.
‘I’ve got nowhere to live. I’ve been crashing with friends, literally sleeping in shelters. Unsavoury characters are giving me money and I’m taking it. I need it. The drug dealers, they sympathise with me. They see me as some sort of pathetic character.’
But he is so deeply in debt that even the £7.6million to be paid to him by promoter Don King to settle a lawsuit will not lift him out of the red.
He said: ‘When I had money I was an animal. I was so belligerent. I lost all across the board. My life has been a total waste.’
Tyson, who served three years in jail for rape in the 1990s and who bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a 1997 fight, still thinks he can be heavyweight champion again.
He added: ‘I know I was a tough, bad-ass talking fighter, but I ain’t no mob figure. I did my time for the rape. I paid my money to Las Vegas. I paid my dues.
‘I ain’t the same person I was when I bit that guy’s ear off.’