5 Hard-Hitting Quotes From Mike Tyson’s New York Mag Feature [PHOTOS] - Page 2

Yeah, sure, memories of Mike Tyson‘s career as undisputed heavyweight champion have been blurred with visions of police blotters and slapstick cameos in movies, but look who’s still standing. To get where you’re going, you have to know where you have been.

New York Magazine was kind enough to share an excerpt from Undisputed Truth, by Mike Tyson with Larry Sloman, where readers get privy to the former champ as he peels back the layers of his cerebellum to shed light on his gritty childhood.

The candid interview reads like excerpts of an award-winning autobiography; complete with explicit details that don’t hold back any of their bite (sorry Evander). The entire story is worth a read but here are five choice quotes that’ll get you more than psyched for the main event. The book, Undisputed Truth, is in stores November 12. The HBO documentary, Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth airs on November 16 at 8 pm ET.

—

Photos: YouTube, Robert Sabo, Tysontalk

1. “We were a burglary team, and some of our gangster friends had an altercation with the Puma Boys, so we were going to the park to back them up. We normally didn’t deal with guns, but these were our friends, so we stole a bunch of shit: some pistols, a .357 Magnum, and a long M1 rifle with a bayonet attached from World War II. You never knew what you’d find when you broke into people’s houses.”

Thank God the only guns Iron Mike went on to specialize in were covered with big red gloves.

2. “When I was just 7 years old, our world got turned upside down. There was a recession and my mom lost her job and we got evicted out of our nice apartment in Bed-Stuy. They came and took all our furniture and put it outside on the sidewalk. The three of us had to sit down on it and protect it so that nobody took it while my mother went to find a spot for us to stay.”

It’s easy for the jokes to start to fly when Tyson’s estimated fortune of $300 million is brought up but his humble beginnings have to be taken into account as well. Like another prominent Bed-Stuy resident once quoted, “Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke, man I couldn’t picture this.”

3. “Some people might read some of the things I’m talking about and judge me as an adult, call me a criminal, but I did these things over 35 years ago. I was a little kid looking for love and acceptance, and the streets were where I found it. It was the only education I had, and these guys were my teachers.”

When you graduate from the school of Hard Knocks, the only coronation you may receive is celebrating a birthday.

4. “I started getting a whole new level of respect on the streets. Instead of “Can Mike play with us?” people would ask my mother, “Can Mike Tyson play with us?” Other guys would bring their guys around to fight me, and they’d bet money on the outcome. I would win a lot too.”

Don’t think this type of skill started with Hector Mercedes. Iron Mike has been bout that street fighter life.

5. “We sat down, and Cus told me he couldn’t believe I was only 13 years old. And then he told me what my future would be. “If you listen to me, I can make you the youngest heavyweight champion of all time.” I didn’t know what to say. I had never heard anyone say nice things about me before. I wanted to stay around this old guy because I liked the way he made me feel. I’d later realize that this was Cus’s psychology. You give a weak man some strength, and he becomes addicted.”

He started from the bottom, now he’s here…after several returns to the bottom.

As an additional bonus, here’s the new trailer to Spike Lee’s The Undisputed Truth, hitting HBO in a few weeks.