Exclusive Interview: Mike Tyson

GL: This is a new beginning for you Mike. You've never had to look forward to life without boxing, will that be something you embrace? Will it take some getting used to? Do you feel it was long overdue? Tells us how you're feeling Mike.
"I just want people to know that the way I was, that was just my athletic mode. I'm a human being, I have a human mode too, I do that with dignity and pride. I've been through the whole ordeal, the twenty year hurricane of chaos, wrecklessness and I've come out of it a shattered man, but willing to take on life again, not willing to lay down. It's pretty scary Greg, because this is a new part of life that I haven't experienced yet. Somewhat like death, it's another part of life that I haven't experienced yet. It's somewhat apprehensive to me, but I'm going to deal with the situation. I have a wonderful relationship with my ex-wife, Dr. (Monica) Turner. Aw man, she's just a remarkable woman. I give her praise on television and in the papers because she's such a remarkable woman. I've seen her grow under the pressure, challenge the pressure and extinguish the pressure. Believe it or not she's my hero, my knight in shining armor and shit. I understand that our relationship is dead, but I truly appreciate her as a human being for the way she stood by me like a soldier."

GL: Some people look at Monica's current involvement and wonder, why is Mike so close to his EX-wife?

Mike Tyson: "You know why? You have to listen to this Greg, because when I was sinking and bringing the whole family down with the ship, she took her and the kids to another island on the raft because I would have brought the whole family down. I'm just so happy she was smart enough to get away from my ass, I'm an animal."

GL: Do you believe this life after boxing will be a smoother transition for you if you have some type of family structure around you?

Mike Tyson: "I don't know Greg, because I have certain problems I have to deal with. I have a dilemma with the IRS. I'm really doing bad right now, but I feel great. Isn't that a weird concept though? I'm doing horrible but I feel great."

"Life experiences are just priceless. Just being on the whirlwind, this chaotic twister of a ride. But now that I'm off the ride, some of these people, I just want to let everyone that I've ever had an altercation with...Teddy Atlas, Robin Givens, Rory Holloway, Don King, anybody that I had an altercation with or had problems with...I give up and I just want to bury that hatchet with everybody. I'm not saying I want to hang out with them, but I want to bury the hatchet because life goes on.

"We're all getting older and we're all getting closer to death. I just don't have the energy to look for revenge."

GL: Boxing made you one of the most famous people in the world. You can't walk down a block without shutting it down. How do you plan on parlaying that fame into a solid foundation for the life after boxing?

Mike Tyson: "I'm definitely not fighting anymore. I've talked to some people, I just talked to a gentleman named Jimmy, whose involved with club Jenna, you know Jenna Jameson. They said they were interested in getting me involved in that kind of business as well."

GL: Seriously?

Mike Tyson: "Yeah, the adult film industry. What do you think about that Minister?

GL: I think it sounds like fun, but I think you do bigger and better things than that. I think a Mike Tyson reality TV show would be off the hook as long as you're not playing it up for the cameras.

Mike Tyson: "It probably would, but I'm not really interested in that right now. I've been allured to this reality show. It doesn't pay enough money, it's under the pretense that it has to do well and I need what I need up front. If $100,000 is the most they could pay somebody up front for that, that's not it for me. I need different business than that."

GL: Many people, including myself, believe that you would do a tremendous job of commentating on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, radio, etc. However, you've made it clear that you have no desire for boxing so does that make it difficult for you to get involved with something like that? Do you have the desire to commentate?

Mike Tyson: "I'm just re-evaluating my life and being on that roller coaster slash twister I've been on. My options are pretty minimal but I will examine them. Time is a helluva thing Greg. It doesn't wait for anyone and when it's finished doing a number on you, you're all alone. I never thought that I would be all alone like I am now and it's a truly interesting situation to be in right now."

GL: What's the most important thing in your life right now?

Mike Tyson: "As an intangible, my children. But I got to get emotionally well. I'm not really well emotionally. With prison and all that stuff, I think life in general, and that's why I could never get back with my ex-wife Monica, she's seen me so weak, so umm, so...

GL: (cutting in) She's seen you at your worst.

Mike Tyson: "At my worst is an understatement. She's seen me vulnerable, she's seen me desperate and I'm sure she's lost all respect for me as a man as a result of that."

GL: If she didn't respect you she wouldn't be there for you now.

Mike Tyson: "She's not with me. She's just a beautiful person and she's looking out for me."

GL: Most people I know don't look out for people they don't respect. When people lose respect for you Mike, they truly won't give a shit about you.

Mike Tyson: "I think she does it for the children more than anything, so they don't look at their daddy as a monster and a bum. But in all actuality, I am a bum right now."

GL: You know what you need to do, you need to find yourself emotionally. But in my opinion, it boils down to you finding the desire to want to succeed.

Mike Tyson: "There's nothing mentally wrong with me or anything like that, I just have some emotional problems."

GL: And what do you think that stems from?

Mike Tyson: "I don't know. I'm just very sensitve and emotional. Maybe it's lack of realness from fellow citizens. I guess I should be happy to be alive though."

GL: At times like this, does your fans showing you love when they see you outside uplift you any? Does it make you feel any better?

Mike Tyson: "I'm very objective to that. I look at that as, I'm an entertainer, a performer. I perform for people."

GL: Based on where you came from and what you've accomplished as an entertaining boxer, it has made you a beloved figure to many people and you shouldn't downplay that.

Mike Tyson: "I don't downplay it, I'm just very iffy right now. After being Mr. Mike Tyson, the big shot. After the cloud blows over, everybody is gone. And not everybody left me, I chased a lot of them away. You know, my family is gone and I have nothing. When you're typing this interview, make sure you put it in there that I am the stupidest fighter in the history of the game. Just the dumbest motherfucker ever."