It is safe to say that boxing legend Mike Tyson knows about ins and outs of the boxing industry very well. The former heavyweight champion competed in the ring for nearly two decades before retiring from the sport. During this time, he saw the peaks of success along with some huge failures as well.
However, it looks like Iron Mike agrees that the sport is far from perfect, after Emmy-nominated actress Leslie Jones hurled some criticism towards the people running the sport. Jones recently appeared on an episode of Tyson’s podcast Hotboxin, where she shared some ugly truths about the boxing industry. “I always thought this industry was the ugliest industry. How they built you (Tyson) to be the beast and then they tried to cage the fu****g beast,” she said.
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Tyson agreed with his guest but stated that despite their attempts he was a ‘beast’ who could not be caged. “The beast can’t be caged baby. The beast can’t be caged,” said Tyson. Boxing is a sport that was initially run by promoters often involved in criminal activities.
Although the sport has come a long way from its beginnings, several still claim that it is still plagued with politics and corruption. Tyson perfectly understood what Jones was trying to say and agreed that this was the state of the sport during his time.
Mike Tyson praises Jake Paul for saving boxing
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Iron Mike recently praised Paul and the whole influencer boxing community for reviving interest in the sport. He stated that boxing was a dying sport until YouTubers like Paul managed to bring interest in the sport. “Boxing was pretty much a dying sport, so UFC was kicking our b*tt, and now we have these YouTube boxers. Boxing is getting 25 million views, boxing is going back thanks to the YouTube boxers.” he said.
Paul and Tyson were rumored to face off this year, with Paul calling out Iron Mike on several occasions. However, due to his recent health concerns, Iron Mike wisely chose not to fight this year while ‘The Problem Child’ face former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.
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WATCH THIS STORY: The Most Ridiculous Stories Ever Narrated by Mike Tyson
Do you agree with Jones’ hard-hitting remarks about boxing? Let us know in the comments.