‘This A**hole Needed to Be in the Swamp’: Mike Tyson Almost Got Scammed on His Way to Jail by ‘Voodoo Priest’

Mike Tyson finally succeeded in transposing various chapters of his life into words. His autobiography Undisputed Truth, co-written with Larry Sloman and published in 2013, is approximately 600 pages long. Among an array of anecdotes, he shared with fans, one in particular clamors for attention. It happened around the time when a young Mike Tyson, held guilty of assaulting a model, hoped for a lenient sentence. Deeply worried about his future, he took to ways and means, often touching heights of absurdity and, at times to his bitter amusement.

Just a little bit of magic

Page two of the book’s prologue details how he met a so-called voodoo priest at the behest of a few close friends, “The guy didn’t even look like a drugstore voodoo guy. This a**hole needed to be in the swamp; … “But I was drinking goddamn Hennessy. I wasn’t going to water down my Hennessy.”

Mike could make out in an instant the guy was of dubious character. The latter jotted down some mumbo-jumbo on a piece of paper in addition to a fictitious narrative of which the former champion hardly had any clue.

On 11th February 1990, Mike Tyson lost his WBA, WBC, and IBF Heavyweight titles to James ‘Buster’ Douglas. Then twenty-three years old, he recovered with wins over Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart, followed by consecutive victories over Donovan Ruddock in 1991. After that, however, his personal life took a downturn.

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In July 1991, authorities arrested Tyson on charges of attacking Desiree Washington, a model and winner of the Miss Black Rhode Island pageant. When the incident happened, the latter was in Indianapolis for another beauty contest, Miss Black America. Mike Tyson, apparently, was one of the guests.

When Mike Tyson found a higher meaning to life

The ‘Baddest Man on The Planet’ feared a lifetime’s incarceration. But, at the same, it is reported that his promoter Don King informed the former champion of his chances of walking away scot-free. But the jury found him guilty. Perceptibly confused, Tyson decided to use black magic and sorcery to get the minimum penalty possible.

Tyson writes in his book that he considered claptraps, such as breaking a pigeon’s egg and washing in questionable oils. And then, a close friend from Chicago named Calvin told the former champ about a lady deft in black magic. She could cast a spell to protect him from jail, Mike was told.

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In the end, Tyson received a six-year jail term. However, he ended up serving only three. He reportedly shelled out one million dollars as the fee to his lawyer, Vince Fuller. He thanks Judge Patricia Gifford for turning his life around. After all, it was in prison that he first discovered Islam.