Mike Tyson casually mentioned how he barely avoided catching AIDS in a conversation with Rosie Perez for Interview Magazine. Tyson recalled a sex scare from his past while promoting his upcoming boxing match against YouTuber Jake Paul.
“Life isn’t over yet,” Tyson said. “We’re still fighting. We only make it out on the day of our death. There’s no way I should be here talking to you right now. All my friends are dead. They OD’d, they had AIDS. Me and my friend both had sex with this girl at the same time and they both died of AIDS. I didn’t catch AIDS. Raw, too.”
Tyson’s interview with Perez included a few more eye-popping quotes. He surprisingly mentioned mass murderer Charles Manson when asked about how the Paul fight would affect the former heavyweight champion’s legacy.
“What do I care about my legacy?” Tyson told Perez. “I never knew what a legacy was and people started throwing that word around so loosely. A legacy sounds like ego to me. I’m going to be dead soon. Who cares what somebody is going to think about me when I’m dead? We don’t talk about Charles Manson. No one cares about nobody when they’re dead and gone.”
Perez responded, “Weird comparison, but I’ll take it.”
Tyson is scheduled to face Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday (November 15). Tyson hasn’t fought since a 2020 exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. Paul’s last bout was against former UFC fighter Mike Perry in July.
“He got to be able to hit me to knock me out,” Tyson said regarding Paul. “And that’s going to be hard … Do you know I got hit by animals? I got hit by monsters. He can’t hit harder than no one I ever fought. I’m not going to take no punches, but he can’t hit harder than anybody I ever fought.”
Tyson vs. Paul will stream live on Netflix. Three title fights are booked for the undercard.