Mike Tyson has changed a lot since beginning his career as a boxer decades ago. Although good at his craft at the beginning of his career, Tyson did not have the discipline needed to maintain a positive image in the spotlight. “I was insane. I had this rage – but that’s what made me a great fighter. I wanted people who got in the ring with me to think they were dealing with a savage. I wanted them to show me respect. I was a pig then. A pig,” said Tyson to The Sun.
Although once wild, Tyson settled down after the death of his 4-year-old daughter in 2009. “After Exodus’s death I knew I needed to do something positive and not sit there full of anger,” Mike said. The retired boxer married Lakiha Spicer who influenced him to turn things around with soberness and weight loss. “I stopped drinking and for six months I only ate tomato and basil soup and water. I lost over 100lb and I haven’t had meat since. I don’t want anything in me that’s going to enrage me — no processed food, no meat. It’s much harder to be a good man than a great boxer. I needed to be a good man and a good father,” explained the former heavyweight champion.
Tyson has made appearances on several daytime talk shows speaking as a positive force since wedding his wife in 2009. The former boxer has also taken a more active role in caring for his kids. Tyson is the father of eight children.
