I'm a street bum, says broke Tyson

Tyson has been accepting handouts from drug dealers

11 April 2012

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has been sleeping in homeless shelters and living like a 'street bum' since declaring himself bankrupt.

The former heavyweight champion of the world, who once had more than £165million in the bank and regularly earned £5million per fight, also said he has been accepting handouts from drug dealers.

He added: 'For two years I have been a bum, truly a bum in the streets.

'I've got nowhere to live. I've been crashing with friends, literally sleeping in shelters. Unsavoury characters are giving me money and I'm taking it. I need it. The drug dealers, they sympathise with me. They see me as some sort of pathetic character.'

Tyson, who will be 38 on Wednesday, will fight British boxer Danny Williams on July 30 in an attempt to make some money.

But he is so deeply in debt that even the £7.6million to be paid to him by promoter Don King to settle a lawsuit will not lift him out of the red.

He said: 'When I had money I was an animal. I was so belligerent. I lost all across the board. My life has been a total waste.'

Tyson, who served three years in jail for rape in the 1990s and who bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear during a 1997 fight, still thinks he can be heavyweight champion again.

He added: 'I know I was a tough, bad-ass talking fighter, but I ain't no mob figure. I did my time for the rape. I paid my money to Las Vegas. I paid my dues.

'I ain't the same person I was when I bit that guy's ear off.'

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I'm a street bum, says broke Tyson

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