In my opinion,there has never been another boxer that evoked as much fear and dominated the sport as Mike Tyson did In his prime.
As far as mike's interpersonal skills, intelligence and master of the english language.....
I found this collection of quotes and they cracked me up. Unfortunately I cant remember where so I am unable to reference the source.
"[He] called me a 'rapist' and a 'recluse.' I'm not a recluse."
On Lennox Lewis
"Lennox Lewis, I'm coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"
"My main objective is to be professional but to kill him."
"I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him [Lennox Lewis]. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children."
On Evander Holyfield
"You got nothing coming, man. I'm going to enjoy this fight."
After biting Holyfield he said, "This is my career. I have children to raise. I have to retaliate. He butted me. Look at me. My kids will be scared of me."
"I felt Holyfield was using his head illegally. I told the referee I wasn't getting any help, so I went back to the streets. I cannot defend it, but it happened."
On Razor Ruddock
"You're sweet. I'm going to make sure you kiss me good with those big lips. I'm gonna make you my girlfriend."
On Tyrell Biggs
Tyson on Tyrell Biggs' complaining to him about low blows "Low blows? Low blows? Huh! Motherf**ker you're fittin' to die!"
"He was screaming like my wife."
"I could have knocked him out in the third round but I wanted to do it slowly, so he would remember this night for a long time."
On His Wife
"I paid a worker at New York's zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin. When we got to the gorilla cage there was 1 big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas. They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let smash that silverback's snotbox! He declined."
"Anyone with a grain of sense would know that if I punched my wife I would rip her head off. It's all lies. I have never laid a finger on her."
On His Childhood
"One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him. I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher. I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like a infantile retard."
On Fans
To a question on whether he feels support from the common fan: "I don't feel love from them because there's no love. They don't know me as an individual; they know me for what I actually do. Because they pay to see me smash anybody. If they're white they pay, [it's] because the only thing they have respect for is my ability as an athlete. But if I was in court and I had to use them to testify against me on my character, they wouldn't testify positively against me and they would think I'm a cad..."
"There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right."
"I think the average person thinks I'm a f**king nut and I deserve whatever happens to me. That's what I believe."
"When you see me smash somebody's skull, you enjoy it."
As far as mike's interpersonal skills, intelligence and master of the english language.....
I found this collection of quotes and they cracked me up. Unfortunately I cant remember where so I am unable to reference the source.
"[He] called me a 'rapist' and a 'recluse.' I'm not a recluse."
On Lennox Lewis
"Lennox Lewis, I'm coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"
"My main objective is to be professional but to kill him."
"I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him [Lennox Lewis]. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children."
On Evander Holyfield
"You got nothing coming, man. I'm going to enjoy this fight."
After biting Holyfield he said, "This is my career. I have children to raise. I have to retaliate. He butted me. Look at me. My kids will be scared of me."
"I felt Holyfield was using his head illegally. I told the referee I wasn't getting any help, so I went back to the streets. I cannot defend it, but it happened."
On Razor Ruddock
"You're sweet. I'm going to make sure you kiss me good with those big lips. I'm gonna make you my girlfriend."
On Tyrell Biggs
Tyson on Tyrell Biggs' complaining to him about low blows "Low blows? Low blows? Huh! Motherf**ker you're fittin' to die!"
"He was screaming like my wife."
"I could have knocked him out in the third round but I wanted to do it slowly, so he would remember this night for a long time."
On His Wife
"I paid a worker at New York's zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin. When we got to the gorilla cage there was 1 big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas. They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let smash that silverback's snotbox! He declined."
"Anyone with a grain of sense would know that if I punched my wife I would rip her head off. It's all lies. I have never laid a finger on her."
On His Childhood
"One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him. I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher. I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like a infantile retard."
On Fans
To a question on whether he feels support from the common fan: "I don't feel love from them because there's no love. They don't know me as an individual; they know me for what I actually do. Because they pay to see me smash anybody. If they're white they pay, [it's] because the only thing they have respect for is my ability as an athlete. But if I was in court and I had to use them to testify against me on my character, they wouldn't testify positively against me and they would think I'm a cad..."
"There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right."
"I think the average person thinks I'm a f**king nut and I deserve whatever happens to me. That's what I believe."
"When you see me smash somebody's skull, you enjoy it."