Mike Tyson Says He Lost His Passion for Boxing ‘Kind of Early’

Mike Tyson may be one of the best known heavyweight champion boxers of all time, but he has just admitted that he lost his excitement to be fighting professionally “kind of early” in his career.

In a recent conversation on his podcast Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, Vegas magician Criss Angel spoke about the toll that performing shows day-in, day-out takes on his enthusiasm. “Sometimes I feel like a hamster in a wheel,” he said. “I don’t have the love that I once did, or the excitement that I once did to perform.”

When asked by Angel whether he has the same passion for his sport now as he did back at the start, Tyson immediately answered: “No way.”

“You lose the desire to train, but you don’t lose the desire to spend that money,” he said. “If you didn’t properly use your money, you have to continue fighting.”

He continued: “Fighting is for people who have nothing else to do in life. If you can’t do nothing else in life, you go to boxing or become a criminal, one or the other.”

Tyson went on to talk about the younger generation of fighters, saying he thinks “it’s beautiful” that this isn’t necessarily the case any more, and that these days a college graduate can become a champion in the ring.

“I think it’s beautiful,” he said. “If you’re a good student, most likely you’ll be a good fighter… Taking all these tests, that’s pressure, just like a fight. So people who are prolific in school are normally prolific in life and in sports. That’s why the quarterback is the main guy… It’s all the same. Fighting, economics, all the same. Pressure is pressure.”