Why Mike Tyson Isn’t Afraid of Dying

Mike Tyson has been through it all. The former boxing heavyweight champion talked about his life in an interview with Cezar Greif of The Sportsman and one of the things he talked about is not be afraid of dying. Tyson explained death might be easier than living.

“Yeah. I don’t fear it,” Tyson said when asked if he was looking forward to death. “Living might be more complicated than dying to me. The belief of it. I don’t know if it’s true. Because living takes a lot of courage. Without the courage, you can’t handle living. Living is a journey; living is a struggle. People have everything and they still can’t do it, they struggle. We take ourselves too seriously. We think we’re somebody. Who the f—? We’re nothing! We come from s—; we think we’re special! Fame is s—.

Tyson was also asked if death came across his mind while he was in the ring. He answered: “I knew there was a possibility that I could die during training, during a fight. I knew that. But I wasn’t scared, because I thought if anybody was going to die, I would do the killing. That self-confidence was a survival mechanism. But now, from my experience, from what I believe, the more I know about not existing, the more willing I am to die.”

Odds are nobody thought Tyson was going to die in the ring because of how dominant he was. In fact, when people think of boxing, Tyson’s name comes up along with Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis. But one of the other things Tyson said is how boxing will be remembered.

“Boxing is such an enigma, as a sport,” he said. “This is what really matters: in two hundred years from now, there will probably only be five fighters that people will remember. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not about having money, about becoming rich. That they won’t stop mentioning your name until the planet’s disintegrated: that’s what this is really about.

From 1985 to 2005, Tyson won 50 bouts while losing just six and he holds the third-longest unified heavyweight championship reign in history with eight consecutive title defenses. He’s a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame as well as the World Boxing Hall of Fame.