Boxing: Mike Tyson says he is looking forward to dying in emotional interview

Boxing great Mike Tyson. Photo / Getty

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has opened up about death and his struggles with life in an emotional interview.

The 53-year-old has had a troubled life after being crowned heavyweight champion in 1986 at the age of just 20.

A year later he became the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles but his career spiralled after he was convicted of rape in 1992 before spending three years of his six-year prison sentence in jail.

Tyson then made a comeback, famously taking a bite out of Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 title fight leading to disqualification, and later entered bankruptcy before retiring after losing to journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride in 2004 and 2005.

In an emotional interview with Sportsman, Tyson opened up about his life saying he looks forward to death.

"From my experience, from what I believe, the more I know about not existing, the more willing I am to die," he said.

"Yeah [I look forward to it], I don't fear it. Living might be more complicated than dying to me ... 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 [but] fame is s***.

"You find out you're not [special]. You're capable of going to jail, you're capable of dying, you're capable of being mistreated.

"I don't really expect bad things to happen to me, but when they do happen to me, I understand it and I'm able to handle it. I've handled bad stuff before, that's been my life. I don't trip over bad things, I know s*** happens. When bad things happen, I will be still striving to do something. I won't be discouraged."