Mike Tyson has a new one-man show that he is taking on the road and one of his most significant stops was in Indianapolis, a place that holds some bad memories for the legendary boxer.
According to the Washington Post, Tyson is taking his one man show on a 36-city tour and one of the main stops is a three-night showing in Indianapolis, the place where he served time after being convicted of rape. The show bows on Wednesday night and gives Tyson the chance to reflect on how far he has come.
Tyson was convicted for July 1991 rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington, who was a pageant contestant from Rhode Island. He was put in prison for three years and changed his life when he was released in 1995. At 46-years-old, he has yet to return.
"At the time, I was living a pretty hectic life and pretty wild and I don't know what would have happened if I had three more years of that life," Tyson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. "So maybe that was, everything happens for a reason. You know, when I left prison, I did a lot better than when I came. So everything happens for a reason, everything's a developmental stage in life, and I'm just going on this journey in life to find out what's next."
Tyson's show was helped along in development by Spike Lee and features the boxer talking about his upbringing in Brooklyn to his days as a championship boxer as well as the darker moments, like using drugs and biting Evander Holyfield's ear off. He also speaks about his past relationships with Don King and wife Robin Givens, as well as Don King and his former trainers.
"It's not like no kryptonite. There's nothing about that stuff that evokes any bad memories to me," he said. "I'm a professional, I'm going to go there, I'm going to entertain the crowd. I'm not going to be there and say, 'Oh, my God.' No, I'm a grown man. That's 21 years ago. You think I'm scared to come to Indianapolis because of something that happened 21 years ago? I'm a totally different person now."
Tyson has been in the public eye for many years and has been featured in films like "The Hangover: as well as in "Law and Order: SVU."
He has had some issues with his past, including when he was banned from travelling to New Zealand last year due to his rape conviction.
"I brought that on myself because I was being arrogant at the time," he said when asked about the dust-up with New Zealand authorities. "I really had the OK to go there, but I made a statement about the prime minister and he got mad at me, and I should have been more humble about the whole situation. Other than that, all of the people that wanted to come from New Zealand they came to Australia, and I was very grateful for that."