Mike Tyson has claimed he looks forward to death - and that it might be less complicated than living.
At his peak Tyson tore a path of destruction through the heavyweight division as the 'baddest man on the planet'.
He was the youngest-ever heavyweight world champion when he was crowned at the age of 20 and won his first 19 fights by knockout - 12 of them in the first round.
He was also the first heavyweight to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF belts and later became the lineal champion.
But first his career and then his life spiralled out of control when he was beaten by Buster Douglas in one of the biggest shocks in sporting history, and then two years later he was convicted of rape and jailed.
And reflecting on the idea of being willing to die in the ring, Tyson told The Sportsman: "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.
"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 shit.
"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.
"So 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."
