You're referring to the Barbara Walters interview with him and Robin Givens. Her and her mother were trying fleece him financially during their brief marriage at the time. She buried him during the interview.
And know I don't think he raped Desiree Washington...He got railroaded based on the evidence.
And that ''thug'' grew up in Brownsville Brooklyn. His mother was a prostitute and his step father was a pimp. Tyson's mother died when he was 16...Then he was taken in and adopted by Cus D'Amato his trainer. He straightened him out and kept him off the streets. Problem is that Cus died in 1985 before he was the heavyweight champion. Now he is on the brink of superstardom without his mentor and tutor. No wonder he spirals into problems. He didn't have much chance right from the get go
Orry, everything you say is true.
However, IMO, you cannot defend him for the crime of rape as he was given a fair and proper trial. In our society that is what's considered proof of guilt or innocence. Extenuating circumstances are no longer part of the equation. He had his day in court.
Did he have a poor and disadvantaged upbringing? It sure seems that way. But, as we both know, boxing is notorious as a sport in which probably at least 90% of the participants came from poor and disadvantage backgrounds. Probably more than any other sport in the world. However, how many become rapists, cannibals and threaten to cannibalize other people's children. It's a disgusting thing to just even say. How many people tell interviewers that they are "pieces of shit" on live TV when they're supposedly rehabilitated? And he was probably getting paid for that interview.
Again, if you want to cheer for him, go right ahead. I'm not telling you that you have to dislike him like I do. I'm just giving
my reasons for disliking him. You like ultra-fit women with 6-packs and I like softer, curvier ones. Neither of us is wrong. "Chacun son gout."