In the lead-up to his highly-anticipated fight against Jake Paul, boxing legend Mike Tyson hilariously explained why he’s not concerned about how he’ll be remembered.
During an interview with 14-year-old reporter Jazlyn “Jazzy” Guerra on Thursday, November 14, Tyson, 58, was asked about the “legacy” he’d like to leave behind once his in-ring career is over.
“I don’t know, I don’t believe in the word ‘legacy,’” Tyson said bluntly. “I just think that’s another word for ego. Legacy doesn’t mean nothing. It’s just some word everybody grabbed onto.”
Tyson continued, “It means absolutely nothing to me. I’m just passing through. I’m going to die and it’s going to be over. Who cares about legacy after that?”
Guerra, clearly taken aback by Tyson’s candidness, let the former heavyweight champion keep talking.
“We’re nothing,” Tyson said. “We’re just dead. “We’re dust. We’re absolutely nothing. Our legacy is nothing.”
Guerra nodded her head and responded, “Well, thank you so much for sharing that. It’s something that I have not heard before, someone say that as an answer.”
“Can you really imagine somebody saying, ‘I want my legacy to be this way?’ You’re dead!” Tyson carried on. “You think somebody really wants to think about you? What’s the audacity to think, ‘I want people to think about me when I’m gone?’ Who the f— cares about me when I’m gone?”
All Guerra could do was laugh, shrug and say, “True.”
The young reporter received kudos in the comment section of her video for how she handled the outrageous interview.
“Lol good job Jazzy for keepin it pushin & professional lil sis 😂,” one person wrote. Another said, “Bless young Jazzy. She’s going to be a master of human interaction before she gets a drivers license.”
While Tyson might not care himself, he has a chance to add a chapter to his legacy when he takes on Paul, 27, in an eight-round boxing match on Friday, November 16. The fight marks Tyson’s first professional bout since a loss to Kevin McBride in June 2005.
“There are no feelings attached,” Tyson told reporters on Tuesday, November 13. “My own mother should be very careful if she has to get in the ring with me. When it’s over, it’s over. But while the process is going on, my intention is to hurt him. I hope he has the same intentions, or he is in trouble.”
The Tyson-Paul fight, which takes place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is the main event of a fight card that streams live Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix.