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Mike Tyson Says He’s Not Ashamed Of His Rape Conviction Former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson has seen many highs and lows throughout the course of his career and personal life, but the thing that “shames” him the most among his lengthy list of shortcomings is growing up poor. via Yahoo News It has been nearly 20 years since Mike Tyson, now 47, fought his most violent — and therefore memorable — bouts. He didn’t wear a robe or socks when he entered the ring — all he wore was a mean face that practically said, “I can kill you with one punch.” Tyson’s life outside the ring has been equally memorable and equally violent, and he has spared few details in his new autobiography Undisputed Truth. Asked by ABC News correspondent Paula Faris whether he felt any shame for his 1992 rape conviction or for biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997, Tyson admits, “None of that stuff shames me. Only thing that shames me is that I was really poor.” Tyson’s mother was an alcoholic who shuttled him from home to home in one of Brooklyn’s bleakest neighborhoods, Brownsville. He thought himself lucky if the roof over his head had heat and hot water. Iron Mike also goes int detail about his childhood as a juvenille delinquent. In an unguarded moment, Tyson confesses of his mother, “I wish I knew what to say to her to make her like me. I was never a good person.” By age 7, Tyson had stopped attending classes, slipping into school only for the free meals. A savvy pickpocket by age 9, he was on the fast track to becoming a career thief, breaking into neighborhood apartments and walking out with cash, electronics and guns. By the time he was 12, he was arrested 38 times and, just as disturbing, he was illiterate. “I was a criminal,” Tyson says. “In my neighborhood that made you a good guy — [being] able to steal money on your own without people helping you and take care of yourself.” Being a neighborhood thief didn’t protect Tyson from being bullied mercilessly by older kids. He was small for his age, spoke with a lisp and was an easy target — at least on the surface. How you can not be ashamed of the whole world viewing you as a rapist or an out-of-control mad man is beyond us….

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He Aint Got No Worries: Mike Tyson Says He’s Not Ashamed Of Biting Evander Holyfield Like A Savage Beast Or Being Convicted Of Rape