At his peak, Mike Tyson was the most intimidating men on the entire planet, but talking about his friend Tupac Shakur caused Iron Mike to break down to tears.
While reminiscing about the life and death of the iconic rapper, Tyson got emotional during a radio interview last week.
The boxing legend appeared on the Real 92.3’s Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show and talked about a myriad of topics from music to marijuana to mental illness to the last time he saw Tupac. Tyson was asked, “When it comes to athletes and rappers being best friends one of the most iconic friendships was the one between you and Tupac, what was your last memory with Pac?” Iron Mike was overwhelmed with emotion and responded, “Oh sh*t.” Breaking into tears, Mike needed a tissue and a moment to understandably compose himself.
“It’s very difficult to talk about,” Tyson said about his memories of their friendship. “He was just a young kid, and he wanted to be great – and then that happened.”
Tupac was fatally shot after the boxing match where Tyson destroyed Bruce Seldon on September 7, 1996, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a first-round knockout that is still one of the shortest Heavyweight championship fights in boxing history, only lasting 1:49. Tupac was Tyson’s VIP guest at the highly-anticipated fight.
“[Tupac] was really happy after the fight,” Tyson said through tears. “He came to a press conference with me. We was just talking a bunch of sh*t. I went home and then he left.”
Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting and was rushed to the hospital where Tyson attempted to visit the legendary rapper but was turned away. Tupac would die four days later from his injuries and his murder is still unsolved 22 years later.