"I learned all that s*** from wrestling" - Mike Tyson reveals how wrestling impacted his boxing career

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Tyson at Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant - Weigh-in [Image courtesy of Getty]

Mike Tyson recently revealed the influence professional wrestling had on his boxing career.

While sitting down with wrestling icon Ric Flair on his Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson podcast, the legendary boxer confessed:

"I've been a wrestling fan before I even thought about boxing, and that's why when I'm on stage and I'm talking about the baddest man on the planet, I learned all that s*** from wrestling. How to brag and talk, Muhammad Ali did too."

Tyson explained that watching pro wrestling helped him learn how to own the stage. While Muhammad Ali went the butterfly route, he took it in the opposite direction and went for mean and intimidating:

"Life is about bulls***. Talking s***, you know. Because the guy that doesn't talk, he's just playing."

The sometimes-infamous boxer stated that wrestling has become so successful and popular because it is a soap opera for men.

When he was still boxing, 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' was a master of talking and claiming the stage. If Mike Tyson was fighting, it drew everyone's attention, and he credits that to his years of watching legends like Ric Flair.

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Watch the full episode of the podcast here:

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Mike Tyson sits down with Ric Flair and discusses near-death experiences

During the same episode, the two legends sat down to discuss their lives. When Tyson asked Ric Flair what people should call him, the wrestler replied:

"I call myself fortunate. I've been in an airplane crash twice, then almost died four years ago. I was on life support for 13 days."

Flair revealed to Tyson that an intestinal rupture kept him in the ICU for 31 days:

"I couldn't walk, I couldn't pop a can on a diet coke."

Flair explained that bowel adhesion from a prior surgery for appendicitis led to the rupture, but the condition was spurred on by excessive drinking. The rupture caused sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory heart failure, and total kidney failure. He was given a prognosis of a 10% chance to live for those 13 days.

Mike Tyson joked about the way Flair lived his life, stating that the former WWE champion "has always been 30 years old."

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