Mike Tyson has had some very iconic moments inside the boxing ring. However, many of them aren’t just highlights while in action, but moments from post-fight interviews. Ariel Helwani asked Tyson about his favorite post-fight interview moment, and the answer is an obvious and iconic clip.
“Spinal huh. I don’t even know, it’s ridiculous. I said some ridiculous stuff, I was smoking too much we*d at the time and I said ridiculous stuff and it stuck with me.”
Helwani then proceeded to narrate his favorite Tyson moment, and Mike commented on the circumstances around that.
Helwani: “I’ll tell you my favorite. It’s the one where you said ‘you know Alexander, I am Alexander. He’s not the great, I am the great, praise B-12.’ Remember that?”
Tyson: “I’m a real interesting guy. I get carried away sometimes, I deal with my personality disorders. Every now and then, clips about me and my personality.”
Mike Tyson and his infamous ‘spinal’ interview
(Photo by: The Ring Magazine via Getty Images)
In an age before internet memes, Tyson had a post-fight interview that would rival any of the funniest memes today. After beating Clifford Ettienne, Tyson was being interviewed by the iconic Jim Gray. At that moment, Tyson decided to reveal that he boxed while injured. However, the description of the injury was comical, and still elicits laughs today.
Tyson looked dead serious and said ‘I broke my back. Spinal.’ to the visible confusion of Gray and the others. He did explain what he meant when he said that, revealing that he was in a motorcycle accident. However, the internet doesn’t need context for something it can make a viral sensation. The Mike Tyson interview has been re-created by certain athletes like NBA star CJ McCollum.
Mike Tyson has reacted to the clip before and had revealed that it was just a lot of wear and tear over his career that made him uncomfortable with his back. Hopefully, that issue is sorted as Tyson heads into battle against Roy Jones Jr. in a massive comeback.
