Business Standard

Tyson fell short of becoming greatest boxer of all time because of 'sex addiction'

Image

ANI London

Legendary boxer Mike Tyson's long-time friend and former manager Rory Holloway has claimed that the American could have been the greatest boxer of all time if it hadn't been for his sex addiction.

Holloway said that Tyson, who was the most feared boxer on the planet, could have been the greatest of all time if he hadn't been floored by his weakness for women. Instead, Tyson ended up a convicted rapist.

Holloway has revealed for the first time how his team faced a constant battle to control the fighter's sex addiction, even employing 24-hour security guards to stop him sneaking out before fights, The Mirror reported.

 

In Holloway's book 'Taming the Beast: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson', he admits that even being jailed for rape didn't keep Tyson away from women, who queued around the block to see him in prison.

Holloway, who was Tyson's friend since they were teenagers in New York, claimed that he knew there was nobody in the ring who could stop the boxer, insisting that the only reason he may not go down as the best is because of his weakness for women.

Holloway claimed that every decision Tyson made was around women and sex, adding that he knew it would catch up with the boxer, and it did. He claims that he doesn't think there is a single person alive who could've changed the outcome.

Tyson was the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion in history at 20 in 1986. But just six years later he was jailed for raping 18 year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room.

Holloway insisted that the rape case was inevitable, adding that he is surprised more girls didn't make claims against Tyson.

Even in jail, Tyson had his pick of women. Holloway claimed that all his life he had fought to keep Tyson away from women, but added that he would pull up at the prison and the guards would tell him that he couldn't visit till the next day because the boxer had got women lined up to see him.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Feb 09 2015 | 11:26 AM IST

Explore News