Legendary boxer Mike Tyson has revealed on a podcast that he used the opioid fentanyl in his early career.
Widely recognised as the most ferocious fighter in the sport's history, reaching its pinnacle during the late 1980s and early '90s, 'Iron Mike' was just 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old when he won his first title.
Appearing in this week's instalment of the Katie Miller Podcast, the controversial ex-athlete - he spent three years in prison for rape and munched off some of Evander Holyfield's ear in the ring - Tyson began by weighing in on his role as CEO of Carma HoldCo, a cannabis brand parent company.
"From my perspective, using cannabis, that's safer than using alcohol, cocaine or anything from that perspective, or fentanyl," he told Miller.
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Tyson, who lost an exhibition fight against Jake Paul at the age of 58 last year, then proceeded to dig into his own history with the deadly drug fentanyl and its effect on him.
"I've done fentanyl before. In the late '90s, when it first came here, it was a painkiller, and I used to use it to patch up my toe," revealed the podcast guest.
"It was like heroin, once it wears off and you take the Band-Aid off, you start withdrawing, throwing up, just like if you were on heroin or something."
Apparently, if he hadn't discovered that it was a banned substance in the sporting landscape, Tyson would've continued using.
"It was brand new. I told my friend, 'Could I use this?' No-one ever heard of it.'"
Fentanyl's potency is 50 times stronger than that of heroin, and 100 times than that of morphine.
Meanwhile, it was announced last week that the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' would be facing fellow boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr in another exhibition next spring.
"When CSI [Sports] came to me about stepping in the ring with Floyd Mayweather, I thought, 'No way this happens,' but, Floyd said yes," he stated in a press release.
"This fight is something neither the world nor I ever thought would or could happen. However, boxing has entered a new era of the unpredictable — and this fight is as unpredictable as it gets.
"I still can't believe Floyd wants to really do this. It's going to be detrimental to his health, but he wants to do it, so it's signed and it's happening!"
Mayweather - undefeated across 50 professional fights between 1996 and 2017 - doesn't seem fazed though.
"I've been doing this for 30 years and there hasn't been a single fighter that can tarnish my legacy,” said the 48-year-old.
"You already know that if I am going to do something, it's going to be big and it's going to be legendary. I'm the best in the business of boxing. This exhibition will give the fans what they want."
Dan Seddon