Mike Tyson recalls Tupac visiting him in prison: "He was just a bolt of energy"
8 January 2020, 16:58
Tyson was convicted on rape charges in 1992.
Mike Tyson has reflected on the moment his close friend Tupac Shakur visited him in prison.
The legendary boxing champion was arrested for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington in 1991, and later served three years of a six year sentence; he was released in 1995.
Speaking to T.I. on his ExpediTIously podcast, Tyson, 53, recalled the time Tupac visited him during his time in prison.
"All of a sudden he jumps on the table," recalls Tyson of Tupac's visit. "The cops, the guards are looking at him and I'm like, 'come down, get down from there,'"
He continues, "He's still up there, and I say 'what's wrong? Come down, please, get down!' The guards in the prison didn't like him cause when he came, the inmates got rowdy and pumped up. That's like a safety situation there so they really didn't like him."
Pac and Tyson were close friends. The rapper's untimely death occurred after he witnessed Tyson defeat Bruce Seldon in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand in September 1996, where he attended with Suge Knight.
"He was just a bolt of energy," Tyson continues. "When he came in, everybody knew him. He had mad respect. I guess that's how he lived his life, he demanded respect.
"When the word came out he just came to visit me, and then he went out and shot two police officers, off-duty police officers. Everybody in the prison went crazy! It was like a riot, everybody went crazy!"
During a recent interview on Real 92.3’s Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show, the former boxer broke down in tears while discussing Pac's death. He revealed that he wasn’t allowed to see the rapper after he was rushed to hospital following the fatal shooting.
"It’s very difficult to talk about," Tyson said. "He was just a young kid, and he wanted to be great – and then that happened."
