Why Mike Tyson Thinks His Mom's Death Was 'One Of The Best Things That Ever Happened' To Him

In an interview with Bleacher Report in 2010, Mike Tyson opened up about his childhood and his relationship with his mother, Lorna. According to the boxer, his mother only knew him as an unruly child who did petty crimes on the streets of their neighborhood, and he was never able to form a deep relationship with her. Lorna died of cancer when Tyson was just 16 years old, but even before that, she had given D'Amato custody of her son.

Looking back on his life, Tyson said that his mother's death was "one of the best things that ever happened" to him. When asked to explain what he meant, Tyson told Shannon Sharpe that if his mother had been alive, she would have "babied" her and there was no way he would have been involved in street fights and wouldn't have stood up for himself. In D'Amato's care, Tyson said that he received encouragement and affirmation, something that he didn't get from Lorna. "I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something," he told Bleacher Report. It was a few years after his mother's death that he entered professional boxing.

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