Mike Tyson reveals he smoked marijuana before his first boxing match in 15 years

Mike Tyson admitted to smoking cannabis before going toe-to-toe with Roy Jones Jr. during his boxing return, saying ‘I just have to smoke.’

The boxing legend made the remarks after completing an eight-round exhibit against Jones Jr. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

‘Absolutely yes… Listen, I can’t stop smoking,’ Tyson, 54, told reporters after his first fight in 15 years, per USA Today.

‘I smoked during fights. I just have to smoke, I’m sorry. I’m a smoker. … I smoke every day. I never stopped smoking.’ 

Mike Tyson (pictured) revealed he smoked marijuana before his first boxing match in 15 years at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California

Mike Tyson (pictured) revealed he smoked marijuana before his first boxing match in 15 years at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California

Pictured: Roy Jones Jr. (left) and Mike Tyson (right)celebrate their split draw after the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,

Pictured: Roy Jones Jr. (left) and Mike Tyson (right)celebrate their split draw after the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,

Mike Tyson (center) emerged as a marijuana advocate and previously said he spends around $40,000 a month on the drug

Mike Tyson (center) emerged as a marijuana advocate and previously said he spends around $40,000 a month on the drug

Tyson said he stopped using cocaine nearly three years ago, but he hasn’t done the same for marijuana. 

USA Today reports that the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tested each boxer for perfomance enhancing drugs before the fight, but marijuana was not a banned substance.

The impressive boxing match on Saturday night ended in a draw.

‘It’s just who I am,’ Tyson continued to reporters. ‘It has no effect on me from a negative standpoint.

‘It’s just what I do and how I am and how I’m going to die. There’s no explanation. There’s no beginning, there’s no end…it just numbs me. It doesn’t numb the pain.’

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 after a devastating loss to Peter McBride, but he’s since put his weight behind the cannabis industry. 

Mike Tyson (pictured): 'It’s just what I do and how I am and how I’m going to die. There’s no explanation. There’s no beginning, there’s no end'

Mike Tyson (pictured): ‘It’s just what I do and how I am and how I’m going to die. There’s no explanation. There’s no beginning, there’s no end’

Tyson crashed into the marijuana industry in 2016 with Tyson Holistic Holdings, which sells marijuana merchandise as well as premium marijuana strains, extracts, and edibles.

He’s continued to be an advocate for removing restrictions around the drug for athletes. 

In May 2019, he was among 150 current and former athletes who supported a petition to remove marijuana from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited substances list.

Two months later, he revealed on his podcast, ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson,’ that he smokes $40,000 worth of marijuana each month. 

Tyson (pictured) was among 150 current and former athletes who supported a petition to remove marijuana from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited substances list in 2019

Tyson (pictured) was among 150 current and former athletes who supported a petition to remove marijuana from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited substances list in 2019

Tyson said he stopped using cocaine nearly three years ago, but has continued to use marijuana

Tyson said he stopped using cocaine nearly three years ago, but has continued to use marijuana

Tyson celebrated 4/20, an unofficial marijuana-themed holiday, this year participating in Weedmaps’ Higher Together Sessions from Home alongside remote performers Stephen Marley, Wiz Khalifa, Erykah Badu, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Cam’ron.   

But Tyson’s largest marijuana venture was Tyson Ranch, a 418-acre property in near Desert Hot Springs that he plans to transform into a marijuana resort.

The venue is set to house a music festival and the world’s longest lazy river. 

It’s designed to be a wonderland of weed with tourist attractions, a luxury hotel, glamping tents, a lazy river that will take a full hour to cross, and an ampitheater for music festivals and concerts. There will even be a Tyson University to teach cannabis-cultivation techniques to future farmers.

‘I thought about how much good I could do by helping people with cannabis. It was a no brainer,’ Tyson said on the business venture to Cannabis Tech Today. 

Following Tyson’s boxing career he endured years of substance abuse and weed helped him come out of his rut. 

‘It changed his life. He’s the perfect person,’ Tyson’s business partner Rob Hickman said on their partnership in an interview with GQ.  

The proposal for the elaborate resort pictured above. The ranch, located near Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs,  will include a Tyson University to educate future farmers on how to cultivate marijuana

The proposal for the elaborate resort pictured above. The ranch, located near Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs,  will include a Tyson University to educate future farmers on how to cultivate marijuana

In October the company had a full-fledged map plan for the elaborate ranch, however it’s not clear just how much progress has been made amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Tyson says the vision is to educate and engage the public in the healing properties of cannabis and CBD. 

Attendants will be allowed to smoke anywhere in the park, except for areas where liquor is sold. Weed will not be grown there, only sold, as Tyson partners with big marijuana retail companies. 

Despite becoming the head of a weed empire, Tyson doesn’t actually grow or produce any of the marijuana himself. 

He sells an array of high-grade strains and marijuana merchandise such as this grinder and tray

He sells an array of high-grade strains and marijuana merchandise such as this grinder and tray

Instead it’s all sourced and inspected to reach his high standards and is given Tyson’s seal of dank approval. His strains must be cultivated indoors, harvested based on maturity, cured over 30 days to ensure natural flavornoids, naturally derived, hand trimmed, pesticide-free and lab tested, according to the Tyson Holistic website.

‘We’re not burdened with bad crops. We’re not burdened with legalities. We’re selling paper. Packaging. And market share,’ Hickman said.

Tyson runs his marijuana business from his warehouse office in El Segundo, California where he’s visited by friends like Sean Penn and Roseanne as he works on expanding his empire  

In September 2019, Tyson met with the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda to discuss hosting an annual marijuana conference and a cannabis farm 

source: dailymail.co.uk