Despite all Mike Tyson has done to repair his bad-boy image, he still has that reputation.
So when he calls Floyd Mayweather "dirt," and says Mayweather is a "very small, scared man," it says something.
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Boxingjunkie.com reported that Tyson made an appearance at the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas and had some less-than-flattering things to say about Mayweather, who he used to consider a friend.
"As the press conference was about to begin, Tyson was told he could move to the front four rows of the arena instead of his quiet seat near the back," boxingjunkie.com reported. "Tyson responded: 'I try to stay as far away from dirt as possible.' "
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Boxingjunkie.com added that Tyson found the press conference, which harbored no animosity between Mayweather and Pacquiao, somewhat amusing.
"Coming to the press conference, it was very subtle, very nice, very polite here. It feels like I'm in, not church, but like a library, so to speak," Tyson said. "Maybe I'm a Neanderthal. I'd want to kill the other guy."
Tyson would not divulge the source of the rift between Mayweather and him. When asked what he thought about the five-division world champion, Tyson said only, "I was always told by my mother that if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say nothing."
When asked about Mayweather's comment that he was better than Muhammad Ali, Tyson responded, "The guy is going around saying he is better than Ali. I don't want to hear that (expletive)."
Later in an interview with Undisputed Champion Network, Tyson went off on a rant, albeit a bit confusing one, concerning Mayweather's comments about Ali.
"He's very delusional," Tyson said. "If he was anywhere near that realm of greatness of Ali, he's be able to take his kids to school by himself. He can't take his kids to school by himself and he's talking about he's great? Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people; greatness is being accepted by the people.
"He's a little scared man; he's a very small, scared man."
Do you like pre-fight news conferences that are contentious, like in Mike Tyson's day, or the one between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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