Mike Tyson on the opioid crisis: 'To some people, dead people is good business.'

Mike Tyson has thoughts about the current opioid crisis affecting millions of Americans in the country, and he spit some truth during a recent interview with our own CEO and editor-in-chief Asif Khan.

"To some people, dead people is good business," Tyson said of the big pharmaceutical companies of the world involved with manufacturing opioids and the like. "Dead and afflicted with addiction is big business." An estimated 130+ people every day died from opioid-related drug overdoses in 2017.

Tyson currently focuses on marijuana as a way to help others as well as himself, both in terms of physical and emotional therapy. He admitted that during the end of his career, he began smoking, but had not been at the height of his boxing days. He clarified, however, that he wasn't "partying" at the time while drinking alcohol, but was "addicted."

"I believed I was partying, but I was by myself. So I wasn't partying," he said of those days. "Can you believe that? I was by myself drinking, and I thought I was fucking partying. It was delusional."

Asif and Mike had a great time chatting about plenty of different topics, including Islam, helping others, and Mike's thoughts on whether there should be a new Punch-Out!! game someday. Spoiler alert: He definitely does and there definitely should be.

We'll continue to break out new stories from this particular interview over the next week or so. Keep coming back to Shacknews for tons more awesome Tyson coverage – and video game fun, of course.

Then, be sure to check out the #PlayApartTogether hashtag on social media platforms to find out how you can get more involved in helping the world heal from the ongoing pandemic.