I won't survive if I don't get help," former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson told The Today Show in his first interview since branding himself a "vicious alcoholic" on the "verge of dying."
During an exchange interviewer Matt Lauer described as "candid, confusing and revealing,"Tyson opened up about his battles with staying sober, adding "when I start drinking and I relapse, I think of dying. I'm in a real dark mood, I think of dying. And I don't know if I want to be around no more."
The Today show interview came just days after the man once celebrated as "The Baddest Man on the Planet," used a press conference touting his return to the sport as a promoter to stage his plea for help.
"I want to change my life," he told reporters. "I want to live a different life now. I want to live my sober life. I don't want to die." Tyson later told Lauer he has now been sober for a total of 12 days.
"It's a real challenge," he added. "I don't know if I like this sober guy. It's hard for me to live normal. Straight is hard."
Tyson, who has an upcoming memoir, HBO special and Fox Sports 1 documentary series, also told Lauer he's been fighting demons in his head for as long as he can remember.
"Yeah, it is kinda strange and scary,'' he added. "I was born that way."
Another aspect of his past he readily admits to still struggling with is his 1991 conviction and subsequent prison term for the rape of beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington. Tyson spent three years in prison for the crime, but still refuses to apologize to his victim.
"I've done nothing," he told Lauer. "I really didn't do anything to to her. I didn't rape her, I didn't beat her, I didn't do anything to her. I'm not going to make amends."
Lauer later asked Tyson if he was hopeful all of his many challenges might somehow aid him in his battle to overcome his addictions once and for all.
"100 percent," Tyson said. "No one's failed more than I did. No one's seen more than I've seen. I'm the king of the barbarians. There's no one who can surpass me in the pain I've endured."
Now 47, Tyson burst on the scene back in the late 1980s and quickly became the youngest boxer in history to win the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. He won his first 19 pro fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round.
Tyson retired in 2005 and only recently announced he was returning to the sport as a promoter.
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