Shortly after endorsing Toronto's crack-smoking mayor Rob Ford as the "greatest mayor in [the city's] history," Mike Tyson appeared on Canada's CP24 News Wednesday, where he shared a few choice words with the program's host.
In response to host Nathan Downer questioning whether or not the retired boxer's endorsement would actually help Ford's political career, given Tyson's status as a "convicted rapist," Tyson initially remained calm, then let loose on live TV.
"I don't know who said that. You're the only one I heard say that ... and I don't have [any comment], because it's negative, and you're being negative, and I met the mayor," Tyson said with a shrug. "And there's nothing they can do about it."
A clip of the interaction on YouTube shows Tyson sitting and stewing as his rep steers the conversation toward more friendly territory. Apparently unable to hold back any more, Tyson interrupts and tells Downer, "It's so interesting that you come across like a nice guy, but you're really a piece of s**t ... f**k you, that was a piece of s**t."
Downer remains calm and reminds Tyson, "We're on live TV, here," to which Tyson responds, "I don't care, what are you gonna do about it?"
Tyson appears to quiet down as his PR guru steps in once more, redirecting the interview to discuss Tyson's new one man show, "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth." But seconds later Tyson calls Downer "a rat piece of s**t," prompting the host to end the interview early.
In a statement to TMZ Sports, Tyson's agent blamed the outburst on Downer asking off-topic questions. "Mike was there to promote his very successful 1-man show and we felt deceived, bamboozled by the reporter when he broke our agreement to focus on the show by going off-topic."
Downer also sought to downplay the interaction on Twitter, where he apologized for Tyson's foul language and said he held "no ill will" toward the boxer:
I'm okay everybody. Unfortuantlely my question hurt Mike Tyson's feelings. That was not my intentions. My apolgies for the language
— nathan downer (@nathandowner1) September 10, 2014
No ill will toward Mike Tyson. He lashed out at me and that's okay. Not taking it personally pic.twitter.com/e27mfrOagJ
— nathan downer (@nathandowner1) September 10, 2014
Watch the interaction, above, or the full YouTube video, below. Warning: Adult language.
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