Mike Tyson claimed that he had smoked marijuana before and after his fight with Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday night.
The 54-year-old former heavyweight world champion fought with his 51-year-old rival in a drawn exhibition fight that earned him around $7.5 million, and he may next take on Evander Holyfield in a similar event.
Tyson owns a cannabis farm as part of his post-boxing ventures, and was asked if he had smoked the drug before the fight in his post-fight press conference.
"Absolutely, yes," he said to USA Today, before suggesting he had done the same after the bout’s conclusion.
"Listen, I can’t stop smoking," he continued.
"I smoked during fights. I just have to smoke, I’m sorry. I’m a smoker. … I smoke everyday. I never stopped smoking."
Because the fight against Jones Jr. was an exhibition rather than a professional fight he was only tested for performance-enhancing substances, which means marijuana was not an illegal substance as far as the event was concerned.
"It’s just who I am,’’ he said.
“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."