I Was Devastated” — Mike Tyson Finally Opens Up About the Pain He Hid for 14 Years.

For decades, Mike Tyson was known as the most dangerous man in boxing—a force of nature who bulldozed opponents in seconds and wore his rage like armor. But in a haunting admission on his Hotboxin’ podcast in 2023, Tyson removed that armor for a moment and revealed a truth he had hidden for 14 years: the unbearable pain of losing his 4-year-old daughter, Exodus.

“She was my baby,” Tyson said, his voice trembling as he recalled the 2009 tragedy. “When that happened… I was f***ed up.” The raw confession silenced the room—and his millions of listeners. It wasn’t the Iron Mike people remembered. This was a broken father, finally letting the pain rise to the surface.

Exodus Tyson died on May 26, 2009, after a freak accident in her mother’s Phoenix home. While playing near a treadmill, she became entangled in a cord designed as an emergency stop. Her older brother found her unconscious and called for help. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late. She was placed on life support, and the following day, her family made the excruciating decision to let her go.

Tyson, who was in Las Vegas at the time, flew to Phoenix and held his daughter’s hand as her life slipped away. “There are no words,” he said in a statement at the time. But for 14 years, there truly were no words—until now.

In conversation with rapper Rick Ross, Tyson admitted, “That was the lowest point of my life. There’s nothing to compare it to. Nothing prepares you for that.” He also spoke of how the loss stripped away all illusions of control. “How much money you got? How much fame you got? You gotta deal with that,” he said. “And there’s nothing you can do.”

The pain humbled him. Tyson, who once lived with fury as his compass, began to change. Just two weeks after Exodus’s death, he married Lakiha Spicer and started focusing on his surviving children—Milan, Miguel, Mikey, and Morocco. He became more present, more open, and more grounded. “I live with it every day,” he shared. “But I try to live better because of her.”

What makes Tyson’s confession so powerful is not just the tragedy, but the transformation. He didn’t lash out, sue the treadmill company, or sink into destructive habits. He let the pain reshape him. He speaks to Exodus in his dreams. He watches over his children with fierce tenderness. He still cries, but he no longer hides it.

For 14 years, the world saw Tyson as the fighter who couldn’t be broken. But behind the gloves was a father shattered by loss—and quietly rebuilt by love. His words now serve as a reminder: even the strongest among us carry invisible wounds. And sometimes, the most powerful healing begins with four words you’re not afraid to say anymore:

“I was f***ed up.”