10 September 2025 , 14:40
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Boxing legend Mike Tyson recently made a startling admission that he used fentanyl to deal with pain during his iconic career.
“It was a painkiller, and I used to use it to patch up my toe,” Tyson said on an episode of the “Katie Miller Podcast” published Tuesday. “It was like heroin — once it wears off, and you take the Band-Aid off, you start withdrawing, throwing up, just like if you were on heroin.
“It was illegal if it [was] caught in my bloodstream. It was a narcotic, my friend told me. It was brand new. I told my friend, ‘Could I use this?’ No one ever heard of it.’”
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid approved in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a pain relief, but it can be deadly in small doses if taken unprescribed.
Tyson’s close friend Arturo Gatti, who died in 2009, had a longstanding battle with opioids, as he detailed in a previous interview with The Post.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) projections indicate that 48,422 people died last year as a result of illicitly consumed fentanyl.
Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
Tyson dealt with addiction for a long time, and this is not the first time the masses have heard about extreme pain in his feet.
He even slapped Jake Paul across the face during the buildup to their November 2024 fight after Paul stepped on his toe during weigh-ins.
Now in his 50s, Tyson has been heavily involved in his marijuana business as a replacement for more conventional drugs that deal with pain.
Boxing’s most feared man of the late ’80s and early ’90s is returning to the ring for an exhibition matchup against Floyd Mayweather in early 2026.
He lost to Paul in their hyped fight that drew plenty of criticism last fall.
Head of Investigations