As he prepares for his first fight in four years, Mike Tyson has more on his mind than boxing - like Mao Tse-tung, Aristotle and Arthur Ashe.
In fact, Mao and Ashe so impressed him that their pictures are tattooed on his arms."I like Mao's persistence, his perseverance," said Tyson, who was released in March after serving three years for a rape conviction. The late Chinese leader "had more guts than anybody in the world."
"I never thought much of tennis, but I was reading Ashe's books and just dug him," he said, "He gave me a lot of inspiration. He gave me a different outlook on myself."
The late Ashe even changed Tyson's opinion about tennis.
"I found that next to boxing, tennis is the ultimate sport," he said. "It's one on one."
For now, Tyson's sticking to the ring. He's scheduled to fight Pete McNeeley Aug. 19.