Boxing: Angry Tyson 'hates the world': Former champion hits out at judge who sent him to prison but defends promoter King

MIKE TYSON, the former heavyweight champion, says he hates the world and is just a 'black trophy' for the judge who sent him to prison, but he describes the controversial boxing promoter Don King as 'a good man'.

Tyson, aged 28, is expected to be released in May after serving about three years of a six-year term for raping a beauty contestant in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the summer of 1991.

In a wide-ranging interview with Ring magazine last August which was not released until Monday, Tyson, who said he runs about eight miles a day and shadow-boxes to stay in condition, was asked to describe his reactions to several people who have been prominent in his life.

He said that King, who promoted many of Tyson's fights and who is under indictment for insurance fraud, 'is a good man. Don King sometimes gets caught up in being so suspicious of everybody. I think that sometimes he even distrusts his friends . . . I don't think he trusts me totally.'

Tyson said that before going to prison he thought everyone was nice, but 'now, Mike Tyson hates the world. I hate everybody. I know they say, 'no, you can't hate the world, don't be bitter'. But I just hate everybody. Well, the majority, maybe 99 per cent.'

About Judge Patricia Gifford, who presided over Tyson's trial and sentenced him, the fighter said: 'I think this is her claim to fame. I'm her famous black trophy. She wants everybody to know she put Mike Tyson in jail.'

Tyson said the Islamic religion has 'given me a great outlook on life. I have to appreciate where I've been, where I haven't been. I could have been somewhere else worse.'

Tyson said that when he first went to jail in March 1992, he told himself that prison was 'killing me. I want to see my family. But when it really comes down to it, I really don't have anybody I want to go to. I've been alone all my life and every time I did accept someone in my life, they've (expletive deleted) me.'