Boxing: Tyson 'insulted' by talk of return: The former world champion contemplates retirement rather than a comeback

MIKE TYSON has some bad news for those eagerly awaiting his return to the ring once his prison sentence for rape is over.

In an interview for Independent Television Sport, Tyson, speaking from the Indiana jail where he is serving a six-year sentence, said there is a possibility that his career is over.

Insisting that his main concern is to clear his name, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion also spoke bitterly of feeling 'insulted' by those people in boxing who are already urging him to step back into the ring as soon as he is let out.

'When I get out of here, I might be 28 or 29. What can I do? Who can I fight?' Tyson said. 'Yes, there's a possibility it's all over.

'There has to be more to life than people saying 'We need you back in the ring'. That's an insult to me. They have no kind of emotional feeling for me as a person.'

Asked how he thought he would be remembered, he said: 'That Mike Tyson raped somebody - that he was in jail for rape. But what I want is for the truth to be heard. I have not committed a crime. I'm not looking for money - I just want to be vindicated. I will pursue that vindication until the day I die.'

In August, Tyson lost his long battle to overturn the sentence imposed for raping Desiree Washington, but his lawyers have filed another appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court and may take the case to the Supreme Court if it fails.

Solicitors acting for Henry Akinwande, the European and Commonwealth champion, yesterday issued High Court proceedings against the British Boxing Board of Control and Herbie Hide, claiming the Norwich boxer was not a British subject when he beat Michael Murray for the British heavyweight title in February.