Mike Tyson says he wishes he smoked cannabis his whole career

Boxing legend Mike Tyson may have pulled off an impressive return from retirement last year with an unofficial draw with Roy Jones Jr., but unlike ageless wonder Tom Brady, the heavyweight champion is being less secretive about his methods to fight father time.

Iron Mike credits cannabis.

Speaking with Yahoo Finance about the debut of his eponymous Tyson 2.0 cannabis line in partnership with cannabis company Columbia Care, the 55-year-old said he wished he smoked cannabis his "whole career" instead of drinking.

"My life was just miserable, I was out of control. I was fighting with everybody. If someone asked me for an autograph, I'd punch them in the face. I was just a mess, and then after I retired, I started smoking," Tyson said. "What a mistake that was — I should have smoked my whole career. I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind. I'm very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are at least in my case."

Other star athletes, including Tampa Bay Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski, have also credited cannabis in retirement for alleviating pain. Before Gronk resumed his NFL career, he even signed an endorsement deal with CBDMedic.

Of course, as Tyson noted, the heavyweight has faced repercussions for his cannabis in the past. His 2000 victory over Andrew Golota was changed to no-contest, following a positive test for marijuana. Even so, Tyson seemed to have no regrets over it.

"I broke his cheek bone, his eye socket, his rib — I should have been doing this from the beginning. And I said, 'Wow.' I got fined for that, of course, but it was worth every bit of it," Tyson said, also crediting psychedelics for his comeback. "I think of it as an enhancer. It makes me better, even in the ring. The punches don't hurt as much, it has a lot to do with my comeback, the psychedelics."

As Tyson 2.0 Chairman Chad Bronstein explained, tapping multi-state operator Columbia Care for their footprint of dispensaries across more than a dozen states will help get the brand's cannabis line out as widely as possible.

"With Tyson 2.0, the key is going to be obviously retail scale," he said. "There's a lot of opportunity in all markets and I think we'll see more markets come on board over the next few years."

Shares in Columbia Care (CCHWF) have tumbled more than 50% this year amidst a broader pullback in cannabis stocks as investors weigh a longer wait for any changes at the national level. Canopy Growth (CGC) has also fallen by about the same margin in 2021, despite the growth of its Martha Stewart CBD brand of cannabis products.

Zack Guzman is an anchor for Yahoo Finance Live as well as a senior writer covering crypto, cannabis, startups, and breaking news at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @zGuz.

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