The iconic boxer Mike Tyson has opened up on being sexually assaulted as a child in a new interview with ESPN E60.

Interviewed by his old friend Jeremy Schapp, Tyson revealed that he had been attacked by a man who snatched him off the street and forced him into a building when he was only seven-years-old.

Well I don’t like to talk about that, I like to keep that where it was in the past, but I was molested as a child.

He added:

It made me have to be tough for the world I lived in.

Keen to inspire those who have harmed in the same way, Tyson revealed that he didn’t step forward to tell anyone for years because he was ashamed. Now, he says he has come to terms with what happened to him and has learned that his attacker’s disgusting act doesn’t make him (Tyson) any less of a man…or person.

I learned that it doesn’t make you any less of a man because it happened.

Your thoughts?