Mike Tyson has spoken emotionally in a new interview about his memories of the night Tupac was fatally shot in September 1996.
The legendary rapper was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He was rushed to hospital, but died six days later on September 13. He was 25.
Tupac and Tyson were close friends in the 1990s, with their friendship a key topic of discussion when the former boxer visited the US radio show Big Boy’s Neighborhood this week.
Tyson was reminded by one of the presenters that Tupac attended his bout with Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the night that the rapper was later fatally shot. Digesting the information, Tyson went quiet as he appeared to struggle for the right words to say. He then accepted a tissue before speaking.
“[Tupac] was really happy after the fight,” Tyson recounted through tears. “He came to a press conference with me. We was just talking a bunch of shit. I went home and then he left.”
The former boxer then revealed that he wasn’t allowed to see Tupac after he was rushed to hospital following the shooting.
“It’s very difficult to talk about,” Tyson said about his memories of their friendship. “He was just a young kid, and he wanted to be great – and then that happened.”
Watch the full interview with Tyson below. The Tupac discussion begins at the 23-minute mark.
Back in July, the rapper Keefe D reportedly came forward to confess to playing a part in the drive-by shooting which killed Tupac.