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LONDON.  —Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has a new-found respect for the IRS after revealing that they forgave some of his owed back taxes — while Evander Holyfield admits to have had financially problems too.
The 47-year-old has infamously struggled with his finances for years and declared bankruptcy in 2005, stating that he was US$23million in debt.

He has been working his way back to even with the IRS after failing to pay taxes for years.

At a Tribeca Film Festival talk over the weekend, he alluded to the fact that the debts were not necessarily paid off but he is working towards it, saying “Just look at the IRS cheque I just sent!”

“The IRS was very kind to me the other day. They excused US$2million off my bill. I like the IRS now,” he said.

Tyson spoke about his appreciation for the government agency during a talk that coincided with the launch of a documentary called Champs which profiles Tyson, his former rival Holyfield and fellow boxer Bernard Hopkins. Holyfield, who had a part of his ear bitten off by Tyson during a fight in 1997, was by his side at the Manhattan event on Saturday and said that he had similar financial problems.

“All of sudden when I started making US$20million a fight . . . and they started talking about things I had never heard of before so I just listened and figured they’d do the right thing,” Holyfield said according to The New York Post. “Unfortunately, it’s not people you don’t know, it’s people you do know and people you trust. A lot of the time we trust our family members, but you have to forgive. Because I have forgiven.”  Tyson has taken a similarly Zen attitude towards the issue, focusing on the positive aspects of his life and how his seven living children have been able to thrive. (One of his daughters, Exodus, died in 2009 after getting strangled by a cord on a treadmill at the age of four.)

“I didn’t spare any quarters any nickels or dimes either. I’m not regretful for that whatsoever,” the 47-year-old said, according to the Tribeca Film Festival.

“I had a 9th grade education. But my kids go to Ivy League schools. I’m dumb as s*** but I did something right.”

“I am a better parent than my mother and my father and that’s a victory in itself.

“Ten years ago, if you asked me where I’d be now, I’d have said f****** dead. But I’m not dead. I have an awesome life. And I’m just very grateful. That’s the one thing I try to convey. Gratitude.”—AFP.