Heavyweight icon Mike Tyson has certainly led quite the colourful life over the years - both in and out of the ring.

At his peak, millions would tune in to watch "Iron Mike" destroy opponents with his awesome power.

Now, the legendary knockout artist has given fans an insight into how one particular fight unfolded during his spell in prison.

Tyson received a six-year custodial sentence in 1992, having been convicted of rape. He would, ultimately, only serve three of those years as he was granted parole - having resolved to keep himself out of trouble with fellow inmates.

Per ibtimes.com, Tyson has not generally been keen to talk about any confrontations that might have occurred whilst he was in custody. Indeed, the 53-year-old continued to play down the occurrence of any confrontations during a recent video chat with rapper Fat Joe.

When quizzed about his time in prison, Tyson insisted that he was always respectful to his fellow inmates - and that they returned the same courtesy to him as a result.

"I treated anybody the way I wanted them to treat me. And that’s just how it was...They weren’t scared of me. It all came down to respect,” Tyson stated.

Tyson has admitted in the past, however, that there was one occasion during his incarceration where he did completely lose his cool - and it took place during a period where he was banned from using the prison gym.

Speaking on an episode of his own podcast, Tyson recounted a story which ended with him punching a fellow inmate. On the day in question, there had been a stabbing at the prison - which led to all prisoners being placed on lockdown.

"Just one time (I had to put punch someone in prison). Somebody said something and I just went over there and hit him. We were locked down for a long time and it was just something that was irritable and I went over there and hit him.

“We were locked down. We couldn’t go to the gym. Somebody got stabbed or something and we were locked down. I was just upset and miserable,” recalled the former world heavyweight champion.

Now a devoted family man, one can appreciate why Tyson does not wish to glorify some of his past mistakes by speaking too openly about them.

It is not surprising, though, that so few inmates seemed to want to start trouble with Tyson. Getting on the wrong side of an individual famously referred to as the "Baddest Man on the Planet" could never be advisable.