London, October 13 (ANI): Mike Tyson has said that he wanted to "sock" his first wife/ actress Robin Givens on national TV when she said that he was physically violent towards her during an interview in 1988.

The boxer told talk show host Oprah Winfrey that he wanted to stop Givens from speaking to U.S. interviewer Barbara Walters so that he could defend himself.

However, he didn't do it thinking he'd lose control in front of cameras.

"I truly wanted to sock her... but I just didn't do it. I was young at the time... I have socked her before and she socked me before, but it was just that kind of relationship, you know," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

"Robin is a very tough woman... and she can be very mean as well. he's no easy pushover at all."

The former heavyweight champion also revealed that he had cheated on his first two wives.

He said: "I was just a young kid and I'd never been in that degree of matrimony before. It just devastated me. I wasn't prepared for any kind of emotional struggle like that at all."

However, Tyson seems to have changed his ways after his marriage to third wife Lakiha Spicer earlier this year.

He said: "I realised that I was just gonna die if I didn't settle down with my wife... This Iron Mike guy was gonna be finished." (ANI)