Belfast-bound boxer Mike Tyson appeared to get angry as a live TV interview threatened to boil over yesterday.

Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan was quizzing Iron Mike about his spectacular rise to the top of the boxing pile but their conversation soured when the spotlight turned to his dramatic fall from grace.

Tyson was jailed for rape in 1992 and shocked the world when he bit a chunk out of fellow heavyweight Evander Holyfield's ear during a comeback bout five years later.

He is due to make a controversial appearance at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast this Friday when he will answer questions about his life and career.

Murnaghan's line of questioning clearly irritated the former boxing champion, and he said: “I was a young kid then.

“I'm 43 years old and you're still dwelling on something I did when I was 20.

“What do you want to get from this interview?

“I don't know if I am (a different person now) or not. I don't want to be the person I was but change comes in time.

“You're irritating me now. I guess I did change because I'm not assailing you.

“You're irritating me right now because I feel as though you're evoking stuff from the past — that stuff is from 15 or 20 years ago.”

After the broadcast Murnaghan admitted he had felt somewhat intimidated by Mike Tyson.

The broadcaster said: “He did say I was irritating him, and when you're told that by a man sitting three feet away who once said he wanted to eat his opponents' hearts and drive their bones into their brain, it's scary.”