Mike Tyson tells Nick Kyrgios that he learned the most from being knocked down, not from being on top

Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers of all-time, spent a lot of his youth on top of the world: Having started his fighting career on a 19-bout winning streak, Tyson still holds the record of being the youngest boxer to ever win a world heavyweight title. But, the 57-year-old shares on the latest episode of Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios, he didn't learn the most from the things that he conquered in his career in the ring. Instead, adversity, and the mistakes he made along the way, was his greatest teacher, and shaped his desire to "do [things] right" as the years have passed by. 

A simple mantra is at the heart of Tyson's conversation with Kyrgios, as the two discuss topics including mentorship, resilience and personal growth.

"Never get discouraged, and never give up," Tyson shares. "If you want change in your life, you have to change."

Those words resonate with Kyrgios throughout the episode, and the two reveal more in common than just shared public experiences. Tyson's youngest daughter, Milan, is an aspiring tennis pro; after having won her first tournament at the age of 3 or 4, the boxer recalls, she got hooked.

But, in keeping with the theme of the episode overall, early success hasn't been the thing that's taught her the most.

"She went through a period of losing a lot, but she never got discouraged. ... That's what makes people champions, not that they win, but that they lose and don't get discouraged," Tyson says. "In order to be a champion, you have to know what defeat feels like. Even if you won every tennis match

"In tennis, you're losing every week. You have to become a good loser," Kyrgios says.

Tyson added that boxing is similar, and that the lessons he learned in the ring were able to be applied to his life.

"I wasn't born Mike Tyson ... I got knocked out a lot," he said. "I had to learn the rules, I had to learn the game, I had to learn discipline. It's OK if you get knocked down 100 times, but never give up.

"That's what life is about. I wanted to be up more than anybody in the world wanted me to be down."

The conversation between Kyrgios and Tyson doesn't stray away from hard topics, including the boxer's previous substance abuse issues and other self-destructive behaviors. But, just as he says at the start of the conversation, Tyson closes the candid chat with another uplifting parting message.

"I trained hard, and I partied hard. If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be Mike Tyson. That makes me who I am now. ... That's because I have flaws," he says. "Life is about flaws, and learning from our flaws. Life is not perfection ... it doesn't work like that.

"This whole planet is one big school, and we're students. And just like school, some people learn quicker than others, and some learn really, really late. Everybody learns, even if appears that they don't."

Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios airs on select Wednesdays on T2 (available on Amazon Freevee, Fubo, Hulu, Roku and Samsung TV Plus).