Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has revealed that he was molested by a stranger when he was seven years old.

The 48-year-old, who has struggled with drugs and depression during his career, has revealed that the incident took place during his childhood in Brooklyn.

"He snatched me off the street," Tyson told SiriusXM. "I was a little kid, [he was an] old man.

"[He] bullied me, sexually abused me and stuff. Never seen him again. I just went on with my life."

Tyson, who is father to eight children, admitted that he kept his ordeal quiet from family and the police.