'What am I thinking?'… Mike Tyson admits he questioned taking Jake Paul fight after tough start to training camp
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Mike Tyson is coming back to the ring at 58-years-old this weekend, and even he seemed baffled by his decision at times.
The legendary heavyweight champion will face Jake Paul on Friday night in the first boxing bout to be broadcast on Netflix. It’s the second time the pair have booked a date to fight one another, with Tyson suffering a health scare that cost them their initial July bout.
Now, he looks in fantastic shape, almost knocking out his own coach during an open workout in front of fans in Texas on Tuesday night. But he admits that at the start of his training camp he was not in the same mental place as he is now.
- Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson: How to watch, live stream, start time, full card and rules
Mike Tyson claims he is ‘tougher than he thought’ ahead of Jake Paul fight
As he stepped into the ring on Tuesday night for an open workout at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas, it seemed that Mike Tyson was rolling back the years. His trademark punching power was on full display to a packed house at the concert venue.
He hit pads with trainer Rafael Cordeiro before geeing up the crowd, who soaked in the chance to watch one of the sport’s biggest names in his element. And he admitted that it wasn’t always going this well, noting that his early camp days were a struggle.
“I learned that I am tougher than I believed I was,” he told the crowd on Tuesday night. “Because actually when I agreed to this fight and I started training I said ‘what the f*** am I thinking of?’ But I finished the process. Now the fight is the party, all the hard work is done.
Mike Tyson will finally show his family his fighting prowess in Jake Paul fight
While ‘Iron Mike’ is known as one of the most fearsome punchers of all time to the wider world, his family are not so aware of his legend. Even his eldest daughter was born after his loss to Buster Douglas in 1990, and his youngest child is just 13 years old.
That would mean that he was born six years after Tyson’s last outing against Kevin McBride. He was unable to experience the hype of a big fight week with his father, and the boxing icon jokes that he gets a lot of back chat from his family.
Even his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr in 2020 was a behind-closed-doors affair due to coronavirus restrictions. So this will be the first time his kids will all be in attendance for one of his big fights, alongside an estimated 80,000+ at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
“Family is everything,” he explained. But to my children I’m nobody, but that night they’re going to find out their father is very special.
“They talk a lot of mess to me that nobody else would so the night of the fight they’re going to realize that they better watch it the next time they talk crap to me. I love you very much, I can’t wait until you come to the fight! Tune in on November 15, you won’t be disappointed.”
Jake Paul promises ‘short night’ for Mike Tyson in controversial showdown
In the opposite corner on Friday night will be the always divisive Jake Paul. The 27-year-old is coming under a lot of fire for facing an opponent who is 31 years his senior with a last professional bout coming in 2005.
It has all led to an exciting build-up, with fans split as to who will land the big victory at the famous Dallas stadium. Paul was his brash self at Tuesday’s open workout, wearing a chicken hat in tribute to his ‘El Gallo’ nickname to paw at some pads.
And when he got on the microphone, he told the crowd: “Dallas it’s going to be an amazing night on Friday, God is with me and I’m just doing my thing. God is with me, I feel really good, sharp, powerful, explosive and it’s going to be a short night for Mike.
“It’s not about how long you’ve been doing something, it’s about how good you do it. On Friday night people are going to see me out-box the person who has been doing it their whole life because of my team, everyone that’s put in the work with me, coach Third, J’Leon Love, Larry Wade.
“We are an unstoppable force and Friday my dreams come true, my career starts. This is the start of an amazing journey, what I’ve done so far doesn’t matter, Friday night my career starts.”
