A 58-year-old Mike Tyson, who made his professional debut nearly 40 years ago, will climb back into the ring on Friday, 19 years after being battered into retirement, for a Netflix-backed bout against Youtuber Jake Paul that has drawn widespread condemnation across the boxing world.
Tyson, who terrorised the heavyweight division during an imperious reign in the late 1980s, is lacing up the gloves once more to take on 27-year-old Paul in an officially sanctioned fight at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas.
The fight, which will be comprised of eight two-minute rounds, was initially due to take place in July but was postponed in May after Tyson required medical treatment on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles after vomiting blood due to a bleeding ulcer.
That gory mid-air emergency has provided another piece of ammunition for the numerous critics who have condemned Friday’s contest as a macabre circus act that poses an unacceptable level of risk for Tyson, who last graced a professional ring in 2005 when he was beaten via a technical knockout after quitting on his stool against Irish journeyman Kevin McBride.
“Twenty years ago, Mike Tyson retired from boxing, and was shot to pieces, right? I mean, completely shot,” the prominent British fight promoter Eddie Hearn said this week.
“If anyone thinks that Mike Tyson should be in a ring at this age, you either have absolutely no emotional feelings toward the man, or you’re an idiot. It shouldn’t be happening.”
Hearn’s rival promoter Frank Warren echoed those sentiments. “Mike Tyson is 58 years of age and he shouldn’t be fighting,” Warren said after the bout was announced. “It’s as simple as that.
“Anyone with an ounce of brains knows that it is ridiculous. You can be on a motorway stuck in a traffic jam and you get to the end of it and all it is is people who have stopped to look at a crash — and that’s what this is.”
Tyson, who US reports say is being paid around $20 million for Friday’s contest, has brushed off the concerns for his wellbeing, insisting that critics from the boxing world are motivated by jealousy.
“I’m beautiful, that’s all I can say,” he said earlier this year. “The people who said that wish they were up here. No one else can do this.”
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At an open workout in Texas this week, Tyson declared that a gruelling training camp had left him with the conviction “that I’m tougher than I believed I was.”
“When I agreed to this fight and started training, I thought ‘What was I thinking of?’ But I’ve finished the process. The fight is the party. All the hard work is done.”
At a final press conference in Texas on Wednesday, a stony-faced Tyson pointedly declined to engage in the pre-fight hype.
“I’m just ready to fight,” he said. “I’m looking forward to fighting.”
A global audience of several million watching on Netflix, and tens of thousands inside the AT&T Stadium will be watching on Friday to see whether Tyson’s hard work pays off.
His opponent Jake Paul — who was born six months before Tyson bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear in their infamous 1997 rematch — rose to prominence as a Youtuber, before turning his attention to boxing.
Since his first fight against a fellow Youtuber in 2018, Paul’s opponents have included a basketball player, mixed martial arts fighters and other professional boxers. In 11 fights he has won 10 (seven by knockout) and lost one.
“I feel really good, sharp, powerful and explosive. It’s going to be a short night for Mike,” Paul said at Tuesday’s open workout, where he appeared wearing a bizarre head-dress in the form of a rooster.
It goes without saying that a prime, 1980s-era Tyson would almost certainly have dealt with Jake Paul within a few minutes.
Does he retain enough residue of the talent and destructive power that made him the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986, at the age of 20 years and four months? Bob Arum, the legendary 92-year-old boxing promoter who has seen it all, is unequivocal.
“The answer is no,” Arum told Secondsout.com last month. “A 58-year-old guy, no matter how good they were, no matter how athletic they were, are not gonna be able to fight.
“You can’t throw punches like you’re supposed to, you can’t do a lot of things. I hope Mike doesn’t get hurt, but I really give him relatively no chance.”
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