NEW YORK — Mike Tyson is 58 years old and health scares have forced him to postpone his return to the ring.
The boxer once dubbed the world's most dangerous man may be putting himself at risk by lacing up the gloves again, but when asked Sunday why he would go ahead with the fight with Jake Paul, he was quick to respond.
“I can do it. Who else can do it? Who else are you going to fight to make this happen?” Tyson said, pointing to the crowd at a packed press conference where fans cheered for the former heavyweight champion and booed Paul.
“We need to listen to the facts. There's a YouTuber fighting the greatest fighter of all time.”
Tyson and Paul have resumed preparations for their scheduled bout on November 15 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. The two were scheduled to fight on July 20 until Tyson became nauseous and dizzy during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles in May, an incident Tyson's representative attributed to ulcer problems.
Tyson said Sunday he resumed training a few weeks ago and feels good.
“Hey, listen, I'm ready,” Tyson said.
Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs), the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990, retired in 2005 before returning to the ring in an exhibition bout against Roy Jones in 2020. Fans have been eager to see him back, but on Sunday, the final day of the Fanatics Fest event in New York, many fans were turned away from the press conference due to overcrowding.
Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) sparred with the booing fans as much as he did with the fighters across the stage.
“New York, you're like Mike Tyson,” Paul said. “You were as good 20 years ago as you were.”
Tyson's days of dominance were actually much longer ago, and Paul knows a win over a lesser opponent would get less praise, but the former Disney Channel star and would-be boxing champion said there are still advantages to fighting Tyson today.
“Big moment, big pressure, big stage, one of the best players of all time, more experience than me, more fights than me. I'm going to learn a lot in this fight and in training camp,” Paul said. “So this is going to help me in future fights and in everything I want to accomplish.”
Paul entered the bout after Tyson withdrew, defeating bare-knuckle champion Mike Perry in six rounds on July 20. Perry, like many of the fighters on Paul's resume, comes not from a boxing background, but from the world of mixed martial arts.
He loved fighting Tyson then and is now hoping for a second chance.
“I was ready before. You just needed a little break,” he told Tyson. “Is your tummy still hurting?”
The Netflix bout will be an official bout, but it will feature eight two-minute rounds and heavier gloves than usual. The most authentic boxing match on the card may come before it, with super lightweight champion Katie Taylor facing Amanda Serrano in a rematch of a thrilling bout that Taylor won in 2022. It will be the first women's boxing main event to take place at Madison Square Garden.
That would allow Paul to show what he wants to become in boxing, or Tyson to show what he once was, and he said his health problems won't stop him from doing so.
“I had a little bit of adversity, I was out of shape, but I'm better now,” Tyson said. “I'm feeling good.”
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