Mike Tyson has two fights ahead of him: a boxing match with Jake Paul on July 20th, and a marketing battle to convince people he’s not too old at 58 to be competing against a 27-year-old.
When Paul vs. Tyson was first announced, horrified fans pointed out that Tyson had been wheelchair bound and walking with a cane through a decent portion of 2022. That was due to a re-occurring sciatica flare-up which has left “Iron Mike” bedridden at times in his old age.
Was it really a good idea for the aging legend to be taking any fight? Let alone one against a much younger opponent who has no qualms about trying to knock Tyson out?
We’ll have to wait until mid-July to find out, but for now Tyson is back in the gym training with Chute Boxe and Kings MMA coach Rafael Cordeiro. He released a highly edited video of his day one training where he looked fast, agile, and dangerous hitting the mitts. Now we have day two, and Tyson hits Cordeiro with an uppercut so hard his focus mitt goes flying off.
“Day two, I’m getting ready for you,” a steely-eyed Tyson declared.
The fight, which airs on Netflix for free to subscribers, is guaranteed to be a major blockbuster. Everyone has been waiting years for Jake Paul to finally get his comeuppance. It hasn’t happened yet. Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva couldn’t do it. A split-decision loss to Tommy Fury barely slowed down “The Problem Child.” But if Mike Tyson can channel some of his fury from the mid-80s and early 90s where he finished 44 of his 50 wins via knockout, we could finally see Paul face down on the canvas.
But that was a long time ago. Tyson debuted as a pro boxer in 1985, nearly 40 years ago. Jake Paul was born in 1997, the same year a troubled Mike infamously bit a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear off. He retired from boxing in 2005, when Jake turned eight. Mike has looked good in carefully edited training videos, but how will he look in the ring come July?
If Tyson’s abilities don’t match what he’s fronting on socials, we could be in for a short and depressing end to Netflix’s debut combat sports spectacular event.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
