Mike Tyson has clapped back at his minted mates who begged him to ditch his scrap with Jake Paul.
The boxing legend is set to finally throw down with YouTuber-turned-fighter Paul at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium next Friday (November 15), after their original July rumble was postponed due to Tyson, 58, hitting a health snag. Despite concerns about the age gap, with Paul being 31 years younger, Tyson is barrelling ahead with the eight-rounder and has been seen sweating it out in a gruelling training camp.
Footage from behind the scenes, showcased by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) YouTube channel and Netflix, gives us a sneak peek into Iron Mike’s prep and headspace as he gears up for the clash. In a candid moment while training, Tyson told his coaches how his rich buddies tried to convince him to cancel the bout, only for the Baddest Man on the Planet to serve up a stinging retort.
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He quipped: “I have some friends, they’re pretty wealthy. They said, ‘Don’t fight, I give you money’. [I’m like] ‘You f****** crazy?’.”
Their summer face-off was axed when Tyson had an ulcer flare-up that left him feeling queasy and light-headed on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles. Later, Tyson owned up to indulging in “too much bad food and stuff” as the culprit behind his health woes.
Addressing the health scare in the pre-fight Netflix documentary, he said: “I was explaining to my trainer, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me’.
(Image: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
“Coming here from Miami on the plane, I went to the bathroom and I threw up blood. The next thing I know I’m on the floor, I was defecating tar. So I came here and they found I had a big ulcer, two-and-a-half inches, and it was bleeding.
Tyson also revealed he lost 26lbs during the episode and feared he was going to die. He said: “All my friends were calling me like I was dying. She didn’t say no [he wasn’t going to die]. She said we have options though, and that’s when I got nervous.
“You wouldn’t believe what I endured from my ulcer. I lost 26 pounds, can you imagine that? I was so p***** off because I had peaked. I was good, talking s***, ready.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Paul’s initial reaction to learning the fight was being delayed is also featured in the documentary. Discussing how he felt when he found out, Paul, who boasts an impressive 10 wins from 11 professional fights after taking up boxing, said: “When I received the news that he was out and not able to fight, I was just numb, I was just like, ‘f***’.
“I’m the type of person who likes a schedule and likes to know what I’m doing. This just threw a wrench in all of that, there was nothing I could do, it was out of my control.
“Nobody can tell Mike Tyson what to do and if he wants to fight me, of course I’m going to say yes,” he added. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime to fight one of the two most famous boxers to ever live; Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. I look at Mike Tyson as a killer so I never really expected something like this.”