Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is scared to death to get in the ring approaching his sixties.
Tyson laces up the gloves for a Netflix event on July 20, twenty years after being knocked out by the unheralded ex-British titleholder Danny Williams.
Paul sought out Tyson when first-choice opponent Tommy Fury rejected the rematch opportunity. Fury had previously inflicted the first loss on the ex-Disney child star.
It’s up to Tyson to show that age is just a number, despite rival Evander Holyfield being wiped out at 58 when he stepped in the ring. Tyson will turn the same age the month before his battle with Paul.
When discussing the fight with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Tyson admitted that ‘Frankie Fear’ was on his shoulder.
“I have a weird personality. I don’t think it’s weird though. Whatever I’m afraid to do, I do it. That’s how it is,” Tyson said during the interview on Tuesday night. “I was afraid of the Roy Jones Jr. fight [in 2020].
“But I was one hundred pounds overweight [before dropping the weight]. I was old, 54, 53, and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Anything I’m afraid of, I confront it. That’s my personality. Right now, I’m scared to death.”
On why he gets the nerves despite a career of entering the ring to fight scarier opponents than the influencer, Tyson added: “I always believed that adversity and nervousness pretty much catapulted me into success.
“If I didn’t have these feelings, I wouldn’t go into this fight. I have to have these feelings to fight. Without them, I would never go in the ring. As the fight gets closer, I become less nervous because it’s reality. And in reality, I’m invincible.”
Responding to criticism of Paul in an attempt to drum up further interest, Tyson concluded: “I saw a YouTube of him at 16 doing weird dances. That’s not the guy I’m going to be fighting. This guy is going to come. He’s going to try to hurt me, which I’m accustomed to. He’s going to be greatly mistaken.”
Despite the jibes at Paul, the age gap itself is concerning. Holyfield fought a 44-year-old Vitor Belfort when taken apart in a minute and a half as the punch resistance had evaporated over time.
Will Tyson have maintained his at the same age? It’s highly doubtful, leaving question marks over why the one-time ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ wants to accept the offer.
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