Mike Tyson has declared he is ‘scared to death’ of boxing Jake Paul, but insists his nerves will only benefit him.
The former heavyweight world champion squares off against Paul on July 20 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas live on Netflix.
Tyson, who will be 58-years-old come fight night, hasn’t fought since his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr in November 2020, so he is naturally feeling the weight of the occasion.
“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 told Fox News.
“I was afraid of the Roy [Jones] fight. I was 100 pounds overweight, I was however 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.
“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, the less nervous I become because it’s reality, and in reality, I’m invincible.”
It is presently unclear which rule set Tyson and Paul will be fighting under, although ‘Iron Mike’ claims it will be an exhibition bout.
“This is called an exhibition, but if you look up exhibition, you won’t see any of the laws we’re fighting under,” he added.
Concerns have been raised about Tyson’s health as he prepares to face a man 31 years his junior.
Paul is in his physical prime at 27 and is an active ten-fight (9-1) professional who has knocked out six of his opponents in the paid ranks.
Senior Lecturer in Medicine at Anglia Ruskin, Stephen Hughes, insists that Tyson, as an older man and recovering alcoholic, is at an increased risk of suffering a subdural haematoma (a brain bleed) by boxing again.
“In older people, the brain tends to lose volume,” Hughes explained. “This lengthens the bridging veins and makes them more vulnerable to rupture.
“Bleeding from these torn veins causes a collection of blood that presses on the brain. This causes confusion, loss of consciousness, neurological disability and, in some cases, death.
“Alcoholism is known to accelerate brain shrinkage, and it appears that Tyson has this as a past risk factor.”
The fight has been met with widespread outrage from the boxing fraternity with Eddie Hearn, Carl Froch and talkSPORT’s Spencer Oliver all slamming the crossover clash.
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