Mike Tyson insists he is training all day every day for his controversial fight with Jake Paul.
Tyson will come out of retirement to take on the YouTuber in Texas on July 20 at the age of 58, four years after his last appearance in the ring, and almost two decades since his final professional fight. Concerns have been raised about the heavyweight legend's health ahead of the bout, but Tyson insists he will be prepared.
"I don't think he's faster than me," he told FOX News. "I train every day, I'm taking it serious. It's a whole day [of training], the process takes a whole day. I get up in the morning and do the roadwork, then I go to the gym at one and then I go to the strength and conditioning guy and then it starts all over again."
No rules have been announced for the fight but Tyson revealed it will be an exhibtion bout while also being a "real fight". "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.
"I've seen a YouTube video of him at 16 doing weird dancing. That's not the guy I'm fighting. This is a guy who's going to try and hurt me, which I'm accustomed to, and he's going to be greatly mistaken. Right now, I'm scared to death. As the fight gets closer, the less nervous I become because it's reality, and in reality I'm invincible."
'I ventured into Alcatraz after dark and was terrified by what I saw and heard'Paul, who is almost 30 years Tyson's junior, has had 10 professional fights with his sole defeat coming last year against Tommy Fury. He has stopped his last two opponents in the first round but has switched back to novelty fights with the announcement he will take on Tyson.
The former undisputed heavyweight champion fought to a bore draw with Roy Jones Jr in 2020 in an exhibition fight. Paul's brother Logan also dipped his toe into exhibition fights, taking on Floyd Mayweather in 2021 in a contest which was not scored.