‘He’s gonna try to hurt me’, says Mike Tyson, 57, as he admits to being ‘scared to death’ of Jake Paul fight
MIKE TYSON has admitted he is “scared to death” ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
The heavyweight boxing icon takes on YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul in a controversial clash on July 20 in Texas.
Tyson officially retired in 2005 but did return in 2020 to draw over eight exhibition rounds with fellow great Roy Jones Jr.
The Baddest Man on The Planet was full of nerves back then four years ago – and nothing has changed now.
He told FoxNews: “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. I was afraid of the Roy fight.
“I was 100lbs 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.”
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Tyson, who in 1986 became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time at 20, used to cry before every fight.
And now, almost 40 years on, he said: “As the fight gets closer, the less nervous I become, because it’s reality. And in reality, I’m invincible.”
Paul is 9-1 as a boxer, suffering his only defeat last year to Tommy Fury before bouncing back with three straight wins.
And Tyson added: “I saw a YouTube of him at 16 doing weird dances. That’s not the guy I’m gonna be fighting.
“This guy is gonna come, he’s gonna try to hurt me, which I’m accustomed to, and he’s gonna be greatly mistaken.”