‘Iron’ Mike Tyson is indicating his body is a little softer these days.
His highly anticipated fight against Jake Paul is scheduled to take place on July 20, 2024, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
But just over two months out, the “baddest man on the planet” says his body is … well, pretty bad.
“My body is s— right now,” he confessed at a press tour stop at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. “I’m really sore.”
Tyson will be 58 when he steps into the ring with Paul.
Mike Tyson: My body is shit right now, I'm really sore.#PaulTyson.pic.twitter.com/YVGeTFL9TB
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 13, 2024
RELATED: Mike Tyson Says He’s ‘Scared To Death’ Of Fight With Jake Paul
Jake Paul Seems More Confident Than Mike Tyson
Granted, Mike Tyson still has two months to train for Jake Paul. But he sounds like a normal 57-year-old man at this stage of the game.
Is anybody surprised? His last fight was an exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.
Paul, by contrast, seems to be exuding more confidence as the match draws closer. He even mocked the former world heavyweight champ’s nickname.
“They call him Iron Mike Tyson, but I’m Titanium Jake Paul.”
“I’m going to show the world that I can outbox Mike Tyson, prove everyone wrong, and show that I will be the one doing the killing,” he said.
RELATED: Mike Tyson Releases First Terrifying Training Video For Upcoming Jake Paul Fight
Tyson Says He’ll Come Around
To put this into perspective, Mike Tyson has already admitted that it would take time to get into the fight portion of his fight or flight response to Jake Paul.
And he says this is how he handles all battles.
“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 an interview last month.
“Right now, I’m scared to death.”
But, he says, that fear helps motivate him to succeed.
“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,” he said. “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,” he warned. “And in reality, I’m invincible.”
Tyson, speaking to reporters Monday, now indicates once the bell rings, Paul “has to fight like his life depends on it, because it will be.”
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