Mike Tyson appears to be taking his fight against Jake Paul incredibly seriously, with the boxing legend sharing multiple videos of his rigorous training to social media.
Some, however, are questioning the legitimacy of the footage. The highly-anticipated bout – which is set to take place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and be streamed on Netflix – has drawn the ire of many fans, largely due to Tyson’s health concerns.
The 57-year-old, who will turn 58 less than a month before stepping into the ring, was seen using a support cane and wheelchair as recently as 2022.
Tyson attempted to partially quell these worries by posting daily clips giving an inside look into his training. ‘Iron Mike’ appears in great shape, often throwing a flurry of powerful punches to the hands and midsection of his trainer in the short videos.
But several fighters quickly came crawling out of the woodwork to critique Tyson’s workouts. “In the future, if you’re ever going to spend five seconds hitting mitts, as a way of making the audience believe you’re doing a training session, make sure you splash water on your face and T-shirt first,” former UFC star Chael Sonnen wrote on X last week.
Ex-boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi, meanwhile, wondered if the footage was old. “I got to say man, I’m not sure where Tyson is with his motivation,” Malignaggi told Lord Ping. “I don’t know how recent the videos are because I spoke to some people who were with Tyson not that long ago and he didn’t look the most active, I don’t know if the video reel is recent or just created to create headlines.
“I don’t know if it’s a recent video of him hitting the pads to tell you the truth because I saw some people not long ago, in the last couple of months, and he was very chilled out. He was not discussing anything physical.”
Doctor Stephen Hughes raised further concerns about Tyson’s health, insisting that his longtime battle with alcoholism could increase the likelihood of suffering brain damage. “The immediate effects may be minimal; the boxer may simply recover. But on some occasions, the effects may be devastating,” Hughes wrote for the Conversation.
But Rafael Cordeiro, Tyson’s coach, quickly dispelled the doctor’s warning. “I believe we don’t have to be concerned about it. We’re talking about a two-time world champion,” he said on The MMA Hour. “The guy didn’t have 20 fights in two years, he knows how to fight. He’s fought against the best guys in the world. When he steps inside the ring he knows what to do. It’s not something new for Mike, and this fight is no different.
“He works hard every single day to go in there and try to knock Jake out from the beginning to the end. This is his style, nobody has [to] teach Mike Tyson how to fight. He’s going to prove that in July. You can see fire in his eyes when he trains, and he will never give less than that.”
MIRROR
