Mike Tyson wants to be a relevant name in boxing again and sees a win against boxing pretender Jake Paul as the key to achieving that outcome.
Sadly, Mike fails to see that he’s always been the man in the sport and doesn’t need to beat up a YouTuber to accomplish that. However, the former heavyweight champion heads into a November 15 battle believing he has to fight at 58 despite being 25 years past his expiration date.
Speaking about his plans to fight again despite a stomach ulcer and a smoking habit, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ says he has a new purpose in life.
“I don’t think this was meant to be done by any man but me,” Tyson tells me, his eyes lighting up with passion. “I love it,” Tyson told Esquire Magazine.
“My wife [Kiki] keeps saying, ‘You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do this.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I do have to do this,'” he tells me, stressing that the millions he’s reportedly making from the fight “will not change my life financially in any way.”
“I’m a glory junkie. I love people thinking about me all day,” he says. “I’d rather live a short life of glory than a long life of obscurity. It’s just who I am.
“This is all I started fighting for—to get all this f***ing status. I’m going to be chasing it for the rest of my life. I know that. I’m never going to get what I want because I’m one of those gluttons for pain. I can never get enough.”
Ric Flair, a friend of Tyson and a fellow cannabis enthusiast, echoed the sentiments of WBN by saying, “He’s always going to be the man in a lot of our eyes. But I think he wants to be the man again.”
Facing Paul only opens Tyson to criticism when he realizes in the opening round that his body can no longer cash the checks his mouth wants to write.
Fighting a 27-year-old with better movement, reflexes, and a harder punch [due to Tyson being so old] will dawn on the legend in real time. Tyson will lose to Paul and needs to be pulled from the fight to preserve his legacy.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
