Watch: Mike Tyson, 57, looks scary good in sparring session
Those who grew up watching Mike Tyson would concede that no boxer ever put fear in their opponents like him. All these years later, "Iron Mike" still gives the vibes of an absolute killer.
On Wednesday, Tyson, 57, shared a video of his first sparring session in preparation for his July 20 match against Jake Paul. As seen below, Tyson looks spry and incredibly agile for his age.
When the match was announced last week, Paul opened as a -360 hypothetical favorite, per DraftKings. Those odds can be attributed to Paul, 27, being less than half of Tyson's age.
The age disparity isn't sitting well with UFC boss Dana White, either. During Saturday's UFC 299 post-fight presser, White said he doubts if Tyson, at his age, can put together an entire training camp for a match of this magnitude.
"I love Mike Tyson personally as a friend, and he's one of my favorite athletes of all time," White said. "But I don't know... let's see what he can go in there and put together a training camp and come in. I don't like to see guys fighting at (that age). It'd be a 31-year age difference during that fight. You guys know what I think of that stuff."
While some have disregarded the match as a mere "money grab" pitting two boxers at opposite ends of their athletic prime, those in Tyson's camp believe he's taking the fight very seriously. Furthermore, Tyson is evidently not impressed by Paul's boxing skills, as revealed by legendary trainer Freddie Roach.
In a 2022 interview with FightHype, Roach said Tyson left after watching just 30 seconds of Paul sparring at his Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.
"He [Tyson] saw 30 seconds of him [Paul] sparring and said, 'Freddie, can we go down and see the pictures?' He knows that's where the good pictures are. He wasn't as interested as I was."
It's understandable for accomplished boxers to underestimate a YouTuber-turned-boxer in Paul. However, to his credit, Paul has earned the praise of legends such as Oscar De La Hoya for his dedication to improving his craft.
Paul has a 9-1 record as a boxer, albeit against five debutants, one of whom made a career playing basketball. Tyson enters his first bout since 2005 with a 50-6 record. Most recently, he competed in an exhibition affair against Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.
Tyson versus Paul will emanate from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on July 20.
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