The last thing Mike Tyson is concerned about right now is money.
The former unified heavyweight world champion will return to the ring for the first time in nearly 20 years on Friday, November 15 when he squares off with YouTube sensation Jake Paul. The two generational talents will tussle inside the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium and air live on Netflix marking the streaming giant’s first live globally broadcast combat sports event.
Tyson last competed in a professional boxing match in June 2005 when he suffered a sixth-round TKO loss to Kevin McBride. Since then, Tyson has stayed in the limelight via appearances in both film and television and recently found financial success with his Tyson 2.0 brand of cannabis products.
Recently, Tyson offered some insight into his decision to come out of retirement at 58 years old for a fight with one of the sport’s most controversial stars.
“I could be waiting on a check every day from cannabis,” he said last week while commentating at a Cage Wars MMA event. “That’s bullsh*t for me. I’m a man; I want to go out there and I want to expose myself to risk. Sometimes I want to see who I really am. I want to see what I’m really made out of. I want to perform in front of the world. To me, that’s all I ever knew how to do since I was 14. This fight is not going to change my life financially enough. This is just what I want to do.”
😤 @MikeTyson and @jakepaul on the field before the #DallasCowboys game today 🤝 pic.twitter.com/yPrUnJp10d
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 15, 2024
Mike Tyson Shares Health Update Two Months Away From Fight Night
Originally, Paul vs. Tyson was scheduled to go down on July 20, but a medical emergency during a cross-country flight in May forced the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ to discontinue training for a few weeks. That resulted in the bout being moved to the fall.
Opening up about his health, Tyson revealed that while he does have a little trouble getting around, he’s confident that he’ll be good to go once fight night rolls around.
“It’s hard to walk right now,” Tyson said. “But two months from now I’m going to be perfect. The fight is won in the gym. Listen, I’ll do anything that will help me.”
Watch the official Paul vs. Tyson press conference in NYC below:
