My guest is one of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time. He returns to the ring in an official capacity to take on YouTuber turned professional boxer the one and Only Jake Paul November fifteenth at AT and T Stadium in arlingin Texas, Live on Netflix. Please welcome the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Iron Mike himself, the one and Only Mike Tyson.
What's up, big Time? How you doing bro? How you doing?
Everything's great? Thank you?
Thank you for The fight was supposed to be in July.
It was postponed because of an ULCRA flare up, according to reports. First order of business, how are you feeling for this fight?
Hey? I feel great. Everything fine.
So I gotta ask you what made you want to fight Jake Paul. I mean, there's a lot of money, and that's always an incentive for all of us, but I get the feeling that it's not just that with you.
What's up.
I can use a bucket like everybody else, but this money. Believe they're not going to change my lifestyle, and it's not going to change my life. Be able to do what I'm normally able to do it if I didn't have this fight. It's just the fact this is what I want to do. I want to get out of my comfort zone and I want to test myself. Whatever I'm afraid to do, I do it. That's just my mentality. If I'm afraid to do something, I do it.
You're attacking your fears.
I remember years ago, Cam Chancellor for the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks when they were winning Super Bowls told me the great ones always attacked their fears.
I never heard that before. That's pretty heavy.
He told me.
Iron Mike, he said, listen, I said, how do you ultimately end up being so successful as a teen? He said, everybody that enters this locker room, we find out what their fears are and we make them face it. That's how we do it. That's why we win. And that's what he said. Having said all of that, I want to say this. The fight's going to be live streamed on Netflix. Okay, tell me how you feel about Jake Paul. What do you think about him.
As a fighter and why you took this fight with him him.
And listen, I think he came a long way as a fighter from when he first came and first showed himself on Roy Jones.
Mike Tyson caught.
And he built himself up to be quite a sensation, and I think it was only right. It was a no brainer for me and him to fight. I started to my card on Tim. I'm finishing.
How much pressure, if any at all, do you feel to win this fight, even though you're twice his age and you haven't been in the ring in an official sanctioned bout since two thousand and five. How are you feeling pressure wise about needing to beat him?
Well, I feel a great condition Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday box eight round and I don't know I'm ready. I don't look at it. I'm some old guy that decrepit gonna fight this young guy. I'm fighting a guy with ten fights. You know, he's stational and he's hot. But I got ten fights, and I think I'm gonna have to handle this situation.
You're gonna knock him out.
I think I'm gonna hurt him.
Yes, you know, watching Jake Paul, I really respect what he's.
Done for his career.
I really respect what he's done for the sport of boxing, because he's one of those guys that's saying, I don't have to depend on.
Promoters to do this for me. I'll do it myself.
Having said that, I'm tired of seeing him go up against boxers we don't know, or strike us from the UFC or basketball players.
Something.
I like the fact that he's in the ring with a former champion. What do you think you're gonna bring to the table that he has not seen?
My whole existence? It's everything I listen. I hope be thinking this very seriously because his health depends on it.
I was getting ready to ask you, why do you say that because his health, His health depends on it. Watching I'm imagining that you've watched him fight. What have you seen from him as a fighter that makes you.
So confident you can take him out?
Well, I'll keep that to myself.
You ain't gonna tell me, Mike. You you ain't gonna say anything. You just gonna keep it to yourself.
I wasn't to your ear when I see you in person.
You know I'm looking at you right now.
The last time we saw you fight, and the officially sanctioned bout was in two thousand and five when you lost to Kevin McBride. You lost to Danny Williams before that beat at the end, before that, when you look at yourself and and how you've aged, people look at you and they see you sparring, and they say, it's still a lot there.
This is iron Mike Tyson mad respect for him.
What do you believe that you've done since retirement that has you so confident that this is a fight that you could win against somebody half your age.
I stopped doing drugs, that stopped drinking liquor. I stopped your stole my life away, and I took my life serious. That became a you know, basically a responsible family person.
That makes any sense?
Okay, well when did you When did you stop all of that? When would you say you stopped all of that?
Eight years ago? Might be nine, but I'm given eight.
And what happened that made you stop eight or nine years ago?
I had some experience with I had a psychedelic experience DMT experience.
At age fifty eight?
How do you train to fight an opponent like Jake Paul at age fifty eight? What's different now compared to let's say, what you would have done in your younger hey day?
Far and gets sparring partners far training shape, your strength and conditioning. Just do the basics you know and give it the best you got, give it everything you have three times a day.
Mike, Do you think your ultimate advantage is the fact that he hasn't been in the ring with a true, true boxer who who's a power puncher that has really really tested him.
I advantage that I'm just a better fighter, period. Yeah.
Look, man, before I'll let you get on out of here, it's a couple of things that I wanted to bring up because I wanted to promote this for you. Quick service plant based food company you invested in, mister Charlie's told me so, yes, but what got you?
What got you.
Involved in a quick service plant based food company?
You're eating some of that stuff to train for this fight?
Absolutely, I'm here some strong believe in self awareness and taking care of yourself.
And what then, what people put in their body is what they are.
If you win this fight. When you win, when you win this fight, in.
A lot of people's eyes, especially if you do it by knockout, is are you one and done or are you the type of person approaching approaching sixty years of age that's gonna think you could go back and the ring and do it again.
And listen, Sky's the Limits, Brother, Sky's the Limits.
Good luck, my man. It's good to talking to you, my brother. Thank you very much, no doubt, the one and only Mike Tyson himself right here with your boy Stephen A.
Smith on a Stephen A. Smith Show.
You can check out the long away that Tyson versus Jake Paul fights streaming live and free on Netflix. Remember Friday, November fifteenth. Don't miss it. Don't miss it.