Mike Tyson, at 58 years old, is about to enter the boxing ring once more. His improbable return sees him square off social media sensation Jake Paul in a provocative fight at AT&T Stadium on Friday night.

Last seen in the ring was “Iron” Mike during a November 2020 exhibition clash with Roy Jones Junior. COVID-19 restrictions led to the meeting of two legendary fighters taking place virtually empty Staples Center in Los Angeles. Neither was any official winner declared on the evening. The contest was basically a fun nostalgic piece that saw men leave the ring grinning.

Still, his forthcoming encounter with Paul is not a performance. Though it is a full professional fight with knockouts allowed, it will take place over the same eight, two-minute rounds as Tyson against Jones Jr.

The last professional fight Mike Tyson took ended in heartbreaking fashion.
Journeyman Kevin McBride stopped heavyweight champion in brutal fashion.
Tyson’s most recent show was an overwhelmingly good experience, but the same cannot be said of his last professional ring visit. When the slugger from New York signed on journeyman Kevin McBride in June 2005, he was 38 years old.

Though well beyond his prime at the time, the former world heavyweight champion was still expected to find his way past McBride. Though it simply wasn’t to be, a capacity gathering in Washington, DC yearned to see Tyson be the wrecking machine he had been in his youth.

Unable to answer the bell for the beginning of round seven, Tyson finally lost the fight on a technical knockout. At the time, he was actually leading on the scorecards of the judges. But he just lacked the will or the vitality to carry on. He had been deducted two points in the last round for headbutting McBride. Tyson stayed on the canvas until the bell rang, the Irishman pushing him at the end of the session. He could hardly stand from his tiredness; the fight was called off soon after.

Tyson apologised to supporters who had paid to see him, brutally acknowledging in front of them that his heart was no longer in the game.

I am not going to fight once more. I no longer possess the fighting will or heart required. I was simply trying to pay the debts. I no more identify as an animal!

Tyson seems to have rediscovered his passion of the game ahead of his clash with Paul if he had lost it nineteen years ago. His body for the McBride fight and what he wore at Thursday’s weigh-in show just how hard he has been working in the gym for his professional return.

Tyson was paid just $2.75 million to fight McBride, according BBC Sport. When he strikes blows with Paul in a bout that will be broadcast globally on Netflix, he will make more than seven times that amount.

Paul, in an ironic turn of events, knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson in his second fight on the undercard of the Tyson vs. Jones Jr. exhibition clash. Commenting on the rise of “The Problem Child” in the sport, Tyson was effusive in compliments for his forthcoming opponent.