Nearly one month after famed boxer Mike Tyson took to the ring one last time to fight Jake Paul for one of Netflix’s most watched events, he’s coming clean about just how he was feeling during those tense moments. And what he said just might come as an unfortunate surprise.
Speaking in a new interview with Fox Sports Radio on Wednesday, Tyson revealed that his memory of the fight is a little hazy with him only remembering bits and pieces. He also detailed how he felt physically, explaining how his chest and stomach felt all the repercussions of the fight in the immediate aftermath.
“I don’t remember the fight that much, I kind of blanked out a little...I remember coming back from the first round and Jake is doing some kind of … I don’t know what he was doing [leans forward pretending to bow] and that’s the last thing I remember,” Tyson told hosts Steve Covino and Rich Davis.
Sharing about his body soreness, he went on to say that the next morning, he turned to his wife and questioned why he even put himself through that after all these years.
I mean, I think if we’re all honest: we all were wondering the same thing. Here is a man who was the champion, one of boxing’s most passionate, talented fighters getting back into the ring at almost 60-years-old to battle someone nearly 30 years his junior. And for what? To prove to us he’s still got it? To prove to himself he’s still got it? For that rumored $20 million check?
Whatever his reasons, I hope it was worth it considering the health challenges he had to overcome to even get to this point. In a post to Instagram hours after losing the fight to Paul, Tyson shocked everyone (for the second time that night) by revealing he almost died earlier this summer.
“No regrets to get in ring one last time. I almost died in June. Had 8 blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won,” he captioned in the post. “To have my children see me stand toe to toe and finish 8 rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for.”