Mike Tyson feels 'unconquerable' ahead of exhibition with Roy Jones Jr.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DAZN.com.
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Boxing legend Mike Tyson recently opened up on the rigors of returning to the grueling world of training to box, ahead of his polarizing decision to compete against fellow former world champion Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition fight.
Tyson has been working on the concept of a “Legends Only” league during the COVID-19 pandemic, for senior sports stars to return to the forums that made them famous but in shorter competitions.
Following the announcement of the Jones bout, which is scheduled for Nov. 28, videos were released of Tyson undertaking his first serious training in 15 years since retiring from the proper professional ranks.
“I want you to know this … the first time I went back and boxed in 15 years, I got the s— kicked out of me,” said Tyson on the Joe Rogan Podcast.
“But, do you know what happened in that process? I said: ‘I belong here. This is where I belong.'”
Tyson told Rogan that the training left him in such physical agony that he laid in bed crying later that day.
“What fighters and what athletes in general have to overcome is more psychological and mental than it is physical,” Tyson continued.
“You can do all the drills and all the preparation, but if you don’t go into a fight mentally controlled … you’re going to have a disastrous day.”
After months of those training sessions, however, Tyson now says he feels “unconquerable.”
Continued Tyson: “At the end of the day, I am an entertainer. But after they watch this fight, people are going to be very careful not to make jokes about me.”
Tyson’s wife, Lakiha Spicer, challenged him at the start of 2020 to go running for 15 minutes each day, and before long he was running for two hours a day.
And the former heavyweight champion, who last fought in 2005 with a six-round retirement loss to Kevin McBride, believes there are many other retired superstars who have felt or would feel the same way about returning to training.
“I had so many athletes that called me want to be involved with [Legends Only],” Tyson told ABC News. “You got Jerry Rice, [Joe] Montana. Listen, there are so many people that want to do this stuff.”