Andreas Hale, ESPN
DALLAS — As Mike Tyson prepares to compete in his first professional boxing match in nearly two decades against YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul, the 58-year-old Tyson wants to remind the world why he was once considered “the baddest man on the planet.”
For a newer generation of fight fans who never had a chance to experience him in his heyday, Tyson has presented himself as a happy and fun-loving individual. But when the bell rings Friday night at AT&T Stadium, Tyson promises the old “Iron Mike” will be back — if only for one night.
“I’m bringing the devil himself [to the ring],” Tyson said to a small group of reporters during Tuesday’s open workout, just days ahead of his highly anticipated encounter with Paul.
And although he has struck a friendship with Paul, he warns his opponent to not mistake his kindness for weakness.
“There are no feelings attached,” Tyson said. “My own mother should be very careful if she has to get in the ring with me. When it’s over, it’s over. But while the process is going on, my intention is to hurt him. I hope he has the same intentions, or he is in trouble.”
Not only did he promise to knock out his opponent, who is 31 years younger, but Tyson also said that the ferocity he will bring to the ring will make him unrecognizable to his younger children, specifically his 16-year-old daughter, Milan.
“She saw me on television fight with Roy Jones [in 2020], but she has never seen anything of this magnitude in her life,” Tyson said. “My kids don’t really think of me as the baddest man on the planet. They look at me as Dad [and tell me] sit your old ass down.
“But on Nov. 15 they will have a different opinion of me.”