When news of Mike Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul made headlines Thursday morning, it left some scratching their heads about whether Tyson’s return to the boxing ring was real. After all it has been more than three years since we last saw Tyson box in an exhibition, and his last professional fight was in 2005.
In Tyson’s last exhibition fight, he faced Roy Jones Jr. at the Staples Center on Nov. 28, 2020. Tyson, who was then 54, looked aggressive from the outset and stalked Jones, 51, through most of their eight rounds. The fight was held without spectators because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Jones remained on his feet when the final bell rang — and three former WBC champions scored the bout a draw. USA TODAY Sports scored the fight 78-74 for Tyson.
Early on, Tyson resembled his old self, charging after Jones and unleashing powerful punches. He nailed Jones with several powerful shots. Jones looked hurt in the second round after absorbing another shot to the body.
But after that, Jones frequently kept Tyson in a clinch to help neutralize Tyson’s power — and survive to the final bell.
Mike Tyson’s return to boxing, use of toad venom
Even before the fight began, there was plenty of drama leading up to that Saturday night. At Friday’s weigh-in, Tyson said a psychedelic drug known as toad venom played a part in his return to boxing at the age of 54.
“I took the medicine and the medicine told me to get into shape,’’ Tyson said, referring to psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT during an interview on the day of the official weigh-in. “It really blew my mind. It told me to come back and start getting in shape.’’
Tyson weighed in at 220 pounds and Jones weighed in at 210 pounds.
Tyson indicated he lost 100 pounds during his training regimen, which started with 15 minutes a day on the treadmill. He called his first day of sparring “disastrous.’’
“During that session of boxing when I was getting shellacked, never once did I say, ‘What the (expletive) am I doing here?’ I said, ‘Woo, I belong here.’ ”
After the fight, Tyson admitted to smoking marijuana before he fought Jones.
‘It’s just who I am,’’ he said. “It has no effect on me from a negative standpoint. It’s just what I do and how I am and how I’m going to die. There’s no explanation. There’s no beginning, there’s no end.”
Mike Tyson’s pay-per-view revenue
The Jones-Tyson exhibition generated more than $80 million in pay-per-revenue for a fight that was priced at $49.99. According to Tyson’s Legends Only League, the match sold more than 1.6 million PPV buys.
