Hollywood superstar Mark Wahlberg is a massive fight fan, and reckons Mike Tyson may just be able to roll back the years in his ring return.
The A-List actor donned the gloves in his own right to play iconic boxer Micky Ward in 2010’s The Fighter. And he has developed a friendship with heavyweight great ‘Iron Mike’, who faces Jake Paul on Friday night.
Now 58-years-old, there are many doubting Tyson in his boxing comeback. But Wahlberg reckons he might have one last quickfire knockout in him, and if he does that it may be a tough night for the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
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Mike Tyson has been training six hours a day for Jake Paul comeback fight
The key issue that many have with Mike Tyson’s comeback is his age, and the condition in which his body appears to be. He turned 58 this summer, and last competed professionally in 2005, with two exhibitions in the meantime.
Meanwhile, Paul is 27-years-old and has been competing actively since Tyson faced Roy Jones Jr in a 2020 run out. The pair were due to compete on July 20, but an ulcer flare-up that got so bad the legendary champion feared for his life cost them a few months in postponements.
However, ‘Iron Mike’ is now in phenomenal shape, training six hours a day. “The closer it gets to the fight the less nervous I get,” Tyson told Jimmy Kimmel during a promotional appearance in September. “I’m training extremely hard.
“I start at 11 in the morning and I might leave the gym at 5pm. There’s a small break. After I finish my boxing I get a massage for an hour but then I go right into strength and conditioning. I have smoked [marijuana], but not any time soon. I’m going to be so high off life.”
Mark Wahlberg believes Mike Tyson can land one more quick KO on Jake Paul
Hollywood star Wahlberg is confident that Tyson will be able to reel in the years and deliver one more highlight reel knockout on Paul. He used to watch the iconic heavyweight during his heyday, and disagreed with the assessment that the fights weren’t ‘value for money’ given their short lengths.
And he believes that if Tyson can bring out ‘the old Mike’ for one last run, it will spell very bad news for Paul. “Look, I’d like to see the old Mike come out one more time,” he told Clocked N Loaded at the launch of his new restaurant in Las Vegas.
“I just hope nobody gets hurt. I used to always watch Mike, pay for pay-per-view and people would complain ‘oh it was just one round, it wasn’t worth the money!’ I always got my money’s worth watching him.
“Mike is a dear friend and hopefully he’s going to be healthy and he does that old Mike thing just one more time.” While he’s confident of the result, Wahlberg claimed that he doesn’t gamble, so won’t be putting money on his pal.
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