Mike Tyson looked in much better condition as he stepped out last night for an appearance at Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles.
The former world heavyweight champion just turned 58 and is set to return to the ring for his first professional fight in almost two decades against Jake Paul on November 15. The pair had initially set a date towards the end of July, but had to postpone when a medical emergency forced Tyson out of action.
And after walking the red carpet and meeting with other major celebrities in California last night to watch Crawford narrowly edge out Madrimov, he may have quelled some concerns about the new date. He is expected to return to full boxing training shortly and begin fight camp.
Radio host Big Boy believes Mike Tyson was ‘ready to fight tonight’
Boxing legend Mike Tyson was in attendance at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday night to watch Terence Crawford’s smash-and-grab victory over Israil Madrimov. And he appeared in fine form as he posed for pictures and walked the red carpet, meeting with another of other A-List names including Scottie Pippen and Vince Vaughn.
Tyson was sat ringside with promoter Eddie Hearn and the sport’s new supremo Turki Alalshikh. And speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow, radio host Big Boy who had spent time with the heavyweight icon noted that he was likely ready to compete much earlier than November.
“I think he’s always ready to fight,” Big Boy, whose real name is Kurt Alexander, said of Tyson. “He was ready to fight tonight! Hell yeah I would go watch Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson. That’s one of the Jake fights I would go to. I love Jake, he was so good with my family I would never say nothing bad about that brother.”
Mike Tyson remains coy regarding Jake Paul fight during Los Angeles appearance
While on the red carpet, Tyson was asked about his fight with Paul by reporters including one from Riyadh Season. However, he kept his cards close to his chest, simply replying “You’re going to have to wait and see, you don’t got long to wait.”
Tyson has declared that the fight will mark “Jake’s wake”, and after watching the social media star knock out BKFC star Mike Perry in a replacement fight last month declared that the “clock is ticking.” Immediately after the fight, Tyson uploaded a video to social media showing himself watching Paul on a TV.
Despite not saying anything in the video, the clip went viral, and he followed it up with a message that read: “Countdown Begins – 118 days – 16 weeks and 6 days – 17 weekends – 2,832 hours – 169,920 minutes – 10,195,200 seconds. Clock Starts Now. #TysonPaul #TheClockIsTicking #JakesWake.”
Mike Tyson was pulled from Jake Paul fight over medical emergency
The initial July date for Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson was called off when the boxing legend suffered an ulcer flare-up during a flight that required him to receive urgent medical attention. He claimed to be feeling better in the immediate aftermath, but doctors said differently and the new date was made.
But progress has been solid since, speaking with USA Today last month, Tyson’s agent Andrew Ruf explained that he will be back training in the coming days. “Everything is on track,’’ he said in a positive update for the fight. “His doctor over at UCLA, they’ve been monitoring him really closely.
“They’re super happy with the progress. Everything is kind of full track to get back in there end of July and get working. I’ve been told that everything is completely on track and he is on pace to have no limitations at all. His physicians, Dr. Issa in particular, don’t believe there’ll be any limitations at all.’’