Watch: Boxing Legend Mike Tyson 'Scared to Death' of Jake Paul Fight - Here's Why
Boxing legend Mike Tyson is “scared to death” of his upcoming exhibition match against Jake Paul, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday.
Tyson, 57, said he is not necessarily afraid of Paul, 27.
“Iron Mike” explained that when feels apprehensive about any given situation — such as fighting someone less than half his age — he goes for it.
Tyson told Hannity that he can’t wait to get into the ring in Texas in July and that he has been training daily.
“I have a weird personality,” he said. “I don’t think it’s weird, though. Whatever I’m afraid to do, I do it.”
The former heavyweight champ recalled fighting Roy Jones Jr. four years ago and admitted he was afraid then.
“I was 100 pounds overweight, I was however old — 54, 53 — and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Anything I’m afraid of, I confront it,” he said. “And that’s my personality.”
“Right now, I’m scared to death,” Tyson added. “But as the fight gets closer, the less nervous I become, because it’s reality — and in reality, I’m invincible.”
The fear won’t last, he clarified.
“I always believed that adversity and nervousness, it like pretty much catapulted me into success,” Tyson explained. “If I didn’t have these feelings, I wouldn’t go into this fight. I have to have these feelings to fight.
“Without them, I would never go in the ring.”
The former champ also joked about Paul’s beginnings as a dancing teen YouTuber, but clarified he would not underestimate his opponent.
“I seen a YouTube of him at 16 doing weird dances,” Tyson told Hannity. “That’s not the guy I’m gonna be fighting.”
“This guy is gonna come, he’s gonna try to hurt me, which I’m accustomed to, and he’s gonna be greatly mistaken,” he concluded.
Paul and Tyson will square off on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The exhibition bout will be streamed live on Netflix.
The fight will come 19 years after Tyson retired during a match against Kevin McBride in June 2005.
“I don’t have the stomach for this anymore,” he told reporters at the time, the Los Angeles Times reported. “I most likely won’t fight anymore. I’m not going to disrespect the sport by losing to this caliber of fighters.”
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