Iron Mike trying to knock off ring rust
Tyson seeks possible ‘exhibition’ matches
Mike Tyson wants to participate in some exhibition boxing matches for charity, but he might have trouble finding an opponent after a video showing him looking a lot like the knockout artist of old blew up. That was followed up by his trainer saying that Tyson, 53, still packs a lethal punch.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Rafael Cordeiro told ESPN of recently starting to work with the former heavyweight champion. “He hasn’t hit mitts for almost 10 years. So I didn’t expect to see what I saw.
“I saw a guy with the same speed, same power as guys 21, 22 years old.”
Tyson hasn’t fought professionally since 2005, when his once-great career petered out unceremoniously. That hardly ended his struggle with numerous personal issues and Tyson, who declared for bankruptcy in 2003, has said that he took a role in the 2009 hit movie “The Hangover” to help pay for his drug habit.
Tyson also has claimed that he weighed around 380 pounds at the time of the movie, which does show him with a considerable paunch. In the decade-plus since then, though, he has worked to attain sobriety and moved to a plant-based diet.
“I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three- or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff,” Tyson said recently. “Some charity exhibition, make some money, help some homeless and drug-affected [people] like me.”
Cordeiro estimated to ESPN that Tyson currently weighs 235-240 pounds, which would be 15-20 pounds more than his average fighting weight during his heyday when he became the youngest heavyweight champion. He said he has been training with the former champ for “three weeks in a row,” including cardio workouts, as well as sessions with mitts and punching bags.
Cordeiro expressed confidence that Tyson could stage a successful boxing comeback with six months of training, at which point “he could fight against anyone.”
In the meantime, according to Cordeiro, Tyson already has gone a long way toward defeating an exceptionally tough opponent — his own inner demons.
“I believe Mike fought against himself for a long, long time,” Cordeiro told ESPN. “He’s proud to be the Mike Tyson he is today.”