Former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson has claimed money is not a motivating factor in his upcoming clash with Jake Paul.

The 58-year-old is scheduled to make his sensational return to the ring against the young American on November 15 at the AT&T Stadium in Texas in front of up to 80,000 fans. The two boxing stars were due to go toe-to-toe back in July, but ‘Iron Mike’ was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering an ulcer flare up on a flight. Despite concerns for his health, Tyson insists he’s ready to make the walk to the squared-circle next week.

Tyson hasn’t fought a professional contest since suffering a defeat to Kevin McBride back in 2005 while his last win in the ring came in 2003 when he brutally knocked out Clifford Etienne in the first round. He did, however, take on Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition bout in 2020, which was predictably scored a draw after eight rounds.

JUST IN: [VIDEO] Mike Tyson’s last opponent warns Jake Paul he still feels effects of his unbelievable punching power 19 years later

As for ‘The Problem Child’, the young American has taken the sport by storm since making his professional debut back in 2020. Paul comes into the clash off the back of a devastating knockout win over former UFC star Mike Perry back in July. With a professional record of 10-1, his only defeat in the sport came against Tommy Fury last year.

The 58-year-old is adamant that his return to the ring is not for financial reasons however. Tyson’s earnings now come more readily from cannabis than fighting and ‘Iron Mike’ is more interested in the risk available to him by taking on Paul in his return to the ring. “I could be waiting on a check every day from cannabis,” he said in September while commentating at a Cage Wars MMA event.

“That’s bulls*** for me. I’m a man; I want to go out there and I want to expose myself to risk. Sometimes I want to see who I really am. I want to see what I’m really made out of. I want to perform in front of the world. To me, that’s all I ever knew how to do since I was 14. This fight is not going to change my life financially enough. This is just what I want to do.”

Tyson has recently admitted that he is still not in perfect health. “It’s hard to walk right now,” he said. “But two months from now I’m going to be perfect. The fight is won in the gym. Listen, I’ll do anything that will help me. I’m going to enjoy my time here tonight with all my childhood friends, and the hell with Jake Paul”.

Since the confirmation of the bout, Paul has faced a lot of criticism. The 27-year-old has dismissed the idea the money is the primary reason for their meeting. “Making history. This is what it’s all about for me, man”, he explained. “I’m a kid from Ohio. […] They’ll never give me credit. That’s the way it is. If I was walking on water, they would say it’s because I couldn’t swim. And this is to make history. The people think I’m going to get knocked out by this strong, powerful guy”.

Almost two decades on from their infamous showdown in Washington DC, Kevin McBride is still very much feeling the power of Mike Tyson.

In June of 2005, the little-known Irishman shocked the world and send ‘Iron Mike’ into retirement, not just from the fight but from boxing as a whole. It would take the heavyweight icon until this year, at the age of 58, to come back for a full professional bout, only taking two exhibitions in the meantime.

But even though McBride won on the night, he says that the punches he felt that night have stuck with him. Now working as a paver, he has warned Jake Paul that there are still times that he feels the power of Tyson, almost 20 years since they stepped in the ring.

JUST IN: ‘I Almost Died’ – Tyson Explains His Initial Withdrawal From The Paul Fight

The date was June 11 2005 when Kevin McBride earned the biggest win of his life against one of the greatest of all time; Mike Tyson. While the story has been rewritten to indicate that ‘Iron Mike’ was far past his best, he still packed a serious punch, which had the Monaghan native in trouble throughout.

“It was like a Cinderella story for me,” he told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat. “Everybody said there was no way I had a chance to beat Mike Tyson because with his career and what he’s achieved, but I had a different plan in my mind.

“I trained very hard for eight weeks and I even had a hypnotist work with me so that every time he would hit me I’d be smiling. I was smiling a lot! People don’t realize even when I was fighting him people ask ‘what was going through your head?’ I say ‘What the hell did I get myself into?’

“He ain’t no joke and I would have fought him for free. I was offered small money, maybe $150,000, but I couldn’t care less about that, I just wanted to get in the ring with him, it wasn’t about money at all for me when it came to Mike Tyson.”

And not only did McBride get in the ring with Tyson, but he managed to make him quit on his stool after round six. He floored the legend with Muhammad Ali watching at ringside, and made one of the world’s toughest men decide that he could no longer fight.

However, he has a word of warning for Jake Paul as he prepares to face Tyson on Friday night. The bout has proved controversial over the 31-year age gap between the competitors, but the legendary heavyweight still packs one of the biggest punches on the planet.

“Jake Paul is a young kid,” he said, noting the 27-year-old’s inexperience relative to his 58-year-old opponent. “He has youth with him but Mike Tyson’s power is unbelievable. I still feel it to this day, more than 19 years later.

“He hits so hard and power is the last thing to go. George Foreman proved that against Michael Moorer. Sure he was a bit younger than Mike is now but power-wise it is one of the biggest punches in history and he can probably knock Jake out.”

If Mike Tyson pulls out, McBride will be happy to step in and have a shot at Jake Paul

The bout between Paul and Tyson is one of the most anticipated of the year, helped by a build-up that has lasted since it was announced in March. The pair were due to compete on July 20, but the YouTuber was forced to face Mike Perry instead after Tyson suffered a health scare that had him fearing for his life.

And should a similar issue arise during fight week, McBride would happily dust off his gloves and get in there with Paul. He last competed in 2011, and ended his career on a three-fight losing run, but reckons he has enough to stop the social media star.

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“I’m 51-years-old myself and if Tyson pulled out again I would fly down in the morning,” he admitted. “I would actually jump in the ring with Jake Paul and I’ll tell you what, I have the power to put him away too because my power has not gone away.

“I work with this guy now Mathias and I do paving, I must have lost 50lb this summer and I’d be able to make weight again. If Tyson beats Jake Paul then it’s not a bad idea if he wants to avenge his loss against the Irishman and we could get in the ring again.”

Mike Tyson says he almost died when he suffered an inflamed ulcer that forced him to pull out of his initial July 20 date for the Jake Paul fight.

Tyson will box Paul on November 15 in his first professional fight since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005. But there were worries that it would not happen after Tyson’s ulcer flared up during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles. Tyson reportedly passed out, as the onlooking passengers were in horror. He was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer that can lead to death. He recalled coughing up blood in the bathroom, as well as losing a significant amount of weight. Further struggles included not being able to eat as there were concerns that Tyson would never make the fight. At one point, Tyson admitted that he felt he could have died.

“I asked the doctor, ‘Am I going to die? He said, ‘We have options.’ Options? I couldn’t believe it. I lost 25 pounds in eleven days. I couldn’t eat. Only liquids. Every time I went to the bathroom, it smelled like tar. Didn’t even smell like it. It was disgusting. I had, like, eight blood transfusions. The doctor said I lost half my blood. I almost died. It threw me off. All my coordination, stamina, and everything else were hectic getting back. I was peaked already. I could have fought him that day. Now I got to start from scratch,” Tyson said 

READ: [VIDEO] Anthony Joshua injury details revealed

But Tyson is not the only one who could suffer in this fight. Paul will bulk up to over 200 pounds for this fight. He is used to fighting boxers moving up in weight, which gives him a significant advantage. He did this against Nate Diaz, beating him via a unanimous decision. Diaz is used to fighting at 170 pounds, but Paul boxes at cruiserweight. Paul also had the advantage over Mike Perry, whom he stopped in the sixth.

With that being said, there are concerns that the extra weight will slow him down and make him vulnerable. Paul has shown issues with stamina during some of his fights. The fight with Diaz showed that, as he allowed Nate to come back into the bout after initially sending him to the canvas. Paul’s strength and conditioning coach, Larry Wade, revealed the struggles The Problem Child had to go through. So questions remain if this will have an impact on the fight.

“Tyson and Perry are two different styles of fighters, two different styles of training. One where Mike Tyson fights two-minute rounds, and Mike Perry fights three-minute rounds, which is a different kind of conditioning. He had to go back, focus and do some things besides the fact that we had to lose a lot of weight to get there. It definitely required a team effort. I needed a break, so we took a month off, went back to work, and now we’re getting ready for Mike,” Wade added

There’s little more than two weeks until Mike Tyson takes on Jake Paul in Dallas on November 16.

So, you know what that means.

We’re about to get a huge influx of fake bravado and false statements to give both men the best chance to maximise their earnings.

If you were at the pub and saw a 20-something year old male punching on with a man approaching 60, who has resorted to using a walking cane in recent years, you’d be inclined to step in and stop what could very well be a serious assault.

READ: [VIDEO] ‘I’ll Be Immortal’ – Tyson Says He’s Ready To Die In Ring Vs. Paul

The same risks exist when Tyson and Paul enter the ring for eight two-minute rounds with 14oz gloves in the middle of November, yet it seems nobody in any official capacity is willing to stop an event which could traumatise the world if it goes wrong.

The defining difference that distinguishes this scenario is that most people believe that Mike Tyson isn’t your average man reaching pensioner age.

Tyson recently shared a clip where he dropped a sparring partner and has also released short clips of training footage of him throwing monster combinations, leading some to theorise the 58-year-old’s endurance might be a problem.

While Tyson is the youngest man to ever hold the heavyweight championship at the age of 20, an older man with ulcer problems, who hasn’t fought a professional fight since 2005, will enter the ring in Dallas, Texas.

Yet that didn’t stop Paul from telling Nine’s Today, that a win against his almost elderly opponent will rocket him into boxing immortality.

“People think I’m this nice smiley social media content creator. I like to have fun but I’m a killer,” Paul said.

“This is what I was bred to do, this is my destiny.

“I will stop him and become the face of boxing. Whether people hate that or love it they’re going to have to accept it.

“I was born to do this and I will be world champion and I will go down in the boxing hall of fame as one of the greatest to ever do this.”

We warned you about false statements and fake bravado. Well, here’s another dose.

During the soon-to-be-released Countdown series for the fight, the former champion said: “If I win, I’ll be immortal… I don’t want to die in a hospital bed; I want to die in the ring.”

For some reason, Tyson sounds more believable than Paul, and that could be the most concerning part.

While there has been frequent talk of the age difference between the fighters, discourse about the potential dreadful consequences that could arise if a 27-year-old man mercilessly beats a 58-year-old has not been so common.

Can you imagine if boxing’s worst nightmare unfolds in front of a potential audience of 700 million viewers worldwide on Netflix?

That question wasn’t put to Paul, but we thought we’d throw in some more bravado to distract you from the daunting possibilities that could occur on November 16.

“Tyson is dropping people in sparring, he looks the best shape he’s been in, that’s what his coaches are saying,” Paul told Nine.

“I plan on outboxing him and showing the world what I’m capable of. It’s going to be a war.

“He’s one of the most famous boxers in the world to ever do it, he and Muhammad Ali, so to step in there with someone of his nature is an honour and a dream come true and it’s going to be a spectacle and one of the most entertaining nights the sport has ever seen.

“I was born to do this and I will be world champion.”

He added: “All of Australia tune in, I’m going to Kangaroo kick Mike Tyson in the face.”

Boxing has an uncanny knack of turning false statements into harsh truths.

Let’s hope that does not happen on November 16.