The former heavyweight world champion has made a shocking admission just months before his fight with Jake Paul which could result in a potential ban

Mike Tyson faces a potential ban from boxing if he fails a drug test after admitting he could smoke cannabis in the days leading up to his showdown with Jake Paul later this year.

The pair were set to go head-to-head earlier this summer, but ‘Iron Mike’ was forced to postpone his return to the ring after suffering from an inflamed ulcer. Tyson was forced to stop training on his doctor’s orders but has recently returned to the gym and insists he will be ready to walk to the ring later this year.

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The clash between the two big stars is set to take place on Friday, November 15 in Arlington, Texas at the AT&T Stadium in front of up to 90,000 fans. Tyson’s last professional outing came in 2005 when he lost to Kevin McBride. His last bout took place in an exhibition against fellow legend Roy Jones Jr behind closed doors in 2020. As for Paul, the 27-year-old defeated former UFC fighter Mike Perry back in July in his last outing.

Tyson recently admitted he was struggling to walk after completing six rounds of sparring – further adding concern for his health ahead of the bout. The American recently admitted to being a ‘junkie’ and has previously confessed to smoking weed every day as well as micro-dosing magic mushrooms to help him recover between sessions before his last fight with Jones Jr. Tyson sensationally claimed that he was even high during the fight itself.

In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, when Tyson was asked if he intends to be high during his bout with Paul, he replied: “I’m going to be so high off life, yeah.” Kimmel then asked: “Will you be high on marijuana, as well?” Tyson replied: “That’s a possibility, too.” The host then commented: “Oh no my bet is getting lower as we talk.”

While his interview was a cause for concern, it remains unclear how serious his statement was. That said, if Tyson does intend to smoke weed before his fight with ‘The Problem Child,’ then he could be banned by the Texas Commission as the drug is on the sanctioning body’s list of prohibited substances.

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR): “If either combatant were to test positive for a banned substance, we would open a complaint, put them on a 90-day suspension and if the combatant were the winner, the decision would be changed to a no-decision because of a rules violation.”

Regardless of what he may or may not be taking, it’d appear that Tyson is clearly not taking the fight seriously after a staggering admission. During his chat with Kimmel, ‘Iron Mike’ claimed he was training six hours a day. “I am training extremely hard, I do six hours a day. I start at 11am and might leave the gym at 5pm,” he said. Kimmel looked stunned and replied: “Oh no. 11am? So that’s six hours straight, or is there a lunch break?” The former heavyweight champion admitted there was a small break as a shocked Kimmel gasped: “Oh no.”

There has been much bellyaching about the fight itself, but from all accounts, the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight is still a go.

However, there is a chance that the fight could be downgraded from a professional bout that’ll count on both fighters’ record, into an unofficial match — an exhibition — instead, according to a recent report by World Boxing News.

With Netflix, owner of over 270 million subscribers, airing the widely discussed fight, there’s plenty of incentive for all parties involved to put on the event despite a recent Tyson health issue that shifted the first scheduled date from July 20, to November 15. It’s being reported that both combatants will be thoroughly examined ahead of the fight to ensure everything goes according to plan.

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Before ‘Iron Mike’ entered the ring in 2020 for the first time in 15 years to face fellow former world champion Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition match, he’d made it known that training was a thing of the past as it would spark his ego to hit the heavy bag.

After many battles with his fluctuating weight that he ultimately conquered, plus, finding content from within, Tyson made the decision to once again lace the gloves up and compete under the bright lights. Even in his 50s, the now humble boxer has stolen the internet’s attention with some flashes of excellence on the mitts:

Mitts flyin’#PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/vlkg7zSQyP

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) March 15, 2024

Though the stocky fighter is built like a house, the recent health issue of a stomach ulcer earlier this summer set off red flags. It could have been connected to pushing his body a bit too hard in training, and high-ranking officials aren’t taking any chances when it comes to sanctioning this wild fight.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) will be leading the charge in terms of being diligent about whether this massive, cross-generational fight should be hosted as a professional fight to count on both competitors’ records, or as an exhibition bout. Nobody wants to see something horrific take place on live TV…

Back in May, Tyson had an ulcer flare up that was severe enough that he had to pull out of the fight. The TDLR will be making sure the former heavyweight champion is fit to compete. When speaking with the TDLR, World Boxing News discovered that they are aware of the public concerns over this controversial fight:

WBN reports that Tyson “has much to prove to convince organizers, including Netflix” that it should go ahead as a pro fight. “Tyson could face a rigorous health assessment, far more than the usual professional boxers undertake,” the news site added.

Downgrading the contest to exhibition status would unlikely take anything away from the attention and marketability of the event. As it stands, it still goes ahead, as a legitimate contest on each fighters’ record, when they trade blows November 15 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

What will they do if Tyson isn’t ready again?

The most-hyped televised fight of 2024 is happening this fall, or at least that’s the plan right now. Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul is hitting Netflix’s upcoming lineup on its rescheduled date of November 15th, which isn’t far away, but what happens if Tyson has to back out, as it went when he had a medical emergency over the summer? It’s a question worth asking, and Paul was able to give a definitive answer on the current contingency plan, in a manner of speaking.

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On the heels of Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi facing off in the live Unfinished Beef special, fans with Netflix subscriptions want to know what to expect for the next big showdown on the streamer if one of the fighters cannot perform. Jake Paul spoke to TMZ Sports about the current backup plan, and whether or not he’s concerned about Mike Tyson’s readiness, saying:

Despite it happening on the original date, Netflix did not stream that replacement fight, and it didn’t take place in AT&T Stadium, the venue reserved for Tyson vs. Paul. Given that, and the fact that there still aren’t any backup plans this time around, it would seem like if these two fighters aren’t going to trade blows, Netflix still wouldn’t be interested in carrying any substitutions.

Thus far, Mike Tyson hasn’t given any reason to suspect he’ll be anything less than 100% come fight day. While he was reportedly dealing with complications from an ulcer when the fight was first postponed, he’s been pretty active as of late. In addition to uploading pictures from training, Tyson is attending many events, so he’s seemingly feeling well enough for this big bout come November.

While his age is a factor, Tyson has asked for certain accommodations made for this match to help compensate for fighting someone thirty years younger than him. The fight will have shorter rounds to encourage both fighters to push the pace, which could prevent Paul from hanging back early and hoping to tire the legend out before starting to fight. Even so, professional boxing matches can be taxing, and we won’t know how tired Tyson will or won’t be until we see this match.

All we know is that Mike Tyson feels confident he can win and that he was once one of the greatest boxers who ever lived. Whether his past experience will be enough to take on Jake Paul is the big question everyone has and one that some, like actor Russell Crowe, would rather not see answered. In any case, there’s no denying that the intrigue is still there to see how this all shakes out and if this fight will happen.

A former sparring partner of Mike Tyson said he thinks the former world heavyweight champion will “pull his punches” during the upcoming fight with Jake Paul as he could “seriously hurt” the YouTuber.

Tyson is due to fight Paul on November 15 in Arlington, Texas in the first event of its kind to be live streamed on Netflix.

It was scheduled to go ahead in July but was postponed after Tyson sustained a health scare.

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Everyone seems to have had their say on the fight, from Joe Rogan to former world super-middleweight champion Carl Froch and just about everyone in between.

But an insider claims that Tyson will “pull his punches” when the two finally meet in the ring.

“For me, it’s going to be a glorified sparring session,” Joe Egan, Tyson’s former sparring partner, said when speaking with TalkSPORT.

“When Mike boxed Roy Jones Jr he hit Roy with a body shot and sunk him and Mike knew he could hurt Roy Jones.

“Anybody that Mike hits is going to hurt, probably knockout as well but he carried Roy Jones.

“I never believed Mike Tyson could carry anybody because when I sparred him at Catskill, every punch he threw was with bad intentions. He was a vicious, ferocious, savage heavyweight.

“To see him mellow with age is wonderful and to see what he did with Roy Jones is incredible.

“Jake Paul was on that undercard and when he saw Mike pull his punches they probably felt confident. You’ve got to admire him for getting in the ring with Mike Tyson but I don’t think Mike will go full force on him.

“I don’t believe that because if Mike went full force on Jake Paul, he could seriously hurt him, never mind about the age.”

Jake Paul’s mother is terrified at the prospect of her son duking out with Mike Tyson.

‘The Problem Child’ is set to face Tyson on November 15 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas in a professional heavyweight contest.

They were initially scheduled to square off on July 20 but their fight got postponed by four months after ‘Iron Mike’ was deemed medically unfit to compete this summer following an ulcer flare up.

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A post shared by Mike Tyson (@miketyson)

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Tyson’s recent illness combined with the staggering 31 year age difference between the pair has led several members of the boxing fraternity to raise concerns about the potential health implications he faces in taking the fight.

The former undisputed heavyweight champion is 58 years old while Paul is in his physical prime at 27 – although you wouldn’t believe Tyson was a middle-aged man when watching his recent training footage.

Tyson has uploaded several videos to social media of him hammering the pads with the kind of speed and precision one would expect from a pro boxer in their 20s.

Most of these clips are five second snippets and we are yet to see how Tyson looks over a two minute round, which would give a much better idea of the kind of condition he is in.

However, it’s enough to have Paul’s mum, Pam Stepnick, fearing for her son’s health – even if it won’t stop her from attending the Netflix showdown with Paul’s girlfriend Jutta Leerdam.

“They will definitely be there,” said Paul at a Washington DC PFL press event that talkSPORT.com attended.

“But my mum is very scared actually. She keeps on asking me if I’m ready, asking my team if I’m if I’m ready and she’s not liking this one.

“Mike just looks scary and big… his Instagram videos look crazy. So she’s like watching all of that and just not liking it.”

Paul is set to pocket $40m (£31m) for his upcoming clash with Tyson, taking his overall earnings in boxing up to around $100m (£75.8m).

This is a staggering achievement for a YouTuber who only turned over as a professional boxer four years ago.

“Not bad at all, man, I can’t believe it,” Paul added of his career earnings.

“I’ve already exceeded all my own expectations in life and boxing and everything.

“So whatever happens next is just gravy and I’m just having fun with it and trying to inspire other kids because I’m literally from Ohio.

“Middle of this town grew up with a blue collar family and didn’t know what any of this world is.

“And so it really shows like if you want to do something, you just gotta go for it.”

Hollywood star Russell Crowe recently chatted with the infamous Joe Rogan and shared his thoughts on the upcoming clash between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Originally scheduled for July 20, the controversial match between Tyson and Paul was canceled due to a flare-up of stomach ulcers plaguing ‘Iron Mike’. Paul was quick to accept a fight with former UFC fighter turned BKFC star Mike Perry, and Paul would leave the ring as the victor after knocking out his opponent in the sixth round.

Now scheduled for November 15, the Tyson vs. Paul fight remains a spectacle that has divided many fans and fighters alike. Many believe the age gap between the 58-year-old boxing legend and young 27-year-old upstart is too prolific. Others, however, are not ready to count ‘Iron Mike’ out and attest to how much of a different beast the man is.

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Speaking to Joe Rogan, Russell Crowe delved into the enigma that is the legend of Mike Tyson. He spoke on the man’s prowess and admitted that he could still do some damage despite his age.

”58-year-old Mike Tyson is not 50-year-old Mike Jones that lives down the street,” Crowe said. “It’s a different kind of human being. He can still knock your head into another dimension if he can catch you.”

”I was terrified of him as a boxer,” Russell Crowe continued. “He was terrifying. Even when I met him backstage at a stadium one time at a fight, I was like, ‘I’m still terrified of you’…What bothers me with this whole thing is that he’s got to kind of slide back into that warrior, and I’m just not sure that he needed to do it.”

Is Jake Paul a threat to Mike Tyson?

As far as the boxing community is concerned, people are split. While some believe ‘The Problem Child’ poses a real problem for ‘Iron’ Mike, others feel the upcoming November 15 fight would be a walk in the park for the former heavyweight champion. However, the question is, what does ‘The Baddest Man on the Plant’ think?

With over two months remaining in the cross-generational showdown at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Tyson appeared on Logan Paul‘s popular YouTube podcast, Impaulsive. During the episode, Tyson, now 58, discussed how, despite him taking Jake Paul seriously, most fans don’t share his opinion, all this while explaining why Paul is capable of killing him.

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Speaking to the former world champion, known for his ferocity in the ring, Logan Paul claimed he was nervous for Mike Tyson, stating, “He’s a real killer, Mike.” He went on to reveal that Jake Paul wanted to be a “Navy Seal” before he started boxing, remarking, “he wanted to go kill people” for his country, trying to emphasize the threat Paul really poses.

Logan’s co-host Mike Majlak quickly jumped in to suggest the Problem Child—who has barely started his professional boxing career—posing a threat to Iron Mike might be a “tough pill to swallow” for Tyson’s fans who look up to him as one of the best ever. This prompted a response from Mike Tyson, who suggested that he was fearful of a lot of things and a lot of people, and Paul was no exception.

“I’m fearful of my 13-year-old son. This is what I learned through my 58 years of experience. Anyone’s capable of killing you,” Tyson confessed. He elaborated further, explaining that his life experiences had taught him that anyone could potentially “kill you,” implying that Jake Paul is no different from anyone else in that regard.

“That’s how I look at people. They’re all capable of killing you,” Tyson added. However, this doesn’t mean Mike Tyson has any intention of just letting Jake Paul steamroll through him like Paul has done to his other opponents in the past.

While Paul might be a “killer” as his brother suggests, Mike has been planning for Paul’s wake.

Back in June, Mike Tyson sent a chilling warning to Jake Paul following the postponement of their highly anticipated fight. Originally scheduled for July 20th, the bout was pushed to November 15th after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up during a cross-country flight. Despite the setback, Tyson made it clear that the delay wouldn’t change the outcome.

Jake’s new wake date. Nov. 15th.@netflix #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/dXRv9yknCv

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) June 8, 2024

In a video posted on X captioned, “Jake’s new wake date. Nov. 15th,” the legendary boxer delivered a stark message to Paul, “Different date. Same fate. I’m going to knock out Jake Paul.” Tyson’s warning left no doubt about his intentions, as he vowed to resume training and prepare for the new date with the same ferocity. The bout will see Tyson return to the ring for the first time since his 2020 exhibition against Roy Jones Jr.

That said, while Mike Tyson is not taking Jake Paul lightly, his response suggests he will tackle ‘The Problem Child’ in the same way he has done in the past against much more formidable opponents.

The boxing legend means business.