Mike Tyson's last time in the ring: On drugs and against one of the greats

Mike Tyson, the most controversial and popular boxer of recent decades, will return to the ring this summer in an exhibition fight. He will face influencer and boxer Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on 20 July. It’s been almost 20 years since the youngest heavyweight champion of the world retired from professional boxing, and this will be the second time he has returned to box since 2005. When was the last time he stepped into the ring?

Tyson’s last fight took place in November 2020 in Los Angeles against an old acquaintance: Roy Jones Jr. What many people don’t remember is that these two titans never faced each other as professionals. When Jones moved up to heavyweight, Tyson was just a few steps away from the end of his career.

Mike Tyson’s latest video strikes fear in Jake Paul, reveals remarkable progressTwitter

15 years to a party foretold

Iron Mike, a unique character in and out of the ring since he began his career in the world of the most popular fighting discipline of all time, retired in 2005 at the age of 39. His opponent in his last fight, Roy Jones Jr, was a former world champion at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. Jones was a 90kg beast who was characterised by his astonishing speed.

So, Jones and Tyson did not face each other in their professional days, in their best years, but everybody wanted to see that fight. In the early hours of 28-29 November, an exhibition of eight rounds of two minutes each was held in Los Angeles between the two veterans. Tyson was 54 years old and Jones was 51 years old.

Cartel promocional del combate entre Paul y Tyson del próximo 20 de julio.

Mike Tyson had used ‘drugs’ before that fight

The boxing fans, who were unveiled that night in November, did not know that one of the contenders had used hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana. Tyson himself admitted as much a year later on ‘The Pivot’ podcast. “They help me train, they help me box better. When I’m fighting, I don’t really feel the punches. It’s really like magic sh*t,” he said. “I wish I had used this sh*t in my career,” the boxer added.

Fotografía del día en el que Roy Jones se proclamó campeón del mundo de los pesos pesados (2003) tras derrotar por decisión unánime a John Ruiz.

We have already seen in several videos that Tyson has shared on social media how he is working hard on his physical preparation for the fight against Jake. His opponent this summer is much younger than him, but he doesn’t have Mike’s experience and track record.