Months after legendary boxer Mike Tyson made his triumphant return to the ring against Roy Jones Jr. last year, rumors have been swirling that his next opponent could be YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul.
Paul may have earned more respect from the boxing community after going the distance in his last exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but Iron Mike didn’t necessarily seem threatened in a new interview with Yahoo Finance.
Without going as far as confirming a fight with Paul, Tyson noted that “anything is possible,” and exploded into laughter at the idea of it being an even battle when asked if he could take on the 26-year-old at age 55.
“You’re talking to me? About taking on —” Tyson asked as he cut himself off with a hearty chuckle. “Maybe. I’m an old man, you know? I don’t know what I could do now.”
If anything, Paul has already done his part to prove there’s a market for fighting boxing legends. His fight with Mayweather Jr. attracted more than 1 million pay-per view purchases to bring in $50 million. While it was a far cry from the record 4.6 million in the Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao matchup in 2015, the figure impressed most boxing aficionados.
“Anything is possible, you know, because by doing this we have a great exponent of charities to give to so the charities win both way,” said Tyson, about a possible bout with Paul. Before the Jones Jr. fight, Tyson told Yahoo Sports he intended to give his $10 million proceeds to charity. The bout attracted $80 million, according to reports, and received praise for everything from the fight itself to commentary from Snoop Dogg.
Tyson told Yahoo Finance cannabis and psychedelics both helped him return to the ring after being retired for more than a decade.
“I should have smoked my whole career,” Tyson said. “I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind. I’m very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are at least in my case.”
Zack Guzman is an anchor for Yahoo Finance Live as well as a senior writer covering crypto, cannabis, startups, and breaking news at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @zGuz.
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