Boxing

Mike Tyson Gives Definitive Statement On Potential Return To Boxing

The legendary Mike Tyson was asked whether he had interest in another boxing fight and offered an interesting response.
Grant Young|
Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul press conference during Fanatics Fest in New York City on August 19, 2024.
Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul press conference during Fanatics Fest in New York City on August 19, 2024. | IMAGO / Cover-Images

Many boxing fans couldn't wait to see the legendary "Iron" Mike Tyson back in the ring for his highly anticipated fight against Jake Paul on November 15, 2024, and expected one of the baddest men in boxing history to send Paul back to making YouTube videos after a brutal knockout.

Many other boxing fans were protesting the fact that a 58-year-old man was doing a professional boxing right, let alone against somebody who was nearly 30 years younger than him. Not to mention the health issues that Tyson was dealing with ahead of the fight, which caused the initial date of July 20, 2024, to get rescheduled to November.

While this second group of boxing fans didn't have their worst fears realized, Paul winning the bout by unanimous decision (with the judges scoring it 80–72, 79–73, and 79–73) reaffirmed to many that Tyson's time in the boxing ring should have ended decades prior.

Once the fight ended, Tyson was noncommittal about whether he ever would fight again. However, during an April 11 interview with Men's Health, the former heavyweight champion got honest about whether he has any interest in re-entering the ring right now.

"The only person I'm fighting now is my accountant," Tyson is quoted as saying when asked if he has any plans to return to the ring.

"Other than that, I'm just living life and I'm doing good right now."

It sounds like Tyson will not be boxing anytime soon. Then again, people were probably saying the same thing a decade ago.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.