Mike Tyson has ditched veganism, is on a sex and cannabis ban and training six hours a day to prepare to fight 27-year-old Jake Paul, 31 years his junior: Inside boxing legend’s brutal camp to return to the ring after almost 20 years
Mike Tyson’s highly-anticipated return to the ring is just days away as the former world heavyweight champions gears up to take on Jake Paul.
Friday marks ‘Iron Mike’s’ first professional fight in 19 years and the 58-year-old has spent the majority of this year training hard in the gym for his return to the ring.
More hours spent in the gym isn’t the only drastic change Tyson has made in preparation for the fight.
He also revealed that he has drastically changed his diet and lifestyle ahead of the historic bout, banning sex and cannabis from his regular routine.
Here is everything you need to know about Tyson’s impressive training routine ahead of his face-off with YouTuber turned boxer Paul.
Mike Tyson is returning to the ring for the first time in almost two decades
The 58-year-old faces YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul on Friday, November 14
Tyson’s camp has offered plenty of insight into the 58-year-old’s training plan ahead of his fight against Paul.
Iron Mike often shares clips of his rigorous training on his social media platforms in which he shows off his impressive speed, incredible power and imposing physique.
And Tyson himself opened up about what his training routine is actually like.
Speaking during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tyson detailed what an average day entails for him ahead of the fight, revealing he trains for six hours a day with minimal breaks.
‘I’m training extremely hard,” he told Kimmel.
‘I start at 11 [am] and I might leave the gym at 5 [pm].
‘After I finish doing my boxing, I get a massage for an hour, and then I go right into strength and conditioning.’
He also told FOX News: ‘I train every day, I’m taking it serious. It’s a whole day [of training], the process goes through the whole day.
Tyson revealed he has been training six hours a day in preparation for the fight
His training includes pad work, hitting the punching bag and sparring
‘I get up in the morning and do the roadwork, then I go to the gym at one and then I go to the strength and conditioning guy and then it starts all over again.’
Another surprising factor which has played a vital role in his preparation for the unlikely bout is drugs.
Tyson confessed on Impaulsive that psilocybin mushrooms have played an important role in his training sessions.
Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound that is found in more than 200 different species of fungi, which include magic mushrooms, liberty cap and azurescens.
‘I have to take them when I train,’ he said.
‘I always train with my mushrooms.
‘I train on mushrooms because I feel beautiful. It takes me to heaven, baby,’ he told Jake Paul’s brother Logan.
However Tyson did reveal that he had given up a certain drug ahead of his face-off with Paul, revealing he has cut out cannabis and sex from his life in the lead up to the fight.
The 58-year-old confessed he has given up cannabis ahead of the fight
The former world champion is a marijuana aficionado and has his own line of products
Speaking about his decision to banish cannabis and sex from his regular routine on The Damon Elliott Show back in late April, Tyson said: ‘Two and a half weeks I haven’t smoked,’ he said.
‘And I haven’t had sex for two and a half weeks.’
The switch-up is a big step for the champion boxer once referred to as ‘Kid Dynamite’ considering he is a marijuana lover and even has his own line of cannabis+ products.
He opened up further about his lifestyle change in an interview with Forbes Life published on April, 26, 2024.
‘Right now, I’m living my life disciplined. It’s been six weeks that I haven’t gotten high or had sex.
‘I haven’t done that since I was a little kid,’ he said.
‘I hate not being able to smoke, but I’m doing it like I love it.
‘I hate not being able to sleep with my wife but I’m doing it like I love it,’ he added.
He decided to remove sex from his routine ahead of the bout. Pictured with wife Lakiha Spicer
The 58-year-old is taking his professional comeback very seriously and it is no more evident than in his diet.
Back in 2010, the legendary boxer revealed he changed to a plant-based diet following years of steaks, alcohol and drugs after his retirement in 2005.
Telling GQ Sports back in 2019 that ‘I don’t eat anything that has a mother and father. If you were created through a mother and father, through any kind of intercourse, I won’t eat you.
‘So that means I only eat vegetables and stuff.’
But as he sets out on making his return to the ring, Tyson has ditched his vegan lifestyle in favour of a meat-based one.
Speaking about his decision to switch back to a meat-based diet, Tyson told Joe Rogan ‘I stopped [eating vegan food] because of the training and because of what I wanted my body to look like and the strength that I wanted to possess.’
