Mike Tyson got beat up daily by a sparring partner during his legendary career.
The former undisputed heavyweight champion recently returned to the ring for a fight with Jake Paul.
Against the odds, the 58-year-old managed to go eight rounds with a man three decades younger than him.
Before all of that madness, Mike Tyson recalled the tough preparation he put himself through during his proper fight career.
Mike Tyson compares sparring partner to Muhammad Ali
In April 2023, ‘Iron Mike’ sat down for a chat with Ryan Garcia, who is currently serving a boxing ban.
The famous knockout artist opened up about the shocking struggles he had with an unnamed sparring partner, who he claims beat him up every day for three months before he managed to knock him out on camera.
“When you’re in training, you’re in the gym, then this guy walks in, ‘This n—– again? F—,” Tyson said on his Hotboxin podcast. “This guy from Atlantic City, he would beat my a– every day. Like Muhammad Ali playing the bongos on my head, beat my a–.
“One day I hit him and knocked him cold. Then everybody’s talking about how I knocked this guy cold, ‘Oh he’s knocking out sparring partners.’ If only they knew he’s been kicking my a– every day and I got that one.
“That one knockout I got, but he’s kicked my a– for three months. They saw the one knockout, so they thought I was prepared.
“There’s just some sparring partners that can beat anybody in the world in the gym. But if he goes into a real fight with the lights, people eating popcorn and drinking beer, he freezes.
“I was like, ‘Why didn’t you fight him like you fight me?’ He’d have been champion. But it’s just something about it, that’s why he’s not champion.”
Is Mike Tyson retired?
Tyson worried fans by revealing he’s still not 100 percent recovered three months after his comeback fight.
Paul made things worse when he publicly claimed his last opponent had parkinsons disease before insisting it was a slip of the tongue when Tyson issued a statement denying his wild claim.
Whatever Tyson’s current health status is, fans are hoping that we never see him in the ring ever again.
Tyson hinted at retirement in a post-fight social media post before his son seemingly confirmed it.
“I think he’s done,” Amir Tyson said.
“My stepmom, she’s saying he’s done and they’re a team. That’s husband-and-wife stuff.”