Mike Tyson divided opinion as he stepped into the ring for his public workout on Tuesday night.
The 58-year-old heavyweight boxing icon is set to face 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul in a controversial crossover clash this Friday.
While many are understandably concerned about Tyson’s chances stepping back into the ring at his advanced age, the commission in Texas have agreed to sanction the eight-round (two-minute rounds) contest as an official professional bout.
The fight week festivities kicked off on Tuesday with the public workouts.
Of course, the main attention was paid to Tyson.
While Iron Mike has posted several brief clips to social media in recent weeks and months, nobody has seen him perform a full workout to test his stamina.
At this public event though, Tyson smashed the pads with his coach Rafael Cordeiro consistently.
He seemed to win over a number of fans on social media who began changing their predictions judging by the comments that were made as the videos began to circulate.
One wrote: “Jake’s made a MASSIVE mistake here.”
While a second fan said: “This is a real heavyweight in front of our eyes. I take back everything I said about his age and speed.”
A third commented: “If Nate Diaz was able to land on Jake in the pocket, Tyson’s gonna batter him. I can see Tyson stopping him with a shot to that skinny fat body Jake has.”
And a fourth put: “Mike Tyson still got it! Jake Paul better be ready for a REAL fight!”
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A fifth fan opined: “I’m never betting against Mike Tyson SORRY!! I don’t care what age he is.”
While a sixth insisted: “I think this fight is gonna be a lot better than people think.”
Another fan added: “If Tyson doesn’t win it’s 100 per cent rigged, even at 58 he’s a far superior boxer than Jake.”
While one more concluded: “There’s going to come a moment in round one where Jake realizes how much he misjudged this, and you will SEE the fear in his eyes as Tyson stalks him.”
This was not a unanimous verdict however.
Many fans remained resolute in their opinions that Tyson should not be boxing at 58 and even the public workout footage was not enough to convince them otherwise.
One detractor said: “He’s got maybe two rounds of this before he gasses out.”
While a second put: “[This is] against someone not hitting back. For a few seconds. Jake in five.”
A third wrote: “Rooting for the legend but this man will be like explosive for 10 seconds for old times sake if he even attempts, then everything else that transpires next will just be a shame to the sport.”
And another commented: “Tyson gets knocked out in the first, don’t believe the hype.”
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