JUST as it once took a brave person to share a ring with Mike Tyson, these days it takes a brave person to tell him not to do something he has his mind set on doing.
Fifteen years after he last appeared in a boxing ring, Tyson, 50-6 (44), is determined to lace up gloves again for a September 12 exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jnr, an idea few consider either sensible or necessary. Even fewer, though, will be brave enough to tell him this.
According to the man himself, some of his seven children have tried, yet Tyson, now 54, has his heart set on returning to the ring and will inevitably ignore naysayers and the reasons why another fight might be unwise.
“My kids think I should sit my old ass down, but what do they know?” Tyson told Jimmy Fallon. “I’m very confident. They don’t know how to fight. Neither one of my kids can beat me in a fight so what are they talking about?”
His children, who range in age from nine to 30, have both his best interests at heart and the right idea. However, Mike Tyson didn’t become Mike Tyson by being a selfless character willing to patiently listen to and understand the feelings of others. That he should revert to type and ultimately fight on in spite of them will surely come as no surprise.
