Mike Tyson reveals he was “in bed for a week” following viral training video

Mike Tyson is set to return to the boxing ring against Roy Jones Jr in a heavyweight showdown, but the boxing legend is struggling to recover like he used to as he revealed a viral training video of him left him in bed for a week.

“Iron Mike” uploaded a video of him throwing hands with his coach Rafael Cordeiro. He showed incredible speed and accuracy, and the video became an instant hit, amassing over 6.2 million views.

However, the 54-year old admitted on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he was wiped out from the intense training session as he described the struggles of improving his conditioning for his long-awaited return.

“Getting in shape and getting conditioned are two different animals,” Tyson said (transcript via Middle Easy). “They don’t even belong in the same division of working out. Getting in shape is getting able to fit in your clothes. Being in condition is being able to come outside of your soul. You can’t do that automatically. The emotional state to prepare for that is mind boggling.

“Let me tell you something about (the first training video). I did that video and I was in bed for a week. That was 30 seconds and I was in bed for a week. That was not funny because it made me realize that this is big boy s–t.”

Tyson will be returning for an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. but he claimed he was originally offered a fight against PRIDE veteran Bob Sapp. He says was initially hesitant to fight again, but a conversation with his brother-in-law inspired his final decision.

“I was discussing with my wife something about me being overweight,” Mike Tyson said. “And she said ‘Why don’t you just get on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day?’ but then it went from 15 minutes a day, to two hours a day.

“I just started losing weight, and my brother-in-law said ‘Hey Mike, I know you’re not going to want it but someone asked if you would fight this guy for 30 or 40 million bucks.’ I said ‘Get the fu…woah. Hold on. Who would they like me to fight?’ and (he said) it was Bob Sapp. I’m saying to myself ‘I know Bob, I know he’s big and strong.’ So I asked how they wanted me to fight him, if it would be Queensbury rules. He asked the guy, the guy said yes, and I said I would fight him.”

In the end, of course Mike Tyson agreed to fight Roy Jones Jr. The bout was originally expected to go down on September 12, but is now scheduled for November 28.