Mike Tyson is not your typical 58-year-old. Actually, Tyson is not your typical any-year-old. So, it’s not yet completely clear how exactly age may affect Tyson’s boxing prowess when he takes on 27-year-old YouTuber Jake Paul on Friday night. Nevertheless, there some key things health-wise to look out for when “Iron Mike” Tyson takes the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
You might expect “Iron Mike” to show some rust. After all, Tyson’s final boxing match of his professional career took place nearly two decades ago in 2005 when he lost to Kevin McBride in a sixth-round TKO, otherwise known as technical knock out. That was technically Tyson’s last competitive fight. November 2020 was the last time Tyson participated in any kind of public boxing match that didn’t take place on a JetBlue airplane flight. That was an exhibition match-up against Roy Jones, Jr., which ended in a draw. Even though Tyson has been training for the Paul match, training ain’t the same thing as a real match. So who knows how long it will take Iron Mike to iron out some of the wrinkles when he first enters the ring against Paul.
Plus, Tyson’s reflexes, reaction times and speed may have decreased over time with age. Even though Tyson in his earlier years was known for his power—by 1986, he had accumulated a 22-0 record with 21 of those wins by knockout—his accompanying speed and agility combined with that power are what made him special. Studies such as one published in Nature Human Behavior and another published in PLOS ONE have shown that people’s physical reflexes typically begin declining in their 20s with the average peak occurring around age 24. It’s unlikely that Tyson will be able to dodge punches and react with counterpunches as quickly as he did when he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever at 20 years and 4 months on November 22, 1986.
Another physical attribute that may have decreased for Tyson is stamina. A publication in the Journal of Physiology described how people can maintain peak endurance until their mid-30s but experience declines after that. Therefore, Tyson may have to pace himself more throughout the fight to avoid getting too exhausted should it go all eight rounds.
One typically can retain youthful muscle mass and power for longer. Nonetheless, these tend to decrease after age 50, according to a publication in Sports Medicine. don’t begin to decline as soon as the other physical attributes. During his heyday, the power of a Tyson punch was estimated to be equivalent to being struck by Vespa motorbike moving around 15 kilometers per hour or nine miles per hour. Nowadays, maybe that motorbike may be moving a little slower but you probably still don’t want a Vespa running into your face.
When it comes to safety, one major concern is how Tyson will deal with blows to his head. People’s brains tend to begin shrinking when they reach their 30s and 40s. Since their overall head sizes usually stay the same sizes, this means that the brain can move and rattle around more inside the skull during a blow to the end. This could result in more damage to the brain and potential tearing of blood vessels. That’s one of the reasons why you don’t see as many people head-butting each other in the workplace compared to college or high school.
On the flip side, Tyson will presumably have more experience with age. This can help him fight in a smarter manner to conserve energy and choose the right moments to go on the offensive versus defensive. Plus, his training regimen may be more disciplined now than it was in his younger days where he may have relied more on his natural talent.
Finally, it’s not as if Tyson is fighting Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury or some other current top heavyweight boxer. That would not be a fair fight. He’s fighting Paul, who initially became known for producing YouTube videos like “It’s Everyday Bro,” and not for his boxing prowess. While Paul has since scored some victories in the boxing ring, his boxing career hasn’t come anywhere near Tyson’s. Paul did not become the first boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles and eventually get inducted into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame as Tyson did.
