Mike Tyson’s strength and conditioning coach has revealed the secrets behind the 58-year-old’s training plan for his fight with Jake Paul.
The two-time world heavyweight champion showed off his incredible physique at Thursday night’s weigh-in and tipped the scales at 228.4 pounds, which is five pounds lighter than the weight he registered for his last professional fight – a defeat to Kevin McBride – in 2005.
Tyson’s preparations for his fight with YouTube star-turned-boxer Paul were disrupted earlier this year when he suffered a stomach ulcer in May, which caused him to lose 26 pounds.
With the fight rescheduled to November 15, Tyson was given plenty of time to recover and his training camp began at the end of July.
Andy Velcich, the man tasked with overseeing Tyson’s work in the gym, revealed to Pro Boxing Fans that the 58-year-old was taking part in three sessions per day and would even squeeze in a fourth weight-based training routine on certain evenings.
‘I got involved with Mike about 16 weeks ago, they had to postpone the fight due to some health issues, so we pretty much started the camp 16 weeks ago from scratch,’ Velcich said.
‘We had to put muscle back on and bring his weight back down to right around that 230lbs range, so we pretty much started day one in late July.
‘To watch his progression as we progress, week after week, the training camp was wild. We’re talking training at 11am, boxing at 1pm, strength and conditioning at 2pm to 3pm, then a lot of the times we came in at night at 7pm and hit weights.
‘Mike was so hungry, he came in and right away he was zero to one-hundred.’
Asked how Tyson has avoided injury during his training camp, Velcich was clear: ‘Rest and nutrition.
‘Some of those days where you do three or four training sessions in one day, usually the next day he would take a rest day, then we go back.
‘It was all about push and pull, so push as far as we can, see the signs from the body, is the body getting fatigued, pull back a little bit, have either a total rest day or an easy day, so push and pull.’
Velcich, who has an extensive background in bodybuilding coaching, revealed that Tyson was able to carry out the same exercises as younger athletes but required a more thorough warm-up before each session.
‘That’s the scary part – the mentality,’ Velcich said.
‘He doesn’t need to do this fight. His reputation speaks for itself.
‘What kind of mentality does he have? It’s just a killer mentality. He does everything to the extreme, training, boxing, everything. You’ve got to hold him back in the gym, everything. His mentality is 0.001 per cent on any athlete I’ve ever worked with, it’s very motivating to see.
‘Every body is different, a 58-year-old adult, you’ll have certain limitations but it’s just extensive warm-up, warm-up the shoulders, warm-up the knees, warm-up the hips before, and once he’s warm he’s good to go.
‘It’s really nothing different. Just going a little more strategic and easing into the session, especially easing in when he had that small hiccup in camp and starting fresh.
‘Four weeks into the camp he was just rolling, progressing every week.’
Tyson’s fight with Paul will be streamed live on Netflix. For viewers in the UK, the ring walks are expected to take place at around 4am on Saturday morning.
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