Jim Lampley has known Mike Tyson for nearly 40 years and can’t shake one thought that keeps popping into his mind.
Jim Lampley has known Mike Tyson for nearly 40 years and can’t shake one thought that keeps popping into his mind.
The first Tyson fight the iconic boxing broadcaster called was against Jesse Ferguson in 1986.
Tyson viciously knocked Ferguson out in the sixth round, and Tyson after the fight uttered his famous quote that he was targeting the tip of Ferguson’s nose in order to drive it into his brain.
It was at that moment Lampley knew that Tyson was on his way to becoming not just one of the best athletes in the world, but one of its biggest stars.
Fast forward to 2024, and Lampley’s sentiment has shifted to concern.
“I saw much of Tyson’s professional boxing career,” Lampley told The Post. “Covered many of his most important fights. I have socialized with Mike, sat in interview rooms with Mike, I know Mike. … At the end of the day, I have only one very strongly held attitude toward this thing going in, which is I don’t want Mike to get hurt. I don’t want anything to happen to Mike that messes up his last 30 years on the planet.”
Worry over Tyson’s health has led to the recurring question — is this safe?
Tyson, who is 58 years old, is getting back in the ring to face 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Friday night at AT&T Stadium in an officially sanctioned heavyweight fight that will count on both fighters’ records.
It will mark Tyson’s first professional fight since 2005.
Several states refused to sanction the bout, and Texas only did with three stipulations — that the fight would have eight rounds instead of 10, that rounds would be two minutes rather than three minutes and that fighters would wear 14-ounce gloves instead of 10-ounce gloves to lessen the impact of punches.
