‘He seemed confused and vacant’: Mike Tyson, 54, sparks concern during slurring Good Morning Britain interview about his boxing return
- The boxing legend, 54, appeared on the show to discuss coming out of retirement to fight Roy Jones Junior, however his manner led to worry on Twitter
- One viewer noted that the boxing legend ‘seemed rather confused and vacant’
Mike Tyson sparked concern on Tuesday as he slurred through a remote interview on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan.
The boxing legend, 54, appeared on the show to discuss coming out of retirement to fight Roy Jones Junior, however his manner led to mass worry on Twitter.
As Piers asked the star: ‘How do you feel, are you in the kind of nick you were in 15 years ago?’, he responded: ‘Pretty much, I am just ready to do this, I feel really good, I am ready to do this’, yet his slurred words caused worry with fans.
Viewers took to Twitter to pen: ‘is mike Tyson fit to fight not judging by that interview… @piersmorgan Do hope I’m not the only viewer that thought, during the interview with Mike Tyson he seemed rather confused and vacant…
‘hope it was just sleep deprivation and not perhaps other factors…. Just listened to Mike Tyson slurring his way through an interview on GMB. Sad to hear and no way should he be allowed to fight again.’
GMB presenter Alex Beresford – who was not on the show during Mike’s appearance – took to Twitter to voice his own concerns as he wrote to his 63,000 followers: ‘Hoping Mike Tyson is just tired? This interview on @gmb’.
The chat comes a day after Mike revealed he believes MMA stars will always be paid less than boxers, despite promotions such as UFC bringing in more viewers.
One of the biggest stars in UFC history Conor McGregor pocketed a company record £3.8m for his win against Donald Cerrone in January, whilst Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder earned £19.4m each for their heavyweight boxing contest a month later.
McGregor’s highest ever sum received for a fight was when he switched to boxing – his fight against Floyd Mayweather earned him nearly £100m – and Mike says he can’t put his finger on why there is financial disparity between the two sports.
‘MMA will always have more views and stuff than boxing, but boxers will always make more money than MMA fighters,’ Tyson told podcaster Brant James.
Worry: GMB presenter Alex Beresford – who was not on the show during Mike’s appearance – took to Twitter to voice his own concerns as he wrote to his 63,000 followers: ‘Hoping Mike Tyson is just tired? This interview on @gmb’
When asked why that is the case, he added: ‘That’s tricky, it doesn’t make any sense.
‘I don’t know, they don’t make enough money in my perspective. It’s exciting and sexy, but [UFC fighters] don’t make enough money.’
The figures would back that up, with McGregor earning £2.3m for his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov, in one of the biggest fights in UFC history.