Mike Tyson's incredible body transformation ahead of Jake Paul fight

Mike Tyson's is a name inextricably linked with the sport of boxing, and will go down in history as inarguably one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. 

His brutal force and ferocity inside the ring is legendary, after taking the world by storm - quite literally - battering his way to 44 wins by knockout across his career including his first 19 in a row. 

But boxing is a brutal sport, which takes its toll on the body unlike most others, its competitors subjected to bludgeoning barrage after barrage locked in a savage dance inside the ring. 

Add that to the fact that he is now 58 years old, and serious questions have been raised about his upcoming fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul - 31 years his junior no less.

Ahead of that blockbuster clash, Mail Sport takes a look at Iron Mike's physique over the years, from when he first exploded onto the scene, to the current day as he prepares for next week's Texas showdown. 

At 18, a raw but supremely talented Mike Tyson made his debut in the ring against Hector Mercedes in March 1985. The fight lasted just 1min 47seconds. Tyson won by knockout, announcing himself on the scene. 

In fact, in his first 12 months on the professional scene Tyson fought a staggering 19 times, all of which were won by knockout, technical or otherwise, and none lasted longer than six rounds. 

It's a far cry from the current boxing landscape, where the big names might fight twice a year, and you'd imagine for somewhat more lucrative financial packages. 

By the end of 1986, Tyson had earned his first heavyweight world championship, becoming the youngest-ever title holder in boxing's blue-riband division at just 20 years and four months old, by beating Trevor Berbick in the Jamaican's first title defence in Las Vegas in the second round to seal the WBC title. He won, of course, by technical knockout. 

He picked up the WBA crown in March 1987 - beating James Smith by unanimous decision in his first encounter to go the distance - and added the IBF title in August 1987 after beating Tony Tucker in August the same year. 

In doing so he became the first heavyweight to ever concurrently own the WBA, WBC and IBF world titles, which he would go on to defend six times. 

At the point that Tyson reached that sensational pinnacle, he was only 21 and 32 days. He had fought an astonishing 31 times since turning professional. By the time he faced Frank Bruno in 1989  in his fifth defence of the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, he'd also added The Ring heavyweight crown. 

At 22, his body was a mass of brawn and muscle, making him one of the most powerful hitters the sport had ever seen. His strength was immediately evident from his awesome frame, forming a hulking presence with bulging bicep and pectoral muscles. 

Standing at 5ft 10ins he wasn't the tallest of heavyweights, but it didn't matter when you could punch as hard as Iron Mike, who weighed around 99kg (218lbs) at his peak and yet could still move lightning fast. 

But prolific as his rise to the top had been, it of course could not last. In 1990 Tyson was at last halted by 29-4-1 underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen.

Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by Douglas, and with it went his four belts. While he'd be back to winning ways within four months - with a first-round knockout win no less - the damage to his reputation would always be there.

Granted, he would not lose another fight until November 1996, but there was a sizeable break in Tyson's boxing career after he was convicted of the rape of 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington. 

Tyson was handed a 10-year prison sentence, with four further years suspended, after being indicted in September 1991 and convicted in February 1992. He would serve only three years of his sentence, being released from the Indiana Youth Center in March 1995.

Tyson revealed how he kept up an impressive training routine while behind bars to prepare him for his return to professional boxing.

'I was doing running,' he revealed, 'Doing eight or nine miles around. And at night time I would run for four hours, just in my room. I would jump and stuff, just jumping up.'

Tyson finished by saying: 'My cell has a concrete floor, right? I indented it with my feet into the concrete floor. I was 285lbs. I came out 215lbs.'

Tyson would go another three fights after beating Peter McNeeley in his first fight out of prison without tasting defeat until back-to-back losses to Evander Holyfield which really began to spell the end for his career, taking his record to 45-3 two days out from his 31st birthday. 

It is the second of the two fights that was the more notorious, after Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear, sparking his unsurprising disqualification. 

Tyson wouldn't fight again until January 1999, but even when he did return at 32 years old, his weight was still remarkably consistent, oscillating between 223lbs and 222lbs until he took on Brian Nielsen in 2001. 

Aged 35 and 115 days Tyson came in at 239lbs (108kg) in Copenhagen, and for the rest of his career he would remain much heavier than he had in his youth. In his final four fights - which ended in three defeats and one victory - Iron Mike averaged 231lbs. 

He would end his professional career around 10lbs heavier than when he erupted onto the scene, tearing through his opponents with terrifying ease, which in fairness is only natural given he was 20 years on from his debut professional outing by the time he hung up the gloves in June 2005 after retiring on the stool during his final fight with Kevin McBride.

In retirement, like most sportspeople, Tyson was no longer going through quite so strict a training and fitness regimen, and naturally that had an impact on his weight. 

By 2009, it was reported that he had ballooned up to 27 stone and was labelled clinically obese, amid an ongoing battle with drug abuse, and was now some 170lbs heavier than his prime. 

But Iron Mike took up veganism in 2010, ditching meat altogether, and revealed just what an impact his dietary switch had: 'I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine, I could hardly breathe.

'I had high blood pressure, was almost dying and had arthritis. Turning vegan helped me eliminate all those problems in my life.' 

Over the next 11 years Tyson began to shed the weight he had gained thanks to a combination of his new diet and more time spent exercising and in the gym, and by 2020 he was in an incredible state for a 53-year-old. 

That year, Tyson stepped back into the ring in an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jnr, which ended in a draw by WBC scoring, but Iron Mike was backed to his regular ripped physique. 

The then-54-year-old came in at his customary 220lbs, and it perhaps didn't get the pay off it deserved, with controversy surrounding the result with many believing Tyson should have won after massively out-landing Jones, but a draw it was. 

There aren't many people in their mid-50s that look as stacked as Tyson did, and it looks like he's been able to maintain that rough physique for his blockbuster clash with Paul on Friday. 

But it's not all been plain-sailing. Back in 2022 Tyson was pictured in a wheelchair at Miami airport after a flare up of his sciatica, which raised fears over his health and any future ventures into the ring. 

He looked a shadow of his former physical self and it perhaps reminded the world that this was a man approaching 60, and not the ferocious 20-year-old world champion that we all recognised. 

Now, at the age of 58, Tyson is set to return to the ring once again, this time to face off against YouTube sensation turned professional boxer Paul. However, boxing fans are questioning the wisdom of Tyson's decision to step back into the ring at his age. 

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Tyson has posted a number of videos of his training in the build up, and although he will never be the same physical force that took boxing by storm, you have to say he's in incredible shape for a man of his age. 

A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes for the former heavyweight champion to take on a man 31 years his junior and it's definitely paid off in terms of his fighting fitness. 

However there will still be concerns over the fact that his speed and reaction times will be far diminished from his hey-day, though even close to 60 there aren't many people in the world you'd less like to face than Tyson and his formidable punch power.