The former heavyweight world champion made his return to the ring last November but was unable to inspire a sensational comeback on fight night

Mike Tyson between rounds during the Jake Paul fight(Image: Al Bello/Getty Images)

Mike Tyson’s former trainer, Jeff Fenech, has revealed he regrets telling people to bet on ‘Iron Mike’ to topple Jake Paul.

After retiring from the sport back in 2005, Tyson made a sensational return to the ring late last year – taking on the YouTuber-turned-boxer. The clash was Netflix’s first live boxing fight and it’d go on to break various viewership records. Despite failing to get a knockout, Paul would go on to cruise to a victory on points.

According to various reports, Tyson pocketed a handsome fight purse of $20 million, while Paul took home $40m. Despite keeping preparations for the contest under wraps, ‘Iron Mike’ would eventually upload a few training clips online – with many going on to believe he could roll back the years on fight night.

Fenech – Tyson’s former coach – was one who totally backed the boxing veteran all the way and admitted telling people to pick the 58-year-old to win. However, a few months on from the event, Fenech has admitted to making a bad mistake over his betting decision.

“I had so many people ring me, and so many people lost money because of me,” he said. “I’m pretty embarrassed. It may have been a terrible fight, but what he represented and what he was trying to do isn’t just to show people he can fight, he’s trying to show people that at 58 you can work hard. He’s changed his whole life around and I think that’s what it’s about.

“The rest of the stuff far outweighs the fight. My advice would be that you don’t have to do that again. He’s talking about being sick … but at 58 and working your body the way he did, it’s very difficult to stay healthy. Sometimes, you overdo it and burn your engine out. For me, I’m so proud of how Mike has changed his life around and over 100 million people watched at home. Although all of us fight people can say what a terrible fight that was, most people think what a great job Mike Tyson did.”

Given Tyson’s age, many fans were surprised that the 58-year-old didn’t pull out for a second time. The pair were supposed to go head-to-head back in July, but ‘Iron Mike’ postponed his return to the ring after suffering an ulcer flare up on a flight. In a recent interview with Fox Nation, Tyson revealed the exact reason as to why he didn’t withdraw from the clash. “I haven’t thought about that [if it weakened him]. I was worried about getting sued, you know, because I was like, God, they’re going to sue me if I don’t do this fight,” he said.

“I had a bloody ulcer, like three inches. Kept bleeding and bleeding. And I had to have, what, 10 blood transfusions. Each time I do this, I was like the same doing Roy Jones as doing this one. My wife sees me screaming because my body is in so much pain. And I come home, I’m like, ah, ah. I promise I wouldn’t do this to myself.”